Swami are a British Indian pop/alt/bhangra band from Birmingham, England. Swami is also the pseudonym of the band's lead performer, producer, DJ and guitarist Diamond Duggal (aka DJ Swami), who founded the band with his brother Simon Duggal.
Though 'Swami' traditionally refers to a Hindu teacher, the name is an abbreviation of the English phrase 'So Who Am I?'. The band has made it clear through interviews that Swami is a band in the traditional sense.
Swami's debut dance album Desi Nu Skool Beatz was initially released on Simon & Diamond Duggal's own Sub Dub label in 1998. After Sub Dub folded, the album was picked up by Nation Records. Described as "blinding" by the Birmingham Post, the album received international recognition when the opening track Mehbooba appeared in the 2004 Olsen twins movie New York Minute. Nu Skool Beatz was followed by the 2002 album Bhangradotcom, which was less dance-oriented.
In 2005, the band signed a deal with Sony BMG to release DesiRock in India. With a heavily modified sound (nearly all songs re-recorded with live guitar and drums, and additional vocals by S-Endz), they then embarked on a successful promotional tour of India which included a high-profile performance at the MTV Style Awards. The Hindu people credited Swami with bringing British bhangra back to prominence in Indian clubs. |
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| In 2007, Swami revealed that it would feature many guest appearances including Pras of The Fugees, Boostylz, Lady Ru, French rappers Asuivre, South African vocalist Ishmael, MC Spee from the band Dreadzone, Yam Boy and more.
Then, Swami signed a new international record deal with Virgin/EMI and subsequently released the album Equalize in India. The major label release is a new version including bonus tracks, one of them being an all-new version of the track Electro Jugni featuring Swedish popstar DeDe Lopez.
In January 2008, Swami won the 'Album Of The Year' award on DesiHits, and were nominated for 3 awards (Best Album, Best Producer and Best Underground Act) at the 2008 UK Asian Music Awards. Diamond also won the Best Producer award.
In June 2008, Swami revealed a forthcoming digital single of 'Electro Jugni/She's Mine'. Both songs are new versions, 'Electro Jugni' is a new Punjabi and Hindi version, and 'She's Mine' is an all-new English version of the song. Both songs feature all-new vocals from S-Endz, Liana and Sups. The artwork appeared shortly thereafter on MySpace, and the single is set to be released in the summer of 2008.
In August 2008, Swami's "Hey Hey" music video received its Canadian premiere at Toronto's FILMI Sout h Asian Film Festival, as part of FILMI's debut music video night programmed by Deejay Ra.
The video for Electro Jugni was premiered on the DesiHits website on the 23rd October 2008. The video for She's Mine is expected to appear soon.
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