How Indian indie’s new sound is evolving into multi-lingual music

Rhythmic Tamil syllables blended with lofi jazz This is Kanokol Jazz an experiment by Delhibased guitarist and producer Rajkanwar Sodhi where the mathematics of Tamil konnakol vocal percussion in Carnatic music meets the ease of lofi jazzFor decades diaspora acts have layered classical ragas over Western beats a style that came to be known as Indian fusion or world music Now a fresh wave of homegrown musicians are singing in their mother tongues to global sounds not for exotic appeal but to say something personalSodhirsquos track Kanokol Jazz fuses Tamil vocal rhythms Yawar Abdal sings in Kashmiri Madhura Ghane better known as Mahi G raps in Marathi and showcases her Mahadev Koli tribal culture in videos Increasingly artistes are singing in languages beyond English and HindiRaghav Meattle founder of artiste collective Firstwav Varun Parikh founder of Bay Owl Studios Akhila ShankarldquoIdentity plays a big rolerdquo says Raghav Meattle singersongwriter and founder of Firstwav an artiste collective ldquoMore artistes now know that they can be authentic I began writing in English and over time switched to Hindi It was because when I started my music was centred around my experiences as a 24yearold in Mumbairdquo he says explaining that artistes are increasingly singing in regional tongues as art is a form of personal expressionFor Sodhi who has always created lofi music with Indian elements finding a kanokol record and blending it with jazz was an experiment ldquoThis track has attracted a lot of desi audiences all over the world with most listeners in Indiardquo he says adding that itrsquos natural for audiences to be drawn to such music ldquoIndian elements would definitely evoke more emotions because this is more relatable to usrdquo he saysSpeaking on how more artistes are making music in their mother tongue and bringing elements of their region he says he sees it growing ldquoMusic production being so accessible anyone can get a DAW Digital Audio Workstation and start working Ease of production has helped newer artistesrdquo says SodhiAcross India online platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud playlist curation and independent distribution now champion regional voices Varun Parikh founder of Bay Owl Studios and director at Abbey Road Institute Mumbai seconds this ldquoStreaming platforms allow decentralising and democratising music distribution Of course artistes try to get playlisted to give their music a further push But you no longer have to be discovered on mainstream platforms alonerdquoMoreover algorithms of streaming platforms are language agnostic mdash another reason for artiste confidence Parikh says ldquoMost algorithms donrsquot prioritise language they focus on production quality and engagement So you can be hyperlocal and still be globally relevantrdquoAkhila Shankar head of digital music aggregator TuneCore South Asia points out that when streaming services started in India the music available was largely English This was of course more to do with the fact that urban audiences sought these platforms first as they already had some exposure to them ldquoAs streaming platforms went deeper into regional India this shifted especially with the advent of 3Grdquo she saysShe adds that regional music has already existed We only see more artistes getting more personal with it because there are more roads available to them Shankar mentions that in the five years since TuneCorersquos launch English has topped the market followed by Hindi Punjabi Tamil and Bengali And therersquos a growing popularity in Malayalam music as wellWhorsquos listening to hyperlocal music All of India is Parikh says ldquoIndians are language agnostic when it comes to music Take the song Sapphire as an example Itrsquos two artistes blending language and music Independent musicians can now experiment without worrying who is going to take itrdquoMeattle believes this is the natural evolution of music so listeners are tuned in ldquoThe world over we listen to so much African and Latin music without understanding the language Yawar Abdalrsquos song Dilshad popped in Kerala even though it had Kashmiri lyrics I think it just needs to be a good record Language doesnrsquot matter Can I still understand what the artiste is saying even if it is not in a language I understand I believe that music that will travel anywhere will always have substancerdquo says MeattleShankar says the new problem is that a lot of music is being created mdash 98000 tracks are released every day and 60 to 70 per cent of them get zero streams ldquoEveryone has equal access to entry now but not to grow The next challenge is how to grow your fan baserdquoIs that worrying Not at all ldquoThe future of music is multilingual Desi hiphop is uniquely Indian itrsquos not American hiphop in Hindirdquo says Shankar ldquoThe way Indian artistes are approaching music gives us an edge Artistes in India are creatively aheadrdquo she adds listing examples like metal band Bloodywood who use elements of dholParikh adds that soon itrsquos going to be difficult to even differentiate and categorise music ldquoWe are not going to be able to label genres There are so many different layers cultures unique instrumentshellip therersquos no limit to itrdquo