When BenjiFlow was a youngster in Edmonton, London, he aspired to be a grime MC – but you wouldn’t know it from how smoothly he sings, or how omnivorous his tastes are. The 24-year-old has been turning ears since his 2018 breakthrough single Deep End with songs that fit within the ever-evolving melange of the UK’s MC-led genres, R&B and West African-flavoured pop, but bring Brazilian samba and Afro-Cuban rhythms into the mix.
It took BenjiFlow time to find his voice, despite growing up in a Caribbean family where everyone sang. He played keyboards in church. He studied music technology at uni and has worked with Wretch 32 and Avelino. You can tell he has a strong ear for beats from his recent, largely self-produced EP Benergy, on tracks like Can’t Lose, a galloping, flamenco-licked tune that shuffles like house and sashays like salsa.
Part of that variety is down to joining the Mini Kingz collective, run by musicians and collaborators Ragz Originale and Oscar #Worldpeace. “We represent the people,” he has said, “who aren’t afraid to say that they listen to Dolly Parton, Spice Girls or Britney Spears, as much as we do Jay-Z, Nas, Drake or Kanye West.”
That might be one reason why super-duper producer Mark Ronson enlisted BenjiFlow to perform on a recent lockdown live stream, alongside Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus. Clearly, he has recognised that special “benergy” which, if Benji had to put a label on it, means that he’s “a guy that just grooves”.
Benergy EP is out now on Virgin EMI
