Talha Anjum has hit back at his critics after retaining his position as Pakistan’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the second consecutive year.
After dethroning Atif Aslam in 2024, the rapper recorded 370 million streams in 2025, as confirmed by Spotify during its annual Wrapped event on Thursday.
In a celebratory Instagram post, Anjum said retaining the top spot did not surprise him. He said he owes the achievement “to my hard work, to my fans and my team that has stuck by me all these years”.
He also took aim at his critics, calling out “the media and the industry” for trying to “pull [him] down” and make people hate him for “being [himself]”. Anjum said he faced “boycotts, bans, petty disses, legal notices, sham news articles and false narratives” from those who wanted to “see [him] fall”.
He added that despite all of “their little schemes”, Urdu rap remains on top, “exactly where it was a year back”. He ended his message by telling those wishing for his downfall to “pray hard and work harder” and said he would see them again next year.
Anjum also enjoyed major commercial success this year with his album My Terrible Mind, which crossed nearly 84 million streams on Spotify. His most popular track of the year, Departure Lane, gained 46 million streams from 7.5 million listeners, averaging nearly six streams per listener.
The year also brought controversy for the rapper, most notably during his Kathmandu concert in November.
A fan handed him an Indian flag during the performance, and Anjum placed it over his shoulders. Indian listeners formed the largest national group among his audience this year.
Anjum later described the gesture on stage as an act of respect and love and said he would repeat it in a now-deleted post on X.
However, public reaction remained divided, as many viewed the act as inappropriate during a period of strained Pakistan-India relations.
He later offered an apology to Pakistani fans after facing tough questions on television from anchor Nadia Khan.