Benga

Producer Benga stands among dubstep’s leading figures. Born Beni Uthman in East London, he later relocated with his family to Croydon. There the teenage enthusiast tuned his radio nightly in search of pirate broadcasts and absorbed an array of underground sounds. He began crafting beats on a PlayStation console before his parents purchased a computer that introduced him to the Fruity Loops workstation. The shadowy productions of 2-step artist Wookie drew him into the grime and garage circles that would soon give rise to dubstep. Frequent visits to Croydon’s Big Apple Records store brought him into contact with fellow producer Skream. When the shop launched its own imprint, Benga issued his first 12-inch, “Skank,” near the end of 2002. Early the following year the label put out “The Judgement,” a joint effort with Skream. Benga then founded Benga Beats and delivered the three-track EP Benga Beats, Vol. 1 in 2004. A pair of 12-inches on Planet Mu preceded the full-length Newstep, which appeared on his own imprint in 2006. By that point tastemakers Mary Anne Hobbs and François K had begun championing his work, placing him alongside Burial in the eyes of the scene. He switched to the Tempa roster in 2007 and released the singles “Crunked Up” and “Night,” the latter a collaboration with Coki. Both cuts featured on the 2008 album Diary of an Afro Warrior. After five years of additional 12-inch releases, mixtapes, and live performances, Benga returned with Chapter II in the winter of 2013.