Indian culture is far from monolithic. Really, “Indian” feels like an umbrella term, encompassing countless rich regional cultures and traditions. This makes diversity an inherent property of the Indian identity– loving our culture means opening ourselves up to extraordinary opportunities for creative exchange.
Warner Music India’s new project, ‘Maati’, embraces Indigenous talents from across the country to celebrate the beauty of our diversity. Its title– meaning 'dirt' – embodies the project's core; these melodies come straight from the soil, the motherland. Powered by boAt, the musical project includes eight original songs in eight different languages, each hailing from a different region of India. But ‘Maati’ isn’t just about spotlighting Indian tradition. It reimagines folk musical styles with a modern twist, incorporating contemporary pop elements into each song.
This approach captures the essence of a modern India: rooted in tradition while branching out into a globalised new sound. Just as folk traditions no longer exist solely within their localities, music surpasses boundaries, creating a sound as transcendent as the word ‘Indian.’
Every week, Warner Music India drops a new song from ‘Maati’ with a performance video reminiscent of the Coke Studios style. Their roll-out started last week, with the release of ‘Bawla’, a bubbly, vibrant track whose mixture of Rajasthani folk and disco-funk elements perfectly expresses its message about living freely. Sushant Divgikar, also known as Rani KoHEnur, provides the song’s powerful vocals, performing alongside classical music duo The Khan Brothers and the song’s composer and producer, Mikey McCleary.
These artists, hailing from drastically different cultural and creative backgrounds, came together as a musical force of innovation. ‘Bawla’ works because each member of its creative team brings a unique flair to the song; it's an amalgamation of funky bass lines laid over Rajasthani percussion, bright brass sections layered over Indian classical vocals.
The significance of a gender-fluid drag icon taking centre stage on a project empowering Indian history is also not lost on me. Rani KoHEnur is a modern icon, and watching them twirl across the ‘Maati’ stage decked out in a lavish ghagra, dripping with jewels, is a revelation. Musically and culturally, this project seems to welcome a much-needed step forward.
This week, Warner Music India dropped ‘Style’, a Telegu self-empowerment anthem sung by Prateek Naganatham and Madhubanti Bagchi. The song uses a mix of traditional and contemporary instruments for its neo-classical sound, once again showing us that classical does not mean stuck in the past. The electronic drums recreate a South Indian percussive rhythm while guitars, a shehnai, and even a violin play overtop. The song’s outro is masterfully layered, building as an electric guitar croons and the vocalists let loose. If nothing else, the song is an incredible representation of Andra's music and artistry.
It’s important to note that fusion music isn’t new by any means; artists have been intermixing Indian classical elements with a Western pop sound for decades. But ‘Maati’ is exciting because it capitalises on the aspects of different Indian folk genres that make them interesting. Rather than tackling these genres with a conventional approach, they bring a diverse set of artists to every song, allowing them to build off of each other’s unique perspectives to create something special.
‘Maati’ is part of an exciting wider Indian trend, where traditions aren’t just used as a point of inspiration, but evolution. As our social landscape grows increasingly interconnected, it only makes sense that our art does too; we don’t have to lose touch with the intricacies of our customs, but we also aren’t confined by them.
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