Benjamin Elias' Prana album is a spiritual rap-heavy journey
Need some new tunes to get you through the dog days of summer? Look no further than what Benjamin Elias - the Tel-Aviv-based hip-hop artist - is serving up courtesy of his Prana album.
Benjamin Elias’ Prana album hits different
Forget the boom bap and trap sounds, Benji goes the spiritual route on the project and allows your mind to drift off into a hip-hop euphoria - minus Zendaya.
The album, mostly written during a one week creative binge, tells the story of what it feels like to truly live in the now. Prana will feature artists, TraVoYn, Tony Millions, Guyku, and Soul Special (who is credited as a producer on all seven of the album's songs), and will be supported with short, lyrical breakdown visuals (Genius style). Elias will also release some videos explaining how falling in love with yoga inspired him to discover to explore new subject matter in his music and will include a Yoga teacher demonstrating and explaining some positions: exposing the listener to the yogic concept of "Prana". For local listeners, this concept will be furthered by an innovative release concert in celebration of the album that combines a yoga class at sunset with an outdoor hip-hop show.
The Instagram page doesn’t lie either. Check out what Elias feels about his new offering.
PRANA means breath of life in Sanskrit.
A about a year and a half ago I was feeling the best I ever had. I started practicing Yoga and I felt alive in a way I never had before. This inspired me to create an album that pretty much wrote itself in one week. That album eventually became "PRANA: a journey in to the now".
This album is about feeling alive and being in the moment and I hope it inspires you to embrace the present 🎶🕉🧘♂️
Incredible cover art created by @zaqspetzler, who is a childhood friend im blessed to get to work with
Music produced produced by @usernamewithsoul with a touch from @shahar_gold
Vocals recorded by @wollmoney and @raz.stamper (who did so much more its hard to even explain)
Mix master by my man @guykumusic
And just what sparked the creative album? Benjamin doesn’t hold back on dishing on its origin.
"Prana was written during a time in my life when I felt a very powerful spiritual awakening. Life had slowed down during COVID and I had the time to think a lot more about who I am and who I want to be. I hope that by listening to this album people will feel inspired to be themselves and live life a lot more freely." - Benjamin Elias
Before cracking into the new album below, here’s a few more details courtesy of the Pressed Fresh PR team about what the LP is all about.
On the opening track "Dali Lama" Elias sets the album's tone with a soothing intro that sounds like a guided mediation (from a female voice) saying: “Today, I want you to focus on your breath more than anything…you might feel awake, you might feel tired but most importantly, you should feel alive,” immediately allowing the listener to engage in the spiritual practice before being immersed with Elias’ stacked and poetic lyrics, which continues through all 7 tracks.
As Prana navigates through the mindset of embracing the now, listeners will be in for many surprises. One such moment is the beat switch on the fifth track "Time / Nuweiba", which shifts mid-track from a story about "working around the clock" to one about the feeling of relaxing on the beach. This moment demonstrates the album's arc perfectly: descriptive but with plenty of room for breathing, and organic composition of thought.
