Artist: Otis McDonald
Title: Body, Mind Soul – Single released 6th September
F.F.O: Shuggie Otis; Michael McDonald; J Dilla; Mura Masa

He’s your favourite musician and yet you don’t know his name – his music has been heard by billions; his videos seen by millions. He has thrown the rule book of accessing music out of the window, allowing people around the world to not only access it for free but to use it in any way they see fit. His forthcoming single is Body, Mind and Soul and looks set to continue his musical revolution. He’s the Pharaoh of Funk and the Sultan of Retro Electro – he’s Otis McDonald and he’s pleased to meet you.

Body, Mind and Soul is the first single by Otis McDonald, available on 6th September. The first release from his album People Music, due in October, it is also the premiere release from Tracktribe, an initiative which promises to revolutionise access to music and offer opportunities to more musicians than ever before. Body, Mind and Soul was chosen by the 51,000 subscribers to Otis’ YouTube channel to be one of the ten tracks to feature on his album, selected from a 15-strong shortlist.

Located in San Francisco, Otis McDonald (the performing name of Joe Bagale - an homage to both Shuggie Otis and Michael McDonald) is producer, engineer, drummer, singer, bassist, guitarist and keyboardist extraordinaire. In 2015, Bagale put out 30 tracks for free, under the name Otis McDonald. Released as copyright free music, exclusively through the YouTube audio library, these tracks have been downloaded over 5 million times, streamed over 10 million times and already have appeared in millions of YouTube creators’ videos. Turning the accepted system of releasing music on its head, his willingness to share his music with the world has turned his music into one of the phenomena of the internet.

With a sound that is fresh but tangibly rooted in nostalgia, there is a heavy dose of the psychedelic soul of Shuggie Otis and a healthy slug of Michael McDonald – just in case you wondered how Joe came up with his stage name. At any given moment this gives way to the funk of the 70s…or perhaps it’s the dayglo pop radio of the 80’s or the boom-bap beats of the 90s. Whatever it means to you, Otis McDonald is the sound of an artist who manifests a lesson in versatility and growing perspective.

Otis McDonald songs appear in over 3.5 million YouTube videos with a total of 7.6 billion views
Over 3 million streams on Spotify
Over 3 million downloads from the YouTube Audio Library
Over 3 million streams on Soundcloud, 51,000 YouTube subscribers and counting