From a quiet home in Chumoukedima, Nagaland, where his family runs a modest T-shirt printing business, 33-year-old Petevituo Ziekhru is crafting something singular: AI-generated music in Tenyidie and Nagamese, languages rarely recognised on the global tech stage. Ziekhru, who prefers to stay behind the scenes, is the mind behind the YouTube channel Mraimimix.
“I’ve always liked learning and trying new things,” says Ziekhru, who dropped out of college after realising the academic path was not for him. But where traditional routes didn’t work out, curiosity stepped in—and that curiosity eventually led him to the world of AI.
Back in 2015, Ziekhru launched a modest YouTube channel under a different name, dropping a few unassuming videos before letting it go dormant. It wasn’t until the AI wave began to swell in 2023 that he reawakened the channel—now rebranded Mraimimix—as his personal playground for experimentation.
“At that point, it wasn’t specifically about music. It was more just a place for me to explore AI, have some fun trying things out, and share what I was discovering,” he told EastMojo.
But Mraimimix soon found its identity—and its audience—when Ziekhru began experimenting with AI-generated music in Tenyidie, his native language. Despite initial doubts about whether AI could handle the language’s complex pronunciations, the first two AI-Tenyidie songs quickly went viral, racking up lakhs of views.
The track “Kewhira,” a song about Kohima in Tenyidie, took off like wildfire among the locals. The video now sits pretty at over 6.9 lakh views on YouTube.
“I definitely did not expect that kind of response. My intention was simply to experiment—could the AI even handle Tenyidie? It was a big question because current AI models lack training data for the language, which also meant the pronunciation wasn’t going to be perfect. Honestly, given those challenges, I wasn’t really expecting much. So, the huge positive reaction the songs received, even with imperfect pronunciation, was definitely a massive surprise and honestly, something I really thank God for,” he expressed.
Today, Mraimimix is no longer just a pet project. Ziekhru, who still works by day at the family business, now spends his evenings and weekends producing new content. Although with no team behind him—just a PC and his own drive—he writes all the lyrics himself, often drawing from personal experiences and emotions.
Following the success of the Tenyidie tracks, Ziekhru naturally extended his experimentation to Nagamese. “It was really just a mix of curiosity and messing around with the AI tools I was exploring. I saw what AI could do, mostly with major languages like English, and that made me curious to try it with our own local languages. So, I started with Tenyidie, my native language. It was purely an experiment. After those first tries with Tenyidie, trying Nagamese felt like the natural next step,” he said.
Now, he’s keen on incorporating more Naga dialects into his work. While his initial experiments were not meant as a linguistic mission, Ziekhru has come to appreciate the role Mraimimix might play in promoting local languages. “If hearing these AI songs makes someone more aware of another Naga language, or maybe even helps them pick up a word or two, then I think that’s a really positive and valuable outcome,” he said.
Even as his digital alter ego grows, Ziekhru maintains a low profile. “I generally do prefer to keep my personal identity somewhat separate from the Mraimimix channel. I’ve often mentioned wanting to remain anonymous when people ask. It’s not about being overly secretive, but more about wanting the focus to stay on the AI experiments and the content itself, rather than on me personally,” he said.
As AI continues to spark debates around creativity and the future of artistry, Ziekhru sees it differently. “I think AI is just a tool. It can never replace the feeling, emotion, or connection that real musicians and artists bring to their work. So instead of viewing AI as a threat, it makes more sense to see it as a tool, or even a rough sketch, that helps you get from point A to point B faster than before. It doesn’t replace the artist, it just speeds up the process. What you do with it still depends entirely on your own vision and creativity,” he explained.
Currently, Ziekhru tries to release new content every weekend, balancing his passion project with real-world responsibilities. As for the future, he’s keeping things open. “Right now, it’s mostly about experimenting,” he said. “I don’t have any big long-term plans yet. But I am curious about whether AI could eventually be helpful for things related to Naga languages—maybe some kind of simple tool or resource. That’s just a thought.”
Ziekhru also shared a last message saying, “Don’t be scared of AI. Try to learn a little bit about it when you’re free. You don’t need to be some kind of expert. Just be curious, maybe play around with it a little, learn step-by-step. You never know, it might lead to something cool.”
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