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Warner Music India has launched season two of “Maati,” its folk music franchise, opening on Sept. 3 with the Sufi qawwali “Jalwa-e-Jaanaan” as the eight-track season begins rolling out across eight languages.
Anurag
Saikia composed the music for the first track, which features vocals by Jyoti Nooran and lyrics by Shakeel Azmi. This qawwali is based on the Sufi concept of Wahdat al-Wujud, also known as the Unity of Being. The song examines the connection between the seeker and the creator.
Season 2 spans the Koshur/Hindi, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Telugu, Haryanvi, Urdu and Kannada languages. The lineup brings together contemporary and folk artists including Shubha Mudgal, Alif, Sudan, Orfo, Sublahshini, Keli Thee, Saikia, Nooran, Kalpana Patowary, Mangli, Sanjith Hegde, MC Square and Satindar Sartaj.
Each track in the new season is tied to a specific place tied to its tradition, with the artists, communities and regional settings built into the visual presentation of the music itself.
Nooran said, “‘Jalwa-e-Jaanaan’ carries a beautiful thought that the divine and the seeker are not separate, but find meaning in each other. Singing a piece with such depth was a truly soulful experience, and I hope its emotion resonates with listeners beyond language.”
Saikia said the track’s soundscape aimed to hold the depth of Azmi’s poetry and Nooran’s voice while retaining the soul of Sufi music. “The song explores love, devotion and the pursuit of the divine, and Maati gave us the opportunity to revisit this timeless tradition through a contemporary musical lens while staying true to its essence,” he said.
“Maati” launched in October 2024 and its debut season has reached more than 78 million digitally. Season 2 widens that footprint, extending the franchise’s musical and cultural range while keeping its focus on its traditions.
Jay Mehta, managing director of Warner Music India and SAARC, said, “India’s folk traditions are a living part of our culture. They carry stories, ideas and ways of seeing the world that have travelled across generations. With ‘Maati,’ our ambition is to bring these traditions to new audiences while giving the artists and communities behind them the recognition they deserve. Season 2 takes that ambition further, bringing together languages, artists and cultural landscapes, while staying true to the music at its heart.”
