The1shanti

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the1shanti (real name MArko Dutta [1]) is a Bengali-American Hip Hop artist with roots which trace back to New York, North Carolina, and the Washington DC area. Having begun his career at the age of 12 by supporting acts such as Doug E. Fresh and Ultramagnetics MCs, in 2006 he was endorsed by the godfather of hip hop culture, Afrika Bambaataa, and has been recognized as India Bambaataa for his work in expanding Hip Hop's cultural reach to portions of South Asia.

As an MC, he has worked with the Dum Dum Project (DDP), A.R. Rahman, Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin & Wood), Chicane, Feel Good Productions, JJ Brown, ElekTro4, and many others.

Although the1shanti has been charting as an artist since 2001 on industry related hip hop charts, it wasn't until peaking at #1 on BBC Radio One's charts in 2003 with his collaboration with DDP entitled "Punjabi Five-0" that he received international acclaim. A major label deal with Sony Asia followed shortly. In June of 2006, the group was picked up by Universal Music for certain territories of the world as well.

Despite the ability of musicians in India to adapt to hip hop's musical format, the release of 2001's "Jaani Jaan" as a video and single in Bollywood became the first presence of a New York-bred hip hop artist contributing to the scene via rap music. It was at that time that the1shanti went on-air on Mumbai's Radio Mirchi and presented three hour long blocks of classic to new school hip hop to listeners in Bollywood.

Since 2001, the1shanti has moved between New York, Bangkok, London, Bombay, and Washington DC on a continual basis while releasing a high volume of music along the way.

In 2005, the1shanti started his own label, Flatbush Junction Recordings which carries the tagline "Global urban music specialists".

On November 12 2006 (the birth date of hip hop according to the Universal Zulu Nation), the1shanti will release his debut solo studio album, India Bambaataa.