Heart and Soul: The Hare Krishna MC

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jake Emlyn’s musical talents were once hailed by international pop star Robbie Williams, who mentored the young English rapper. It lead him to feature on the albums of major stars and tour worldwide. However, 10 years ago, on the verge of signing a major record deal, Jake lost his father to cancer and it prompted a journey of reflection and self-discovery. A chance meeting with a Hare Krishna monk led Jake to visit the Radha Krishna temple in central London and from then on Jake was hooked to spiritual life. For the past decade, he has devoted his life to the Hare Krishna movement, combining his rapping skills with his religious life and becoming the world’s number one Hare Krishna rapper.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Life's Less Ordinary is the podcast from the BBC World Service, bringing you
0:05.2	extraordinary personal stories from around the globe. Search for Life's Less
0:10.1	Ordinary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:15.9	Intertwine my mind in line with the Sacred Divine and drop the knowledge that you
0:20.7	want it beyond space and time. 35-year-old Jake Emlin is stood wrapping
0:24.8	verses at a street corner in central London.
0:31.8	White, five-for-eight with thinning blonde locks covered with a baseball cap,
0:35.8	he weaves his poetic words together, eyes closed as a small crowd packs tightly
0:41.5	around him.
0:47.6	Outdropping bars like this is normal for Jake, but what makes him extra
0:52.0	ordinary is that he's a Hare Krishna devotee, and although Hare Krishna's
0:56.6	have this long tradition of singing and dancing out in public, he does
1:01.1	sing differently because he does it alone and he does it through rap. His
1:06.4	words completely inspired by his faith.
1:22.2	This is the documentary on the BBC World Service. I'm Rajiv Gupta and for this
1:27.2	week's Heart and Soul, which looks at personal stories of faith from around
1:31.0	the world, I'm in London spending time with the world's number one Hare Krishna
1:36.2	rapper, Jake Emlin.
1:43.2	In this program we'll hear how a life-changing event led Jake from atheism to
1:48.3	preacher, and to shun the opportunity of a massive music deal.
1:52.5	I completely changed because I went from pop star wearing a fur coat to a guy
1:58.0	wearing robes, you know.
	...

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