Swami life and biography

Swami are a critically-acclaimed Asian electro-pop band from Birmingham, England.

Swami's debut dance album Desi Nu Skool Beatz was initially released in 1998. Described as "blinding" by the Birmingham Post, the album received some international recognition when the opening track Mehbooba appeared in the 2004 Olsen twins movie New York Minute. This was followed by the 2002 album Bhangradotcom, which was less dance-oriented.

Their big break came with the release of their third album DesiRock, which became popular across the entire British Asian music scene. By this time Diamond was the only original member remaining and had recruited his cousin S-Endz as rap vocalist in the band. The title track DesiRock was voted as a BBC Radio 1 favorite and the album voted Best Asian Album of 2004 by various newspapers and websites, which led to the band doing a Maida Vale session in the summer of 2005, and the title track also appeared in the Official 2006 FIFA World Cup edition of Electronic Arts' FIFA series of video games. In the same year DJ Swami won the Media Storm Best Producer award at the UK Asian Music Awards, as well as being nominated for Best Track (DesiRock) and Best Group.

In late 2005, the band signed a deal with Sony BMG to release DesiRock in India as "So Who Am I" with a new line-up including new vocalist Sups. The album was almost completely remixed with S-Endz covering all rap vocals and much more use of live instruments. They embarked on a successful promotional tour of India which included a high-profile performance at the MTV Style Awards. Shortly afterward this version of the album was digitally released worldwide.

In Fall 2007, Swami released their new album Equalize. The album features 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. The line-up of the band had now switched to DJ Swami, S-Endz, Sups and Dhol player Bobby Panesar.

The lead track, "Hey Hey" was premiered on MySpace on the 1st August, in a deal which saw Swami as the MySpace Music Featured Artist of the Week. The band then recorded an exclusive BBC Radio 1 live performance in September and the video to "Hey Hey" premiered later that month.

With "Hey Hey", "Electro Jugni" and "Can't Let Go" (all from Equalize) all burning up the charts, Swami shook up the game again with their announcement of "53431" - an exclusive download zone only accessible to those who purchased the album. By the end of 2007 it was clear that Equalize was undeniably the album of the year with "Hey Hey" alone hitting over 1.5 million plays on MySpace. Swami then announced that they had signed a new deal with EMI, and that the album would be re-released with exclusive remixes and bonus tracks including a new version of "Electro Jugni" featuring the popular Swedish-Latina singer DeDe Lopez.

In February 2008, Swami performed live on the BBC TV show 'Desi DNA', with many music fans and journalists declaring their performance to be the highlight of the evening - this performance also served as the debut of Swami's new female singer Liana. The video to 'Electro Jugni' was shot a few weeks later and is expected to premiere soon.

Their members are:
Diamond (aka DJ Swami) (guitars/decks/keys/vox)
S-Endz (vox)
Sups (vox)
Liana (vox)
Bobby P (percussion)

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