Penn Masala - History

History

Penn Masala, often stylized as pennmasala, was formed in 1996 by students at the University of Pennsylvania, who wanted to represent their subcontinental heritage and music through a cappella. Among other, more long-standing a cappella groups, Penn Masala stood out as the only a cappella group in the world that sang Hindi music. This defining characteristic of the group brought it immediate attention as members fused Hindi and English music in original song formats. Soon, the group began to bill itself as "The world's first and premier Hindi a cappella group". Within just four years of its inception, Penn Masala had gained close to 15 members. By 2002, the group released its first two CDs: Awaaz (Hindi for sound) was released in 1999, and 11 PM was released in 2001. Over the next 3 years, Penn Masala released two more full-length albums, Soundcheck and The Brown Album, and a compilation CD entitled Out of Stock, which included favorites from the first 3 albums. In 2007, the group released its fifth studio album, Pehchaan (Hindi for identity). The group followed up the success of Pehchaan with their sixth album, On Detours, which was released in March 2009. In 2011, they released their seventh studio album titled Panoramic, which features their single "Viva La Vida/Jashn-e-Bahara".