Benga (musician)

Benga
Background information
Birth name Adegbenga Adejumo
Born (1986-11-28) 28 November 1986
Croydon, South London, United Kingdom
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • DJ
Instruments
Years active 2002—2014, 2015—present
Labels
  • Big Apple
  • Benga Beats
  • Tempa
Associated acts Magnetic Man
Skream
Katy B

Adegbenga Adejumo (born 28 November 1986), known as Benga, is a British[1] musician from Croydon, known for being the pioneer of dubstep record production.[2] As a teenager he used to hang out at the Big Apple record shop in Croydon and make his own tunes at home on a PlayStation.[3] The tunes caught the attention of dubstep producer Hatcha, who worked at the shop, and, by the age of 15, Benga had made his first record, "Skank", released on Big Apple's own record label.[4] He was also one of the first dubstep producers when the style was emerging in the early 2000s.[5] He has been featured on a variety of compilations including Mary Anne Hobbs's Warrior Dubz, Tempa's The Roots of Dubstep and the BBC Radio 1Xtra anniversary mix.

Career

In 2007 Benga, along with fellow producers Skream and Artwork, formed the dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man.[6]

Benga released the cross-over anthem "Night" with DMZ's Coki in early 2008, followed by his second album, Diary of an Afro Warrior, both on Tempa. Resident Advisor described it as "one of the most anticipated LPs in dubstep yet."[7]

From January 2011, Benga joined BBC Radio 1 with Skream as part of 'In New DJs We Trust'[8] and they used to present a weekly show on Friday nights.[9] Skream and Benga performed together at Field Day music festival in Sydney on New Years Day 2012.[10]

Benga was caught up in an online storm in July 2012 after reportedly saying he wished to remove himself from dubstep, insisting that he didn't want to be a part of the genre any more. He went on to clarify his comments saying "For me to remain creative, I've kinda not got to call my music dubstep and for me to keep pushing boundaries and moving around, making songs... I can't call myself dubstep."[11] In 2013, he created an official remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", which features on the tribute remix album Love To Love You Donna.[12] He co-produced Dominique Young Unique's 2014 debut single "Throw It Down" with DJ Fresh.

Adejumo is of Yoruba Nigerian descent.[13] On 2 February 2014, Adejumo announced that following his engagement to Holly-Jae Treadgold he has ended his DJing career to focus on raising a family.[14][15][16]

However, in May 2014, he announced plans to complete a new album.[17]

In October 2015, Benga reunited with friend and long-time collaborator Skream on his BBC Radio 1 show, which they had previously hosted together, where they discussed Benga's return to DJ-ing and his recent sets.

Discography

Albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
Newstep
  • Released: 2006
  • Label: Benga Beats
  • Formats: CD
 —
Diary of an Afro Warrior 139
Chapter II 93

EPs

Title EP details
Benga Beats Volume 1
  • Released: 2004
  • Label: Benga Beats
  • Formats: CD
Invasion
  • Released: 2006
  • Label: Big Apple Records
  • Formats: CD
The Southside EP
  • Released: 17 July 2006
  • Label: Southside Dubstars
  • Formats: CD
Benga EP Volume 2
  • Released: 17 January 2007
  • Label: Southside Dubstars
  • Formats: CD
Pleasure EP
  • Released: 3 November 2008
  • Label: Tempa
  • Formats: CD
Phaze: One
  • Released: 10 May 2010
  • Label: Tempa
  • Formats: CD
Scion A/V Presents: Skream & Benga
Future Funk EP
  • Released: 26 February 2016
  • Label: Benga Beats
  • Formats: Digital download, 12" vinyl (300 copies)

Singles

As lead artist

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
2002 "Skank" — Non-album singles
2004 "Hydro" / "Elektro"
(with Skream)		 —
2006 "Comb 60s" —
2007 "Crunked Up" — Diary of an Afro Warrior
2008 "Electro Scratch" / "The Germ" — Non-album singles
2009 "Technocal"
(with Skream)		 —
"Buzzin'" —
2010 "Stop Watching" —
2011 "Faithless" / "Acid Lie" —
"Transformers"
(with Kutz)		 —
2012 "I Will Never Change" — Chapter II
"Icon"
(featuring Bebe Black)		 — Non-album singles
"Pour Your Love"
(featuring Marlene)		 189
"We're Coming Out" —
"Open Your Eyes" —
"To Hell and Back" — Chapter II
2013 "Forefather"
(featuring Kano)		 123

Benga & Skream

Year Title Album
2003 "The Judgement" Non-album single

Hatcha & Benga

Year Title Album
2006 "10 Tons Heavy" Non-album single

Benga & Walsh

Year Title Album
2006 "Spooksville" Non-album singles
"Military"
2007 "Bingo"
2008 "Addicts"
(with Darqwan)
2010 "Biscuit Factory" / "Bass Face"

Benga & Coki

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[18]
2008 "Night" 98 Diary of an Afro Warrior

Benga & Paul Trueman

Year Title Album
2010 "Truben" Non-album single

Production credits

Year Track Artist Album
2010 "Ho" Youngman Ho / One & Only
2010 "One & Only" Youngman
2010 "Katy on a Mission" Katy B On a Mission
2011 "Tear it Out" Youngman Tear it Out / I Warned Ya
2011 "I Warned Ya" Youngman
2012 "Come Taste the Rainbow" Example The Evolution of Man
2013 "Busketeer (Ghetto Yout Fi Rich)" Kano featuring Elephant Man Non-album single
2014 "Throw It Down" (with DJ Fresh) Dominique Young Unique
2016 "Can't Do It like Me" Azealia Banks Slay-Z

References

  1. ↑ Data Transmission: Watch I Am Benga (Episode Three)
  2. ↑ Benga Biography – The IMO Records Blog. Retrieved on 22 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Benga – Allmusic. Retrieved 22 June 2013
  4. ↑ Warren, Emma (17 February 2008). "Benga, Diary of an Afro Warrior". The Observer. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Warren, Emma (22 April 2007). "Various, Dubstep Allstars 5 – Mixed By DJ N-Type". The Observer. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  6. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Rob (9 September 2010). "Magnetic Man: Dubstep's first supergroup". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Dubstep Preview 2008". Resident Advisor. 12 January 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "Radio 1 – In New DJs We Trust – Skream & Benga's Profile". BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  9. ↑ Ben Cooper, Controller of Radio 1. "Media Centre – Radio 1 announces changes to dance music line-up". BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Coming Up: Field Day 2012". Fuzzy. 29 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  11. ↑ Murray, Robin (13 July 2012). "Benga on Those Dubstep Comments". Clash Magazine. London. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  12. ↑ "iTunes – Music – Love To Love You Donna by Donna Summer". iTunes. 18 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Zirra Banu (May 5, 2011). "Top Nigerian Entertainers leading the US & UK Entertainment Industries". Face 2 Face Africa. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Benga – im engage to Holly-Jae Treadgold the love of my life ...". Facebook. 2 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "Twitter / I_Skream: Salute to my brother Benga ...". Twitter. 2 February 2014.
  16. ↑ "Benga retires from DJ'ING". GetDarker. 2 February 2014.
  17. ↑ "It's time to finish an album that has been worked on for the last ten years". Twitter. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "The Official Charts Company – Benga (musician)". The Official Charts Company. 3 May 2013.
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