Rooted to the Sound
Melding folk music with modern influences, the Tetseo Sisters have taken their Naga roots to an international audience
In the music video for the Tetseo Sisters’ 2019 hit ‘Hiyo’, the four Chakhesang Naga siblings stand in the centre circle of a misty football field, garbed in white traditional dress. Straight out of K-pop, a pitch-shifted vocal melody repeats a simple phrase in Chokri as the sisters perform elegant folk-dance moves. Bright synths shimmer, the production dripping with contemporary-pop gloss.
However, the beating heart of ‘Hiyo’ is the earthy vitality of its inspiration—a traditional Naga work song that weaves its beauty out of the simple rhythms and harmonies of communal labour. ‘Hiyo’—like much of the Tetseo Sisters’ recent music—is a masterclass in how to bring folk in conversation with contemporary music, without losing the purity of emotion of the original.
The four sisters—Mütsevelü (Mercy), Azine (Azi), Kuvelü (Kuku) and Alüne (Lulu), often accompanied by brother/ guitarist/ producer Mhaseve—from Kohima have been performing Chokri folk songs (called ‘Li’) as well as folk-fusion since 1994, when the youngest of them was still a toddler.
“We were very interested in performing, whether it was in our own living room or in school and church,” says Mercy over the phone. “Music was a part of our social circle, and there were a lot of opportunities to perform. Eventually, it became more professional, and we started getting paid to perform.”
What gave the sisters an edge was that while most people sang western pop in school or hymns and gospels in church, they were one of the rare groups that sang traditional folk music, often adapted to the context. Mercy recalls how their mother helped them write gospel lyrics in Chokri, so they could sing folk songs in church. “We became popular, and when Doordarshan came to Kohima, we recorded a couple of programmes and they would be broadcast on repeat,” she says. “From there, it just took off.”
The release of their debut album Li Chapter One:
The Beginning in 2011 saw the sisters get national, and eventually international attention. Since then, they’ve won a litany of awards, performed at some of the top stages in India and its neighbourhood. They have built a massive fanbase on YouTube, thanks to their faithful interpretations of Li and other folk music, as well as an eye for tasteful experiment— dance edits, K-pop collaborations and even hip hop-tinged protest-pop.
The Tetseo Sisters have spent most of the pandemic creating new music, with two singles in the pipeline, a sophomore album nearing completion and a 10-track OST they’ve finished for an upcoming Indian indie film. But they’re itching to perform at the Hornbill festival to do what they love: introducing Naga kids and others to the wonder of Li.
“Many have an idea that the Northeast is one big mass of people who are very similar, but we are very different states, very different tribes,” says Mercy. “To talk about it and create some curiosity feels like an achievement.” ■