MC Yogi & The Sacred Sound Society Pilgrimage

“I’m just a working class mystic,” shrugs the enviably laid back MC Yogi, grinning a little as he adjusts his trademark fedora, kicks up his Adidas and cranks the volume on “Give Love,” an instantly addictive track off his stunning dance-floor grenade of a new record, Pilgrimage. You may have heard his 2008 debut, Elephant Power, a certified phenom that still hovers near the top of the world music charts. The album’s extraordinary success earned Yogi invitations to play in clubs and yoga festivals all over the world.

But now the time has come for the next phase, and Pilgrimage is definitely it. The album’s influences are all over the musical map: world beat, hip-hop, Bollywood, reggae, dancehall, house, dub. Chaotic street sounds of India blast through the mixes, alongside madhouse beats, old-school turntable scratches and popping horns over which Yogi effortlessly drops his rhymes. It’s all so hook-laden and sun-blasted you can’t help bobbing your head and aching to find a dancefloor.

“Everything went into this record,” says Yogi. “It’s a sonic trip, a journey toward the Self, toward what the yoga masters call the Supreme Soul.”

Wait. Hip-hop and yoga? The Ramayana with a backbeat? Stories of Shiva and Shakti, Ganesh and Hanuman and the rest of the ancient Hindu gods, all funked up and slamming up against potent, propulsive graffiti beats custom built to drive eager listeners into a divine frenzy? Indeed. “Pilgrimage is a full, authentic, cosmic yogic experience on the dance floor,” exclaims Yogi. The truth is, you’ve never heard anything like Pilgrimage.

You’ve never heard anyone like MC Yogi.