[3] She taught herself the guitar and gradually acquired her singing style while listening to Billie Holiday, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Mariah Carey, and Begum Akhtar.

At that time, Aftab lived in a country where access to Western online platforms was difficult, and the infrastructure for independent music was lacking.

In this context, however, she promoted her music in Pakistan, being one of the first musicians to use the Internet in the early 2000s; her renditions of "Mera Pyaar" and "Hallelujah" went viral and launched the Pakistani indie scene.

[3][7] In April 2011, Aftab was included in the "100 Composers Under 40" selection launched by NPR and WQXR-FM's Q2 (a contemporary classical music internet radio station).

[14] In 2020, Aftab sang, among other vocalists, on Residente's Latin Grammy Award-winning single "Antes Que El Mundo Se Acabe".

[27] It was ranked number twenty by The Guardian on their list of the "50 best albums of 2021", and Laura Snapes named Aftab "[t]he year's biggest musical revelation".

[50] Aftab's lineup will include performances by herself, her father, Aja Monet, Dina El Wedidi, Meshell Ndegeocello, Noura Mint Seymali, and Zsela.

[3] She has mentioned Abbey Lincoln, Abida Parveen, Anoushka Shankar, Begum Akhtar, Esperanza Spalding, Jeff Buckley, Julius Eastman, Meshell Ndegeocello, Morton Feldman, and Terry Riley as her influences.

Lyrically, Aftab has cited Asian poets as influences such as Rumi, Mirza Ghalib, and Hafeez Hoshiarpuri[3] and uses Urdu Ghazal.

In 2022 she spoke at Global Citizens' Women of Influence panel on The Power of Gender in Shaping Culture alongside Gayle King, Pharrell Williams and Gloria Steinem.

[55] In 2024 Aftab once again joined the Global Citizen action platform dedicated to achieving the end of extreme poverty, performing her song "Diya Hai" from her 2022 album Vulture Prince.