Manipuri Folk Singer-Composer Mangka Collaborates with Wales Electro-Soul Artist Eadyth

Without getting the chance to meet owing to the pandemic and its travel restrictions, Manipuri folk artist Mangka Mayanglambam and Aberfan, Wales-based bilingual singer-producer Eadyth Crawford created a wavy new fusion song called “ReRaReHei.”

With help from ace producer and sound engineer Miti Adhikari – out in Goa now – the song took shape seamlessly, incorporating Manipuri and Welsh. Although they worked on it remotely, Mangka and Eadyth finally met in May 2022, when the duo had a four-date tour, including a performance at showcase festival Focus Wales. Mangka says, “Performing live always feels different.”

The song was born out of Ziro Focus, a collaborative project between Arunachal Pradesh’s annual Ziro Festival of Music and Focus Wales, which is supported by British Council as part of their larger bilateral cultural program India/UK Together, Season of Culture. Although Eadyth could not perform in India at Ziro in September last year, the collaboration and friendship between the artists is strong. Mangka – who also plays a regional stringed instrument called the pena – says “ReRaReHei” is about “our birth land; the beauty of nature and the love we express in our own genres and languages.”

Both artists also have a penchant for collaborations, be it for studio material or live performances. Mangka had previously worked with Portuguese pop act Cla in 2017, while Eadyth just released a song called “All These Dreams” with songwriter Mercy Shibemba and vocalist Aliyah Wiggins. “ReRaReHei,” for its part, even exists on the blockchain, with NFTs made available to buy and trade, with perks including access to performances in the future.

Mangka for her part is also working on her next international collaboration. “I also plan to spend more time with my students, conducting classes on Manipuri Folk and traditional music and culture,” she adds.

Listen to “ReRaReHei” below.