Warner Music India Unveils Season 2 of Folk Music Franchise ‘Maati’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Warner Music India has pulled back the curtain on the sophomore season of its ambitious folk music project, “Maati,” with the first release arriving on September 3rd. Leading the charge is “Jalwa-e-Jaanaan,” a Sufi qawwali that serves as the opening movement of an eight-song collection spanning eight distinct Indian languages. The track unites the formidable vocal range of Jyoti Nooran with the compositional artistry of Anurag Saikia, while Shakeel Azmi contributes the poetic foundation. Thematically, the qawwali draws its spiritual core from Wahdat al-Wujud—the Sufi doctrine of the Unity of Being—which examines the profound, indivisible connection between the devotee and the divine. This philosophical underpinning gives the song a meditative quality that distinguishes it from more conventional devotional fare.

Season 2 of “Maati” casts an impressively wide linguistic net, encompassing Koshur/Hindi, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Telugu, Haryanvi, Urdu, and Kannada. The roster is an eclectic mix of mainstream crossover acts and grassroots folk custodians, featuring the likes of Shubha Mudgal, Alif, Sudan, Orfo, Sublahshini, Keli Thee, Saikia, Nooran, Kalpana Patowary, Mangli, Sanjith Hegde, MC Square, and Satindar Sartaj. Mudgal, a towering presence in Hindustani classical circles whose career has spanned everything from khayal to pop collaborations, lends considerable artistic weight to the lineup. Notably, each composition is tethered to a specific geographic anchor—a village, region, or cultural hub that serves as the wellspring for its particular musical idiom. The accompanying visual components are designed to weave in the artists themselves, local community members, and the surrounding landscapes, transforming each release into a holistic cultural document rather than a mere audio file.

For Nooran, the inaugural track carries deeply personal resonance. “’Jalwa-e-Jaanaan’ holds a beautiful thought—that the divine and the seeker are not separate, but find meaning in one another,” she reflected. “Performing a piece with such emotional and spiritual weight was genuinely moving, and I hope its essence reaches listeners regardless of the language they speak.” Nooran, who first captured national attention as one half of the celebrated Nooran Sisters duo from Punjab with the breakout Sufi hit “Patakha Guddi,” has long gravitated toward spiritually rich material. Saikia, a National Award-winning composer from Assam recognized for his ability to weave folk textures into cinematic scores, explained that the track’s sonic architecture was deliberately built to serve both Azmi’s verse and Nooran’s instrument-like voice. “The song explores love, devotion, and the search for the divine,” he noted. “’Maati’ gave us the space to revisit this timeless tradition through a contemporary lens while preserving its authentic soul.” His track record—bridging regional folk idioms with modern production—makes him a particularly apt architect for this material.

The “Maati” franchise, which first emerged in October 2024, has already demonstrated considerable digital momentum, with its debut season accumulating more than 78 million streams. Season 2 is positioned to build on that foundation, broadening the project’s geographic and stylistic reach while staying anchored to its mission of honoring venerable traditions. Jay Mehta, managing director of Warner Music India and SAARC, framed the initiative as a cultural imperative rather than a commercial exercise. “India’s folk traditions are not museum pieces—they are living, breathing expressions of community memory,” he said. “With ‘Maati,’ we aim to introduce these traditions to fresh ears while ensuring the artists and communities who sustain them receive their due recognition. Season 2 deepens that commitment, uniting languages, performers, and cultural terrains without ever losing sight of the music itself.” The project arrives at a critical juncture: cultural historians and ethnomusicologists have repeatedly warned that folk traditions across the subcontinent face erosion from rapid urbanization and the homogenizing pull of mainstream commercial sounds. By pairing seasoned practitioners with contemporary interpreters, the franchise hopes to forge a sustainable intergenerational bridge—one that keeps these musical forms not merely preserved, but actively evolving in the digital era.