New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2012 -- “MC Yogi is changing the face of devotional music in America.” – NPR
“The world needs more artists like MC Yogi.” – Russell Simmons
Mindful Talent recording artist MC Yogi will release his highly anticipated sophomore album, Pilgrimage, on June 19, 2012. A prolific MC and genre-bending musician, Yogi draws from his life’s journey—a high school drop-out graffiti artist who reemerged as a student of Hindu philosophy, a revered yoga teacher, an icon for the alternative lifestyle movement—to offer a refreshing and inspirational sound. The album is appropriately titled for the sacred musical journey it offers listeners, offering up a global sonic tapestry from dancehall to Bollywood, reggae to hip-hop, Raga to soul.
A self-described fusion of ancient yoga teachings and modern street culture, MC Yogi describes Pilgrimage as “a sonic trip, a journey toward the Self, toward what the yoga masters call the Supreme Soul. Everything went into this record to make it a full, authentic, transformative yogic experience on the dance floor.”
The first single, “Give Love,” is an infectious dance-floor anthem with a life-affirming call to action: “If you want love, you have to give love away,” a defining lyric from perhaps the only MC who can be found beatboxing over an OM chant. The video for the track, which quietly appeared last Spring on YouTube, has over 260,000 plays to date.
MC Yogi’s Pilgrimage also features world-renowned Indian musicians, from celebrated sitarist Deobrat Mishra to vocalist Mahesh Vinayakram (son of Grammy-winning Indian percussionist Vikku Vinayakram), all giving the record a rich, multi-instrumental feel like few others in modern hip-hop. Tracks like “Ganesha (Sound The Horn)” and “Born To Fly” are instantly infectious, while simultaneously pushing the higher consciousness-minded, alternative-rap movement ever forward.
This summer MC Yogi will perform at the Wanderlust Festival, which makes stops in Vermont (June 21-24), Colorado (June 5-8), California (July 26-29), and Canada (August 23-26). Yogi will also appear at numerous other festivals, including Electric Forest and Tadasana.
Pilgrimage is Yogi’s first album since his 2008 critically acclaimed debut, Elephant Power, which still appears atop the world music chart on iTunes. Elephant Power’s extraordinary success brought Yogi invitations to play in dance clubs, festivals and yoga studios all over the world. Drawing on that acclaim, Starbucks tapped MC Yogi for their “Are You In?” advertising campaign, which asked viewers to volunteer to be part of President Barack Obama's call for national service. The campaign used the words and lyrics to Yogi’s “Grassroots Movement.” Now the time has come for phase two. In MC Yogi’s words, “I’m just a working class mystic” – but for a generation seeking a healthier, spiritually enlightened, holistic way of living, his music is an essential soundtrack for that journey.
http://www.mcyogi.com / http://velourmusic.com/mcyogi
http://www.facebook.com/mcyogi108 / www.twitter.com/mcyogi108
Publicity Contact:
Lauren Papapietro | Susan Blond, Inc.
(212) 333-7728 x132 | Laurenp@susanblondinc.com