ISKCON News | 'King of Braj' - Krishna Reggae for Children’s Rights

‘King of Braj’ – Krishna Reggae for Children’s Rights

By ISKCON News Staff | Nov 30, 2019

The United Nations’ (UN) Universal Children’s Day, which was established in 1954, is celebrated on November 20 each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide. On this day, the newly established ‘King of Braj’ a music band consisting of Hungarian devotees — musicians, teachers, social activists, marketing specialists from Eger and Budapest — in collaboration with Krishna- sympathizer and well-known hip-hop and reggae artists released its firs album entitled as ‘This Is How I Rebel’.

The ‘King of Braj’ music band

“We have been instinctively drawn to the ‘rebel’ genres, such as reggae, hip-hop and even a bit of punk,” says song-writer Avadhuta Raya. “These genres have traditionally have been challenging the status quo and provoked listeners to instigate a change in the system and in their own lives.”

The band’s lead singers are Candradoya das, Radhanga devi and Giriraja-kripa das, who sang and played rhythm guitar in a ska band for 15 years. Triyuga das is a rapper and MC, the solo guitarist is Mukunda, the drummer is bhakta Balázs, the base guitarist is Prana-vallabha Das and the songwriter-keyboardist is Avadhuta Raya Das.

Songwriter-keyboardist Avadhuta Raya

‘The King of Braj’s’ new album addresses burning social issues, such as child-poverty, environmental problems, addiction, or consumerism, however, the deep philosophical thoughts are being presented in light reggie, or hip-hop style, in English, Hungarian, Sanskrit or Patois.

“Our overall message is that we, as individuals, can do a lot more to create a different future on Earth than we might think, and, in fact, it is our duty to do so,” says Avadhuta. “It is easy to just swim with the current of the modern consumerist society, but if we don’t realize that we are only tenants and not the proprietors, we are soon going to destroy the very planet we live on. There are many problems humankind faces, but ultimately the real solution to every single one of them comes down to the need of a real revolution — the revolution of consciousness.”

The album’s cover

One of the shared passion of the band’s members is volunteering for ISKCON Hungary’s Food for Life program, and besides helping hands-on on the field, contributin to the cause through the power of art.Thus they dedicated their first music video ‘Om Namo Bhagavate (Asoonah)’ to the topic of the importance of child protection. The song performed by the well-known reggae artist Bottah Rankin in Patois language emphasizes that each child has the basic right to a safe, starvation- and violence-free life.

‘Om Namo Bhagavate (Asoonah)’

The release of ‘This Is How I rebel’ album coincides with the beginning of ISKCON Hungary’s month-long Food for Life “marathon”, which will provide free lunch and packages of dry food to tens of thousands of families throughout the country.

Reggae artist Bottah Rankin

There are seven songs on the album. It starts with a short invocation from the ‘Siksastakam’ prayers, then comes the energetic ska-punk ‘This Is How I rebel.’ ‘Free Your Mind’ is a fast-paced funk/hip-hop song, featuring the beautiful ancient “Govindam adi purusam” prayer. ‘Om namo (Asoonah)’ brings in a melodic reggae vibe with another beautiful prayer, Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. ‘Kunja’ is an angelic melody set to the lyrics of Rupa Goswami’s Kunja Vihari Ashtaka, drawing listeners into the soothing realm of sacred chanting. ‘Jagi ska’ is a fun mantra song in ska style. And finally, there is a Hungarian song with the title Libanoni bálna which translates as “A Lebanon whale,” referring to a line in the rap song about plastic pollution. According to Avadhuta Raya the idea for the song, an especially the line “Lebanon whales choke on plastic bags from Budapest,” came from an article describing the fact that whales near the coasts of Libanon choke on plastic bags carried there from hundreds of miles away.