(*~Special Announcement: 3-Day Tix to Bhaktifest $150- until July 31st!~*)
What happens when you combine yoga and hip hop? In the hands of recording artist MC Yogi, you get a first-of-its kind new record mixing the energy, beats and vocal stylings of rap music with traditional Indian instruments, kirtan-style chanting and yoga-inspired lyrics. With 13 original tracks celebrating Indian mythology and spirituality, MC Yogi’s genre-bending debut, ELEPHANT POWER, offers a devotional hip hop experience.
“Someone could make the argument that yoga and hip hop are polar opposites,” admits MC Yogi aka Nicholas Giacomini, a yoga teacher and studio owner in Point Reyes, California. “But yoga—which means ‘union’ in Sanskrit—is about joining opposites. It was really just taking two things I loved and putting them together.”
Yogi, a graffiti artist as well as an MC and yoga teacher, has been listening to hip hop since he was six years old and free-styling since he was 14. He first began rapping about the inspiring characters and ideals of ancient India around 2000. His simple yet revolutionary idea was reignited at his wedding reception when, watching a friend singing along to the Beastie Boys‘ “Brass Monkey” while pointing to a statue of Hanuman, the mischievous monkey god of Indian mythology, Yogi realized he could create an album bridging the cultures of yoga and hip hop .
The result is not a preachy record. ELEPHANT POWER features upbeat, enlightening tracks singing the praises of Hindu deities and celebrating the higher principles of yoga—a refreshing contrast to mainstream rap’s notorious glorification of thug life. Hip hop-style break beats form the backdrop to MC Yogi’s rhyming, while an impressive list of guest singers and musicians add vocals and instrumentation. From tablas to turntables, sitars to samples, the music was masterfully composed, engineered and co-produced with the help of Yogi’s childhood friend Robin Livingston, engineer at Ursa Minor, a recording studio in San Rafael, California.
Featured guests on ELEPHANT POWER include Grammy-nominated world music pioneer Jai Uttal; iconic wandering mystic and musician Bhagavan Das, who introduced the famed Ram Dass to his guru in the 1960s; kirtan singer Krishna Das, dubbed by the New York Times as “the American chant master”; Sharon Gannon, singer and co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga in Manhattan; and Rita Sahai, a vocalist referred to by Ali Akbar Khan as “the jewel of music.” Other guests include Pakistani qawwali singer Sukhawat Ali Khan, popular Nepalese flute player Manose and multi-percussionist Geoffrey Gordon. New York native Sean Dinsmore, whose Dum Dum Project pioneered the mixing of Indian sampling with electronica in the late-1990s, flew in from Shanghai to co-produce the record after hearing a few sample tracks.
"I got a random email from a rapper one day saying his name was MC Yogi," remembers Sean. "Clicking on the attached mp3, I heard something I wasn't expecting. That early version of “Ganesh is Fresh” had mad energy jolting through it. A month later I was landing at SFO, ready to produce ELEPHANT POWER!"
Standout tracks include the revelatory “Rock On Hanuman” and the galloping anthem “Ganesh Is Fresh”—sophisticated productions described by Giacomini as “sonic pujas” (a puja is a Hindu form of deity worship). The psychedelic “Son of Shiva” is a modern telling of how Ganesh, the elephant-headed god known as the lord of beginnings and god of prosperity, came to be (after mistakenly cutting off his own son’s head, the god Shiva replaces it with the head of an elephant). “Be the Change” is the timely tale of Mahatma Gandhi’s life story, sampling his speeches and reminding us of the power of the individual to inspire change in the world—a philosophy well-exemplified by Yogi’s approach to making ELEPHANT POWER.
ELEPHANT POWER is a new musical hybrid, the result of two cultures colliding - and then merging. Through his love for the yoga tradition and urban American music, MC Yogi brings us
a modern incarnation of an ancient tradition: Yoga Hip Hop!
Come do the Divine Dance & Sacred Chant with MC Yogi,
(among many others!) joined by Robin Livingston of the "Bhakti Brothers" and DJ Drez at the Bhakifest in Joshua Tree Calif., September 11-13.
For more info on the Massive Lineup of Kirtan Wallahs, Festival Features and Tickets: www.bhaktifest.com
~*ADVANCE TICKET SPECIAL*~ 3-Day Tix: $150- Until July 31!
For more info on MC Yogi and how to get his Chakra-Opening CD "Elephant Power," go to www.mcyogi.com
No comments:
Post a Comment