25/08/2025
Jayenta Loukrakpam, known to the world as TAPTA, was born in 1966 at Naranseina Mamang Leikai, Bishnupur. The youngest of three siblings, he grew up in a modest family where survival mattered more than dreams. Yet, from an early age, music called to him louder than anything else.
Through school and college, he balanced studies with his hidden passion, sneaking moments to sing and perform whenever he could. In Guwahati, he bought a guitar and played it so obsessively that landlords threw him out of twelve rented houses. People mocked him, saying he had been sent to study computers but returned with nothing but a guitar. He carried the shame, but never put the instrument down.
The road was lined with rejection and ridicule. Fellow artists dismissed his compositions, neighbors laughed at his choices, and even within his own circle, many thought he had wasted his future. But every insult became fuel. Every obstacle strengthened his rhythm. What others brushed off as noise, he turned into a new sound: raw, fearless, and unforgettable.
He built groups, played in small concerts for fifty-rupee payments, and poured himself into every performance. For TAPTA, all songs were equal, good or bad was for the audience to decide. He believed rhythm mattered more than words, because music is something you feel before you understand.
Over the years, he shaped his songs into categories, from romance to patriotism, from environmental awareness to social issues. Each carried his mark, a style that refused to imitate and dared to stand apart.
From being mocked as a boy with “just a guitar” to becoming the pioneer of Manipuri fusion music, TAPTA’s journey was not one of smooth success, but of resilience. He is the man who sang against the odds and in doing so, gave Manipur a voice that could never be silenced.
This is a mini article on TAPTA, gathered from different sources across the internet. DM us for any corrections or additions.
