Uyghur pop singer detained in 2018 resurfaces with a new music video and reissued songs

Ablajan Awut Ayup, reported to have been sentenced to 11 years, appears in a video that behind-the-scenes images indicate was filmed this year, and in photographs posted by people around him. When he left custody, and on what terms, remains unconfirmed.

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (Közet) – Ablajan Awut Ayup, the Uyghur pop singer who vanished from public view in 2018 and was later reported to be serving an 11-year prison sentence, has resurfaced with a new music video, a reissued collection of his songs and photographs posted by people around him, material reviewed by Közet shows.

The video, titled “完美,” or “Perfect,” opens with a graphic bearing the singer’s Chinese name and the year 2026. Behind-the-scenes images posted on Xiaohongshu on Oct. 9 by an account under the name “barber~ALiM,” tagged with Ablajan’s name and the song title, show a man having his hair styled on sets resembling those in the video. His lightened, spiked hair matches Ablajan’s in a photograph that singer Gulmire Turghun says was taken about half a year ago. Together, the images indicate the video was filmed this year.

The release is the most visible sign yet that Ablajan, known to fans as AJ, has returned to public life. Separate photographs and footage circulating on Chinese platforms show him smiling and posing in a social setting, and Gulmire Turghun has posted pictures of the two together. Taken with the video, the material supports reports that he is no longer in prison. It does not show when he was freed or under what conditions.

Közet has not confirmed the filming date with Ablajan, his representatives or 星外星音乐, the label credited with producing the video.

Ablajan was detained during Beijing’s mass detention of Uyghurs and other Turkic and predominantly Muslim peoples, a campaign the United States has determined to be genocide and crimes against humanity. China rejects those characterizations and has described the facilities as vocational training centers set up to counter extremism.

What the video shows

“Perfect” appears on a WeChat Channels account identifying itself as “阿卜拉江 AblajanAwutAyup.” The roughly three-minute video features choreographed performances and neon-lit scenes, and its caption credits 星外星音乐 with production.

Nothing in the video states when it was filmed. The Xiaohongshu images show a hairstylist at work on a rooftop, on a dark stage-lit set and under purple neon light, along with two group photographs of what appears to be a production crew. The post carries the hashtags #AblajanAwutAyup and #完美. Közet has not established who currently operates the artist accounts promoting the video.

A related account, “Aj流行团队,” lists an Oct. 3, 2026 release date for “时光星册,” a compilation that its description says contains 12 representative original songs from Ablajan’s career with new mastering, released by the same label. That description points to a reissue, not to 12 newly recorded songs.

The same post directs listeners to what it calls Ablajan’s new account on the Qishui music platform. A profile there bearing his full name repeats the compilation description and displays song posts titled “Omak jananim” and “Maxrap nawasi.” Közet has not confirmed who runs it.

Signs of a return

A compilation posted Oct. 9 by the account “爱妃啦” (Alfire) shows photographs and moving footage of Ablajan with a woman in an indoor social setting. The dates on which the images were made are not shown and have not been established.

“Finally, AJ’s new song is here,” the account’s author wrote, adding that she first heard the song half a year earlier and spent six months preparing. If accurate, that would place the song in circulation among people close to the project by roughly spring 2026. It does not date the images.

A post on WeChat the same day under the name of Gulmire Turghun, displayed in Chinese as 古丽米拉吐尔洪, includes photographs of her with Ablajan. “The time has now come to post the picture taken half a year ago,” the Uyghur caption reads. “Congratulations on the new songs, and may even greater success be yours, Ablajan.” A line in Chinese adds congratulations on the new song. The photographs’ precise date has not been confirmed.

Both posts appeared six days after the compilation’s listed Oct. 3 release date. Neither says why the images were held back for about half a year, or what changed. Közet could not determine whether the timing was coordinated or who decided it.

On Douyin and Weibo, viewers greeted the release with nostalgia and with questions. “Welcome back, my childhood,” one commenter wrote. “At last, a new song is online. Welcome back to the stage,” wrote another. A third wrote: “It’s enough that you’ve come back safely, brother.”

Others asked whether he had been released. In one recirculated exchange, a viewer asks, “Is AJ back, brother?” and an account describing itself as a clothing-brand operator answers, “Yes, for a long time.” The reply suggests some people understood his return to predate the music promotion. It offers no date and nothing about his legal status.

From crossover star to prisoner

Ablajan built his following on Uyghur-language pop, including songs for children. In a March 2017 video profileheadlined “The Uighur pop singer trying to build bridges,” the BBC presented him as a popular performer who hoped his music could connect Uyghur and Han Chinese audiences, against a backdrop of discrimination and marginalization reported by Uyghurs.

The last visible personal post on his official Weibo account is dated Feb. 13, 2018. That marks when he stopped posting, not when he was detained.

Rights Defense Network, a China-focused monitoring group, reported in December 2022 that he had been sentenced to 11 years in December 2018. It said the charges and the prison were unknown. Közet found no public announcement by Chinese authorities of a case against him.

China Political Prisoner Concern, another monitoring group, says on its case page that it learned in September 2026 that Ablajan had been released early after a sentence reduction, and alleges that he faces restrictions on public speech and appearances. The page cites no release document and no named source. September is when the group says it learned of the release, not when it occurred.

The wider campaign

The U.S. government determined in January 2021 that China’s actions against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Chinese government’s name for the region, amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, and it has maintained that position. In August 2022, the U.N. human rights office said the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. Beijing dismissed both findings.

Musicians, writers and scholars were among those detained, including the singers Nureli Haji and Shireli Eltikin, whose arrests VOA reported in 2023.

For Ablajan’s audience, the questions that matter are still open: when he left custody, whether restrictions on him remain, and whether the new video marks a full return to performing.

“When will there be a concert?” one viewer asked.

Social-media descriptions and translated comments are drawn from posts and videos reviewed by Közet. They are not interviews.

Correction, Oct. 9, 2026: An earlier version of this report, including its headline, said the “Perfect” music video appeared to use footage recorded in Shanghai in early 2018, before Ablajan’s detention. Behind-the-scenes images posted after publication indicate the video was filmed in 2026. The headline, the summary, the opening paragraphs and the section describing the video have been revised.