Benji B

Under the name Benji B, Londoner Benjamin Benstead has developed since the mid-1990s a career at the crossroads of DJing, radio and production. Trained in the London radio environment, he began at Kiss FM producing Gilles Peterson’s WorldWide before following the programme to BBC Radio 1 in 1998. Benji B then joined BBC Radio 1Xtra at its launch in 2002 and from 2010 hosted a weekly show on Radio 1, where he curated hip-hop, R&B, electronica, club music and contemporary jazz within a single editorial line. This approach extended to the stage with Deviation, an event founded in London in 2007 conceived as a meeting space for rap, electronic music and more experimental forms. As a producer, Benji B is credited on “On Sight” from Kanye West’s Yeezus (2013), later as co-producer of “Fade” on The Life of Pablo (2016), and he has also worked with Jessie Ware. In 2023 Benji B took part in the collective project London Brew on the album London Brew. His activity also extends to musical direction, notably in fashion, working with Virgil Abloh and subsequently Louis Vuitton.