Benji Cavalli | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Benjamin Kai |
Born | April 17 Monrovia, Liberia |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 2008–present |
Formerly of | La Jet Fami |
Website | benjicavalli |
Benjamin Kai (born April 17), who is better known as Benji Cavalli, is a Liberian singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and dancer from Monrovia. He started singing and dancing at the age of 9, and relocated to the New York City borough of Staten Island as a result of Liberia's first civil war. Between 2008 and 2010, he had a brief stint with La Jet Fami, a Philadelphia-based Coupé-décalé band. He embarked on a solo career after the group disbanded and released his debut extended play, My Time, in 2011. His debut studio album, The Bridge, was released on July 18, 2022. Cavalli was nominated for New Age Gbema Artist of the Year at the 2016 Liberia Music Awards, and won King of the Stage at the 2017 Liberian Golden Awards. His music is a mixture of Afrobeats, highlife and Gbema.
Benjamin Kai was born on April 17, in Monrovia, Liberia. [1] The eldest child of six, he started singing and dancing when he was 9 years old. [2] [1] He is the nephew of Zack Roberts, one of Liberia's famous musicians and the lead singer of the 1980's band Zack & Geebah. [2] In 1996, Cavalli and his family fled to Ivory Coast as a result of the First Liberian Civil War. [2] His father was killed prior to him and his family relocating to Ivory Coast. [1] A year later, in the winter of 1997, he and his family relocated to the Park Hill area of Clifton, Staten Island. [2]
In 2008, Cavalli became a member of La Jet Fami, a Philadelphia-based Coupé-décalé band. [1] He embarked on a solo career following the group's disbandment in 2010, and released his debut extended play, My Time, in 2011. [1] In 2015, he released the single "Slow It Down", which was produced by Just Prince and was the first collaboration between the two musicians. [1] The song was nominated for New Age Gbema Song of the Year at the 2016 Liberia Music Awards. The music video for "Slow It Down" won Best Music Video at the 2016 Liberian Entertainment Awards and was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2016 Liberia Music Awards. [3] [4] Between 2015 and 2021, Cavalli released a number of singles produced by Just Prince, including "One More Night", "Lazy", and "Spoil Myself". In December 2017, he performed at the Liberian Golden Awards in Australia and won the King of the Stage award. [1]
Cavalli's debut studio album, The Bridge, was released on July 18, 2022. [5] It is a blend of Afrobeat and Gbema, the latter of which is a traditional Liberian sound. [2] The album's lyrical content explores themes of peace, love, celebration, and happiness. [2] Cavalli toured eight U.S cities in support of the album. [2] He has collaborated with Liberian artists such as Eric Geso, D12, and Tamba Hali. [1]
Cavalli's music is a mixture of Afrobeats, highlife and Gbema. [2] From a production standpoint, his music relies heavily on instruments such as bass, drums, congas and horns. [2] He works closely with his frequent collaborator, Just Prince, to write songs from scratch and share creative ideas. [2]
Albums
Singles
Year | Title | Album | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | "My Number One" | My Time | [6] |
"Come Together" | [7] | ||
"Cherish You" (featuring BabyEye) | Non-album single | [8] | |
2013 | "Addicted To You" | My Time | [9] |
2015 | "Slow It Down" | Non-album single | [10] |
"New Tin" | The Bridge | [11] | |
2016 | "One More Night" | [12] | |
2017 | "Jolly Jolly" (featuring Eric Geso) | [13] | |
"Enjoy It" (featuring D12) | Non-album single | [14] | |
2018 | "Liberian Girl" | [15] | |
"Feeling Ley Pekin" | [16] | ||
2019 | "Lazy" | The Bridge | [17] |
"Borku" | Non-album single | [18] | |
2020 | "Bad" | [19] | |
2021 | "Spoil Myself" | The Bridge | [20] |
2022 | "Ball" | [21] |
Year | Event | Prize | Recipient | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Liberia Music Awards | New Age Gbema Artist of the Year | Himself | Nominated | [4] |
New Age Gbema Song of the Year | "Slow It Down" | Nominated | |||
Video of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Liberian Entertainment Awards | Best Music Video | Won | [3] | ||
2017 | Liberian Golden Awards | King of the Stage | Himself | Won | [1] |
Liberia Music Awards | New Age Gbema Artist of the Year | Nominated | [22] | ||
Gbema Song of the Year | "One More Night" | Nominated | |||
"Jolly Jolly" (featuring Eric Geso) | Nominated | ||||
2020 | Liberian Entertainment Awards | Best Music Video | "Lazy" | Nominated | [23] |
Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles from mainly Nigeria such as the traditional Yoruba and Igbo music and highlife with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. The style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is most known for popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers."
The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music. Little of the country's music history prior to European contact has been preserved, although bronze carvings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments. The country's most internationally renowned genres are Indigenous, Apala, Aurrebbe music, Rara music, Were music, Ogene, Fuji, Jùjú, Afrobeat, Afrobeats, Igbo highlife, Afro-juju, Waka, Igbo rap, Gospel, and Yo-pop. Styles of folk music are related to the over 250 ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs. The largest ethnic groups are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Traditional music from Nigeria and throughout Africa is often functional; in other words, it is performed to mark a ritual such as the wedding or funeral and not to achieve artistic goals. Although some Nigerians, especially children and the elderly, play instruments for their own amusement, solo performance is otherwise rare. Music is closely linked to agriculture, and there are restrictions on, for example, which instruments can be played during different parts of the planting season.
African popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with Western popular music. Many genres of popular music like blues, jazz, salsa, zouk, and rumba derive to varying degrees on musical traditions from Africa, taken to the Americas by enslaved Africans. These rhythms and sounds have subsequently been adapted by newer genres like rock, and rhythm and blues. Likewise, African popular music has adopted elements, particularly the musical instruments and recording studio techniques of the Western music industry. The term does not refer to a specific style or sound but is used as a general term for African popular music.
The music of West Africa has a significant history, and its varied sounds reflect the wide range of influences from the area's regions and historical periods.
Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian and French drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".
Nana Richard Abiona, better known by his stage name Fuse ODG, is a Ghanaian-English singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "Antenna" and "Dangerous Love", and for featuring on Major Lazer's "Light It Up (Remix)".
Ebo Taylor is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern day Afrobeats music scene, he is regarded as one of the most commercially successful and most influential African recording artists of the 21st century.
David Adedeji AdelekeOON, who is known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most important Afrobeats artists of the 21st century, and is credited alongside Burna Boy and Wizkid for popularizing the genre globally.
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu , known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He is credited alongside Wizkid for popularizing Afrobeats and Afrofusion globally.
Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade, better known by his stage name Mr Eazi, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is the pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressions and patterns. Mr Eazi relocated to Kumasi in 2008 and enrolled at KNUST, where he began booking artists to perform at college parties. He showed interest in music after recording a guest verse on "My Life", a song that gained traction and became a popular record at KNUST. Mr Eazi released his debut mixtape About to Blow in 2013. He gained an international audience following the release of the Efya-assisted single "Skin Tight". His second mixtape, titled Life Is Eazi, Vol. 1 – Accra To Lagos, was released in 2017.
Divine Ikubor, known professionally as Rema, is a Nigerian rapper, singer and songwriter. He gained initial recognition following the release of his 2019 song "Dumebi". That same year, he signed with D'Prince's record label, Jonzing World. He received wider recognition for his 2022 single "Calm Down", which spawned a remix with American singer Selena Gomez that peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and led the United States Afrobeats Songs chart for a record-setting 58 weeks.
Afrobeats is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a style per se, and more of a descriptor for the fusion of sounds flowing majorly out of Nigeria. Genres such as hiplife, jùjú music, highlife and naija beats, among others, were amalgamated under the "Afrobeats" umbrella.
Daniel Tom George, who is known professionally as DenG, is a Liberian singer and songwriter from Bong County. He started his music career in 2000 as an RnB artist before making a guest appearance on Emma Smith's single "I Want to Go". DenG rose to prominence after being featured on Queen V's 2013 hit single "Jue You Bad". Following the success of "Jue You Bad", he switched from R&B to Afro pop.
Son of Mercy is the debut extended play by Nigerian singer Davido. It was released by Sony Music Entertainment on October 21, 2016. The EP comprises five tracks and was produced by Shizzi, Kiddominant and Spellz. It features guest appearances from Nasty C, Simi and Tinashe. Son of Mercy tackles themes of love and combines elements of Afropop, trap, ragga, highlife and house. It was supported by the singles "Gbagbe Oshi", "How Long" and "Coolest Kid in Africa".
Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode, known professionally as Orlando Julius or Orlando Julius Ekemode was a Nigerian saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter closely associated with afrobeat music.
Empress is the fifth studio album by Yemi Alade. It was released through her label Effyzzie Music Group on 20 November 2020. It features guest appearances from French singers Dadju and Vegedream; her colleagues from Nigeria, Patoranking and Rudeboy; British Grammy-winning singer Estelle; and Mzansi Youth Choir from South Africa. It is an afrobeat record with 15 tracks that incorporates elements of gospel music, couple decale, soul, pop, dancehall and highlife; all afro.
Jaiden Anthony Watson, better known by his stage name NorthSideBenji, is a Canadian rapper and musician from Brampton, Ontario. Benji gained recognition from his Certified Gold single "Levels", which featured Toronto rapper Houdini. The single was released in December 2018, and was the only supporting single of his debut extended play, Caviar Dreams, which was released on January 18, 2019. He released his second EP Frienemy on September 6, 2019.
Korte Dorbor Bazzie, who is known professionally as Kobazzie, is a Liberian singer and songwriter from Voinjama, Lofa County. He was inspired to pursue a career in music after hearing Quincy B's collaborative single with Tan Tan B, titled "State of Emergency". He is the recipient of several accolades, including New Artist of the Year at the 2016 Liberia Music Awards and Afropop Artist of the Year at the 2019 Tunes Liberia Music Awards.
Eric Tarh, who is better known as Eric Geso, is a Liberian singer and songwriter. He is the recipient of several accolades, including Male Artist of the Year at the 2015 Liberia Music Awards and Best New Artist at the 2016 Liberian Entertainment Awards. His debut studio album, Aziooo, was released on May 15, 2019. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2019 Liberia Music Awards and for Best Album/Mixtape/Compilation at the 2020 Tunes Liberia Music Awards. Geso's music is a mixture of Afropop and Gbema.