Rangeen by Coke Studio Nu.WAV: A Pretty Song That Didn’t Quite Move Me

I’ll say this upfront: I wanted to like Rangeen more than I did. I went in with decent expectations — Hasan Raheem has a track record I generally enjoy, and Coke Studio launching an entirely new platform is the kind of thing worth paying attention to. After a few listens, my honest reaction is that it’s a well-made song I probably won’t come back to. I want to walk through why, but first, the actual facts around the release, because those matter more than my opinion of it.

What Rangeen Actually Is

Rangeen is one of six songs released under Coke Studio Nu.WAV, a new music platform that Coca-Cola and Coke Studio Pakistan launched in September 2026. According to Coca-Cola’s own announcement, Nu.WAV was built around six tracks — Maheya, Dil, Rangeen, Qasam, Shabnam, and Ae Deewan e Dil — described as together forming “one portrait of Pakistani identity,” each rooted in its own emotional world.

Rangeen specifically brings together Hasan Raheem and Izzchughtai, produced by Umair, according to 24NewsHD’s coverage of the release. Kamal Khan served as executive producer, with Sean Tallman handling mastering. The song is co-arranged by Umair and Hasan Raheem, with Raheem also leading the vocal arrangement, composition, and lyrics. The accompanying music video was directed by Arham Ikram, shot by Aamir Mughal, and produced by Gali Films under producer Iman Khan. It released on Coke Studio’s official platforms on September 18, 2026.

By the outlet’s own description, the track “turns longing, love and youthful romance into something considerably brighter,” with the beat reportedly originating from Umair and taking shape with Raheem, and the melody coming together almost instinctively during a drive home. The music video is described as taking the familiar language of filmi romance and turning it “playfully askew.”

Nu.WAV itself is a deliberate departure from the traditional Coke Studio format. Rather than a single creative team overseeing the whole season, the platform, according to reporting from Samaa TV, is meant to reflect “home-studio and bedroom-music culture,” giving artists and producers more room to shape their own sound independently. The lineup for this first edition includes Aaryan SDQ, Afusic, Asim Azhar, Hasan Raheem, Izz Chughtai, Maanu, Sabaat Batin, Shae Gill, Young Stunners, and Zoha Waseem, spanning both established names and newer talent.

Where I Think the Song Works

To be fair to the track, there’s a lot here that’s genuinely well done. The production is clean — Umair’s mix of hip-hop instincts with a more classical, romantic structure is an interesting combination on paper, and it mostly holds together. Raheem’s vocal delivery has the same laid-back, slightly detached quality that’s made his earlier work stand out, and Izzchughtai’s entrance partway through does shift the song’s energy in a way that keeps it from feeling static for its full runtime.

The music video also deserves credit on its own terms. Playing with the visual language of filmi romance instead of taking it completely straight is a smart choice, and it gives the song a bit more personality than the audio does on its own.

Where It Didn’t Land for Me

This is where I want to be clear that I’m giving my own reaction, not a verdict on the song’s objective quality. Rangeen is competent. It’s just not memorable, at least not to me.

Part of it is that the song leans heavily into a mood — soft, breezy, romantic — without giving me much of a hook to hold onto afterward. I finished my first listen and genuinely struggled to hum any part of it back. That’s not always a dealbreaker; plenty of good songs are about atmosphere rather than a chorus you can’t shake. But for a track described as turning “longing, love and youthful romance into something considerably brighter,” I expected the brightness to come through more in the melody itself, not just in the tone of the production.

I also think the song suffers slightly from being one of six tracks all trying to represent a single, larger idea — “Pakistani identity” is a big umbrella, and Rangeen’s job within that structure seems to be the “romance and lightness” slice. That’s a reasonable role for it to play within the larger Nu.WAV project, but taken on its own, outside that context, it feels more like a well-executed mood piece than a song with its own strong identity.

None of this means the song is bad, and I want to be upfront that my take here is genuinely just one listener’s opinion, formed after a handful of listens close to release. Reaction to new Coke Studio songs has historically been mixed and split right down the middle — Hasan Raheem’s own Coke Studio debut, “Peechay Hutt,” drew exactly that kind of divided response back in 2022, with some calling it a highlight of the season and others calling it a disappointment, according to earlier reporting from Aaj English. Rangeen may well land completely differently for someone else, and probably will.

Why Nu.WAV Itself Is Worth Watching, Even If One Song Doesn’t Land

Whatever I think of this particular track, Nu.WAV as a project is a genuinely interesting shift for Coke Studio. After roughly two decades and around 350 songs across 15 seasons reaching audiences in more than 180 countries, according to figures cited by Samaa TV, handing more creative control directly to individual artists and producers — rather than funnelling everything through one central creative vision — is a real change in direction, not just a rebrand.

The platform also opened a public submission process, the Nu.WAV Portal, which reportedly received thousands of entries from singers, dancers, and other creatives across Pakistan, according to The Nation’s coverage. That’s a meaningfully more open door than Coke Studio has traditionally had, and it’s the kind of structural change that’s worth watching over the next few releases, independent of how any single song turns out.

My Take

I don’t think Rangeen is a bad song. I think it’s a polished, well-produced track that simply didn’t grab me the way I hoped it would going in, and I’d rather say that plainly than pretend enthusiasm I didn’t feel. If you enjoy Hasan Raheem’s softer, more romantic register, there’s a decent chance this lands better for you than it did for me. I’d genuinely encourage giving it a listen and forming your own opinion — that’s true of most Coke Studio releases, and it’s especially true here, given how divided reactions to past songs from the same artist have been.

FAQ

EXTERNAL SOURCES

• Coca-Cola Pakistan — Introducing Coke Studio Nu.WAV: https://www.coca-cola.com/pk/en/media-center/introducing-coke-studio-nu-wav
• 24NewsHD — Coke Studio Nu.WAV Continues With Rangeen: https://www.24newshd.tv/18-Sep-2026/coke-studio-nu-wav-continues-rangeen
• The Nation — Coke Studio Nu.WAV, a New Platform for Next Wave of Pakistani Music and Culture: https://www.nation.com.pk/24-Aug-2026/coke-studio-nu-wav-new-platform-next-wave-pakistani-music-culture
• Samaa TV — Coke Studio Announces Nu.WAV Platform to Promote Modern Music: https://www.samaa.tv/2087355638-coke-studio-announces-nu-wav-platform-to-promote-modern-music
• The Express Tribune — Coke Studio Pakistan Launches Nu.WAV as a New Space for Creative Experimentation: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2625399/coke-studio-pakistan-launches-nuwav-as-a-new-space-for-creative-experimentation
• Dawn Images — Say Hello to Nu.WAV: https://images.dawn.com/news/1195710
• Aaj English — Twitter Divided Over New Coke Studio Track “Peechay Hutt”: https://english.aaj.tv/news/30279170/
• Rangeen | Coke Studio Nu.Wav — Official YouTube Release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J78lINC__HE