Over the years, Aftab has collaborated with performers like Meshell Ndegeocello, Badi Assad, Jace Clayton, Vijay Iyer, Rafiq Bhatia, Shahzad Ismaily, Leo Genovese, Toshi Reagon, Maeve Gilchrist, Petros Klampanis, Magda Giannikou, Gyan Riley and many others. She has said time and again that she has been inspired by performers like Abbey Lincoln, Abida Parveen, Anoushka Shankar, Begum Akhtar, Esperanza Spalding, Jeff Buckley, Julius Eastman, Meshell Ndegeocello, Morton Feldman, and Terry Riley. Aftab has also stated her respect for fellow singer Billie Eilish. Lyrically, Aftab has credited Asian poets such as Rumi, Mirza Ghalib, and Hafeez Hoshiarpuri as her all-time favourites from whom she often keeps taking influences. She also finds a lot of her inspiration from Urdu Ghazals that she tries to even incorporate into her own music.