Benga (musician)

Benga
Birth name	Adegbenga Adejumo
Born	28 November 1986 (1986-11-28) London
Origin	Croydon
Genres	dubstep, UK garage
Occupations	music producer, DJ
Years active	2002—present
Labels	Big Apple, Benga Beats, Tempa
Associated acts	Magnetic Man Skream Katy B
Website	www.benga.co.uk

Benga (born Adegbenga Adejumo, 28 November 1986) is a dubstep music producer from Croydon, south London, although he was born in east London. As a boy he used to hang out at the Big Apple record shop in Croydon and make his own tunes at home on his Playstation. 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. He was also one of the first dubstep producers when the style was emerging in the early 2000s. 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. Benga is also noted for using acoustic drums on some songs, including "Live Drums" and "Evolution".

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

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."

From January 2011, Benga joined BBC Radio 1 with Skream as part of 'In New DJ's We Trust'. Skream and Benga performed together at Field Day music festival in Sydney, Australia on New Years Day 2012.

Discography

Albums

• Newstep (Benga Beats, 2006 – CD only)
• Diary of an Afro Warrior (Tempa, 2008 – CD & vinyl) – (UK #139)

EPs

• Benga Beats Volume 1 (Benga Beats, 2004)
• Invasion (Big Apple Records, 2006)
• The Southside EP (Southside Dubstars, 2006)
• Benga EP Volume 2 (Southside Dubstars, 2007)
• Pleasure EP (Tempa, 2008)
• Phaze: One (Tempa, 2010)

Singles

• "Skank" (Big Apple Records, 2002)
• "Hydro"/"Elektro" (Big Apple Records, 2004 – split 12" with Skream)
• "Comb 60s" (Planet µ, 2006)
• "Crunked Up" (Tempa, 2007)
• "Electro Scratch"/"The Germ" (Ringo Recordings, 2008)
• "Technocal" (Tectonic, 2009 – split 12" with Skream)
• "Buzzin'" (Tempa, 2009)
• "Stop Watching" (Digital Soundboy Recording Co., 2010)
• "Faithless"/"Acid Lie" (Kapsize, 2011)
• "Transformers" (Oi!, 2011 – split 12" with Kutz)

Benga & Skream:

• "The Judgement" (Big Apple Records, 2003)

Hatcha & Benga:

• "10 Tons Heavy" (Planet µ, 2006)

Benga & Walsh:

• "Spooksville" (Immerse, 2006)
• "Military" (Hot Flush Recordings, 2006)
• "Bingo" (Hot Flush Recordings, 2007)
• "Addicts" (Texture, 2008 – split 12" with Darqwan)
• "Biscuit Factory"/"Bass Face" (Biscuit Factory Records, 2010)

Benga & Coki:

• "Night" (Tempa, 2008) – (UK #98)

Benga & Paul Trueman:

• "Truben" (Tempa, 2010)

External links

• Official website
• Benga on Myspace
• Benga discography at Discogs
• Benga on Twitter
• Benga's channel on YouTube