Benny Is Far From An Overnight Success. Look Back At The Grind Of A Top MC (Video)
#Music
While The Black Eyed Peas found superstardom in the mid-2000s, the Los Angeles, California-based collective’s story does not begin there. will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie became global hit-makers. However, in the Hip-Hop community, many remember the quartet without Fergie, but with Kim Hill. She was with the collective in the late 1990s and early 2000s, across two major label LPs.
Hill was part of the fold when they reached TV screens, performing “Joints & Jam” on BET’s Rap City. She joined will, apl.de.ap and Taboo in 1995. She was also on board when the crew opened for Eminem, Outkast, and No Doubt.
The Black Eyed Peas Are On A New Vibration. They’ve Got The Jazz (Video)
For Hill, fame was not all positive in her life. In a just-released New York Times op-ed documentary part of the “Almost Famous” series, Hill’s story of nearly making history — only to fall short is one we can all relate to. The singer speaks about leaving the award-winning group right before the endorsement deals and movie cameos were a thing. “There was new management now, so it’s a whole different set of expectations and pressure,” she says in the New York Times video. “It just started to get clumsy and messy. You want me to grind on will.i.am in a bathing suit? That was being asked of me, never by the guys. That was happening from an executive level.”
B.E.P. would go on to consider other acts such as Nicole Scherzinger as a vocalist before locking in on Fergie. With Hill pursuing a solo career, BEP would quickly become an “inescapable” force, as Hill described them, crafting blockbuster hits like “My Humps,” “Boom Boom Pow,” and “I Gotta Feeling” for multiple Grammy wins and historic record sales. “No one handed them anything,” she said. “They worked their asses off. They deserve it.”
Nas Appears As A Rap Pharaoh In The Black Eyed Peas’ Ode To Hip-Hop
She continued, “The tug of war was about my sexuality and how much of that I was willing to like, literally strip down. I never wanted to be objectified while doing my music. Where’s your voice? Where are you.” Industry Rule #4080 has proven the theory of commercial appeal to be a bit one-sided when it comes to dealing with women creatives. Despite Hill’s intentions of making captivating music with the trio from East L.A., she admitted that her life at the time was different than her bandmates. “With these three, we’d rock the House Of Blues, and then they gotta go back to East L.A.,” Hill explained. “The gangs and uncles in jail, and I was in my two-bedroom apartment with my quirky roommate living in Hollywood.”
When she moved to Los Angeles from Syracuse, New York, Hill found her way into the game as an extra for shows such as Yvette Lee Bowser’s Living Single. After joining B.E.P. as a member while backstage at a BMI showcase in 1995, she would later sign a solo deal with Interscope Records in 1998. Once on her own, Hill became a DJ in 2008 and is currently crowdfunding her first cosmetic line, Next Of Kim, which has roughly $15,000 of its $50,000 goal. In the video, she says she longs for that late ’90s Hip-Hop renaissance, where the group participated in a positive, counter movement to Gangsta Rap.
will.i.am Clarifies Fergie’s Status Within The Black Eyed Peas
At the close of the video, Hill says she has never met Fergie. However, the former member believes there would be a bond between them as two women who’ve had to navigate the music industry. “She’s never done anything to me. She didn’t take anything from me,” Hill said. “What I do feel like is if we ever met, it would be like an embrace with a hug and a deep breath because I think we just kind of know something about being that female in that construct, and that is — it’s tough.” In 2017, Fergie stepped away, at least temporarily, from B.E.P.
Last year, as a trio, the Peas released MASTERS OF THE SUN, VOL. 1. The Interscope LP featured Nas, Phife Dawg, Posdnous, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Slick Rick, among others.
While The Black Eyed Peas found superstardom in the mid-2000s, the Los Angeles, California-based collective’s story does not begin there. will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie became global hit-makers. However, in the Hip-Hop community, many remember the quartet without Fergie, but with Kim Hill. She was with the collective in the late 1990s and early 2000s, across two major label LPs.
Hill was part of the fold when they reached TV screens, performing “Joints & Jam” on BET’s Rap City. She joined will, apl.de.ap and Taboo in 1995. She was also on board when the crew opened for Eminem, Outkast, and No Doubt.
The Black Eyed Peas Are On A New Vibration. They’ve Got The Jazz (Video)
For Hill, fame was not all positive in her life. In a just-released New York Times op-ed documentary part of the “Almost Famous” series, Hill’s story of nearly making history — only to fall short is one we can all relate to. The singer speaks about leaving the award-winning group right before the endorsement deals and movie cameos were a thing. “There was new management now, so it’s a whole different set of expectations and pressure,” she says in the New York Times video. “It just started to get clumsy and messy. You want me to grind on will.i.am in a bathing suit? That was being asked of me, never by the guys. That was happening from an executive level.”
B.E.P. would go on to consider other acts such as Nicole Scherzinger as a vocalist before locking in on Fergie. With Hill pursuing a solo career, BEP would quickly become an “inescapable” force, as Hill described them, crafting blockbuster hits like “My Humps,” “Boom Boom Pow,” and “I Gotta Feeling” for multiple Grammy wins and historic record sales. “No one handed them anything,” she said. “They worked their asses off. They deserve it.”
Nas Appears As A Rap Pharaoh In The Black Eyed Peas’ Ode To Hip-Hop
She continued, “The tug of war was about my sexuality and how much of that I was willing to like, literally strip down. I never wanted to be objectified while doing my music. Where’s your voice? Where are you.” Industry Rule #4080 has proven the theory of commercial appeal to be a bit one-sided when it comes to dealing with women creatives. Despite Hill’s intentions of making captivating music with the trio from East L.A., she admitted that her life at the time was different than her bandmates. “With these three, we’d rock the House Of Blues, and then they gotta go back to East L.A.,” Hill explained. “The gangs and uncles in jail, and I was in my two-bedroom apartment with my quirky roommate living in Hollywood.”
When she moved to Los Angeles from Syracuse, New York, Hill found her way into the game as an extra for shows such as Yvette Lee Bowser’s Living Single. After joining B.E.P. as a member while backstage at a BMI showcase in 1995, she would later sign a solo deal with Interscope Records in 1998. Once on her own, Hill became a DJ in 2008 and is currently crowdfunding her first cosmetic line, Next Of Kim, which has roughly $15,000 of its $50,000 goal. In the video, she says she longs for that late ’90s Hip-Hop renaissance, where the group participated in a positive, counter movement to Gangsta Rap.
will.i.am Clarifies Fergie’s Status Within The Black Eyed Peas
At the close of the video, Hill says she has never met Fergie. However, the former member believes there would be a bond between them as two women who’ve had to navigate the music industry. “She’s never done anything to me. She didn’t take anything from me,” Hill said. “What I do feel like is if we ever met, it would be like an embrace with a hug and a deep breath because I think we just kind of know something about being that female in that construct, and that is — it’s tough.” In 2017, Fergie stepped away, at least temporarily, from B.E.P.
Last year, as a trio, the Peas released MASTERS OF THE SUN, VOL. 1. The Interscope LP featured Nas, Phife Dawg, Posdnous, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Slick Rick, among others.
Amid a jam-packed night of television—which included scheduled finales for Survivor and The Masked Singer, as well as the historic impeachment of Donald Trump—tuned in viewers received a special treat on Wednesday night during a star-studded live restating of a classic episode of Good Times.
Hosted and produced by Jimmy Kimmel, the second installment of Live in Front of a Studio Audience presented a re-adaptation of the Good Times episode “The Politicians” — which originally aired 44 years ago, in November 1975, as part of the show’s third season. Venerable actors like Andre Braugher, Viola Davis, and comedian Tiffany Haddish inhabited the legendary TV roles of “James” and “Florida Evans,” and friendly neighbor, “Willona Woods, respectively. However, it was the show’s surprise nod to the original series that received the loudest pop from the audience.
John Amos Reveals He Was Fired From Good Times For Trying To Make It More Authentic (Video)
John Amos, who starred as “James Evans” in the early seasons of the series’ original run, made a guest appearance as Chicago politician “Alderman Fred Davis,” a role originated by Albert Reed. The 79-year-old actor, along with the late Esther Rolle, were the first Black nuclear family on the small screen, well received by audiences nearly a decade before The Cosby Show dominated TV guide covers.
Infamously, at the height of the show’s popularity, “James Evans” was killed and left the show open with no closure for the loss of such a beloved character. Over the years, rumors surfaced that the show’s producers and Amos could not reach an agreement in their contractual negotiations. However, over two years ago, Amos told Sway In The Morning what was happening behind the scenes.
Eddie Murphy Explains Why He Doesn’t Agree With The Term “Blaxploitation Film” (Video)
“I left because I was told that my services were no longer needed because I had become a ‘disruptive element,'” Amos shared, citing creative differences with the show’s writer. “In other words, I didn’t have the diplomacy that I think I’ve cultivated over the last 10 or 15 years. Being born in Newark, [New Jersey, and] raised in East Orange, I had a way of voicing my differences against the script that weren’t acceptable to the creative staff. I mean, the writers got tired of having their lives threatened over jokes.”
In an excerpt from Good Times‘ creator and head writer Norman Lear’s book, Even This I Get to Experience, he gives the other side to the story, confessing, “By the end of the third season, John Amos was so glum and dispirited that it seemed impossible to go on, and we decided to write him out of the show. Talk to John, and you might as well be dealing with the Sphinx — 2,500 years of silent certainty. I was sure he felt that the work he was doing was beneath him, and that another character, not his, was why the show was on the air. Without that family, especially the sturdy, steadfast parents that John Amos and Esther Rolle represented to a fare-thee-well, Jimmie would have been just another loose cannon stand-up comic. It was the family that gave ‘J.J.’ weight, ‘Dy-no-mite!’ or not.”
Norman Lear’s TV Shows Inspired the Hip-Hop Generation, But It Wasn’t Always Good Times (Audio)
When Good Times would return for its fourth season in the fall of 1975, “the Evans family” were preparing to move to Mississippi, where James has gotten a good job, but before any success could take place, “Florida” and the kids receive the tragic news that he’s been killed in a car crash.
The updated episode of “The Politician,” which seemed relevant nearly 45 years later, chronicles a rift within “the Evans family” as a young upstart candidate challenges a longtime alderman who’s painted as a do-nothing, potentially corrupt crook. Braugher and Oscar Award-winner Viola Davis were impressive as the loving parents, while former Saturday Night Live star Jay Pharoah played the wisecracking eldest son “J.J.,” originally portrayed by actor Jimmie Walker.
Issa Rae Has No Insecurities About Confronting Hollywood’s Diversity Problem
A week shy of his 80th birthday, Amos was joined by his former castmates, as Bernadette Stanis (“Thelma”), Ja’net Dubois (“Wilona”), and the aforementioned Walker, made an appearance alongside host Jimmy Kimmel during a special segment.
Good Times ran from 1974 to 1979 on CBS and focused on a Black family living in a public housing project in Chicago. All In The Family, the other sitcom that was re-staged Wednesday evening, starred Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei, equally had a socially relevant episode with “The Draft Dodger” addressing complex hot-button social issues of the time like racism and sexism.
Snoop Dogg Tells Martin Lawrence How Much His Show Meant To Hip-Hop (Video)
John Amos, who famously played the father of Akeem’s love interest in Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America, is set to reprise his role as “Cleo McDowell” for Coming 2 America in 2020.
#BonusBeat: John Amos’ recent conversation with DJ Premier on Live From HeadQCourterz. This is the first of five clips, where Amos describes meeting Esther Rolle before Good Times:
By @deejaypoe OFFICIAL MERCH FOR Gang Starr, NYGz, MC Eiht, GURU, DJ Premier, TTT and 33 @1/3rd MERCH… Gangstarr.globalAmid a jam-packed night of television—which included scheduled finales for Survivor and The Masked Singer, as well as the historic impeachment of Donald Trump—tuned in viewers received a special treat on Wednesday night during a star-studded live restating of a classic episode of Good Times.
Hosted and produced by Jimmy Kimmel, the second installment of Live in Front of a Studio Audience presented a re-adaptation of the Good Times episode “The Politicians” — which originally aired 44 years ago, in November 1975, as part of the show’s third season. Venerable actors like Andre Braugher, Viola Davis, and comedian Tiffany Haddish inhabited the legendary TV roles of “James” and “Florida Evans,” and friendly neighbor, “Willona Woods, respectively. However, it was the show’s surprise nod to the original series that received the loudest pop from the audience.
John Amos Reveals He Was Fired From Good Times For Trying To Make It More Authentic (Video)
John Amos, who starred as “James Evans” in the early seasons of the series’ original run, made a guest appearance as Chicago politician “Alderman Fred Davis,” a role originated by Albert Reed. The 79-year-old actor, along with the late Esther Rolle, were the first Black nuclear family on the small screen, well received by audiences nearly a decade before The Cosby Show dominated TV guide covers.
Infamously, at the height of the show’s popularity, “James Evans” was killed and left the show open with no closure for the loss of such a beloved character. Over the years, rumors surfaced that the show’s producers and Amos could not reach an agreement in their contractual negotiations. However, over two years ago, Amos told Sway In The Morning what was happening behind the scenes.
Eddie Murphy Explains Why He Doesn’t Agree With The Term “Blaxploitation Film” (Video)
“I left because I was told that my services were no longer needed because I had become a ‘disruptive element,'” Amos shared, citing creative differences with the show’s writer. “In other words, I didn’t have the diplomacy that I think I’ve cultivated over the last 10 or 15 years. Being born in Newark, [New Jersey, and] raised in East Orange, I had a way of voicing my differences against the script that weren’t acceptable to the creative staff. I mean, the writers got tired of having their lives threatened over jokes.”
In an excerpt from Good Times‘ creator and head writer Norman Lear’s book, Even This I Get to Experience, he gives the other side to the story, confessing, “By the end of the third season, John Amos was so glum and dispirited that it seemed impossible to go on, and we decided to write him out of the show. Talk to John, and you might as well be dealing with the Sphinx — 2,500 years of silent certainty. I was sure he felt that the work he was doing was beneath him, and that another character, not his, was why the show was on the air. Without that family, especially the sturdy, steadfast parents that John Amos and Esther Rolle represented to a fare-thee-well, Jimmie would have been just another loose cannon stand-up comic. It was the family that gave ‘J.J.’ weight, ‘Dy-no-mite!’ or not.”
Norman Lear’s TV Shows Inspired the Hip-Hop Generation, But It Wasn’t Always Good Times (Audio)
When Good Times would return for its fourth season in the fall of 1975, “the Evans family” were preparing to move to Mississippi, where James has gotten a good job, but before any success could take place, “Florida” and the kids receive the tragic news that he’s been killed in a car crash.
The updated episode of “The Politician,” which seemed relevant nearly 45 years later, chronicles a rift within “the Evans family” as a young upstart candidate challenges a longtime alderman who’s painted as a do-nothing, potentially corrupt crook. Braugher and Oscar Award-winner Viola Davis were impressive as the loving parents, while former Saturday Night Live star Jay Pharoah played the wisecracking eldest son “J.J.,” originally portrayed by actor Jimmie Walker.
Issa Rae Has No Insecurities About Confronting Hollywood’s Diversity Problem
A week shy of his 80th birthday, Amos was joined by his former castmates, as Bernadette Stanis (“Thelma”), Ja’net Dubois (“Wilona”), and the aforementioned Walker, made an appearance alongside host Jimmy Kimmel during a special segment.
Good Times ran from 1974 to 1979 on CBS and focused on a Black family living in a public housing project in Chicago. All In The Family, the other sitcom that was re-staged Wednesday evening, starred Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei, equally had a socially relevant episode with “The Draft Dodger” addressing complex hot-button social issues of the time like racism and sexism.
Snoop Dogg Tells Martin Lawrence How Much His Show Meant To Hip-Hop (Video)
John Amos, who famously played the father of Akeem’s love interest in Eddie Murphy’s Coming To America, is set to reprise his role as “Cleo McDowell” for Coming 2 America in 2020.
#BonusBeat: John Amos’ recent conversation with DJ Premier on Live From HeadQCourterz. This is the first of five clips, where Amos describes meeting Esther Rolle before Good Times:
Just a few weeks ago, Griselda’s trifecta of Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine, and Westside Gunn debuted their collaborative album, WWCD, via Shady Records. Over the past few weeks, the GxFR team has accompanied the album’s release with a series of documentaries. These showcase the history, style, and effort set forth by the project’s curators. One cut of the web series, “348 Sanders Road,” featured the album’s production duo, Daringer and Beat Butcher, in which the artists reveal that WWCD was made without the use of samples. Other pieces include, “Connie’s Son,” featuring Westside Gunn, and “May Street,” with Conway The Machine. Their latest segment, “Chinegun’s Co-Defendant,” follows the story of Benny The Butcher and his rise alongside his Buffalo, New York brethren.
At the top of the video, the camera captures a scene of Benny in the streets in May of 2017 as he opens up about his recent signing to Griselda. The Butcher explains, “I mean it’s dope, but like I said, my life changed 30 days ago. I was front-lining in the projects.” He continues, “My whole everything changed, and I’m just ready to work. It’s inspiring to be in the position I’m in, especially what I came from.” Benny, who told AFH TV that he’s been rapping half of his life, was on a march to recognition for his extreme talents.
Royce 5’9 Explains How Griselda Has Avoided Some Of Slaughterhouse’s Mistakes
Flash forward to the present day, and as both a fan and curator, Benny is in awe of Griselda’s rise in Hip-Hop prominence. As a witness to all of the work he’s set forth to reach, Conway The Machine believes it’s Benny’s hunger that pushes him forward. The Machine details, “It’s just a testament to his hunger and his drive. I was just talking about this last night I think with Westside, like that ni**a Benny, man, that ni**a is super-hungry. That ni**a hungry like [he] is still broke, like we [are] still in the hood, and in the struggle.”
Benny follows, paying homage to Conway, Westside, and the blueprint they laid forth for him. “I really just took the blueprint from Wes’ and Con and applied it in my own way, without them having to hold my hand. That’s a headache. I’m not a ni**a where I need Wes’ for everything I do. He [is] busy working on other sh*t. Conway [is also] busy doing him. When I need ’em, I’m definitely tapping in, but I’m doing my own thing, holding my weight and pulling through ’cause that’s important too. That’s important. When I first came around, these dudes was up here, I was like, damn, I wanna give back to Griselda and contribute something to it. I feel like I’ve done that in this past year.” Before WWCD, Benny released The Plugs I Met on his own Black Soprano Family imprint. Both albums are included in Ambrosia For Heads‘ best of 2019.
Benny The Butcher Explains Why Rap Is A Grown Man’s Game (AFH TV Video)
In the documentary, longtime Benny producer Daringer provides insight into the MC’s carefree work ethic. “[Benny The Butcher is] great at rapping and being able to work on the spot. I’ve never been able to work with an artist that has been so fast, and just gets busy, and makes songs, and not overthink sh*t. It just comes off naturally and effortlessly, but still putting forth effort, but making it seem so effortless that it’s just like, ‘Wow. We just literally put this beat up, and we’re already got verses down. We’re already bout to keep it moving, and do the next song.'”
In between conversations with the Griselda crew, Benny is captured in shots rapping “Scotties” from WWCD in Premier Studios, and on stage performing with the team for their sold-out show at SOB’s in New York City.
Griselda’s First Song From Their Shady Records Album Shows They Will Never Sell Out
In closing, Conway The Machine relives these same memories, marking the performance at SOB’s as one of Benny’s hallmark moments. “I didn’t know what I was about to witness. That sh*t just had me like, damn. I almost dropped a tear because, do you know how hard it is? One thing about New York City is it’s tough on rappers and entertainers, musicians. That’s how you know you on to something. [If] New York embraces you, they f*ck with you for your craft, then you [are confirmed]. Bruh, that sh*t took me there. That sh*t was amazing, man. That was another milestone, watching what Benny’s doing and has been doing.”
AFH TV recently interviewed Westside Gunn, Conway, and Benny. There is also a separate Plugs I Met conversation with Benny. We are currently offering free 7-day trials. New music by Benny The Butcher and Griselda is presently on the official AFH Playlist.
Just a few weeks ago, Griselda’s trifecta of Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine, and Westside Gunn debuted their collaborative album, WWCD, via Shady Records. Over the past few weeks, the GxFR team has accompanied the album’s release with a series of documentaries. These showcase the history, style, and effort set forth by the project’s curators. One cut of the web series, “348 Sanders Road,” featured the album’s production duo, Daringer and Beat Butcher, in which the artists reveal that WWCD was made without the use of samples. Other pieces include, “Connie’s Son,” featuring Westside Gunn, and “May Street,” with Conway The Machine. Their latest segment, “Chinegun’s Co-Defendant,” follows the story of Benny The Butcher and his rise alongside his Buffalo, New York brethren.
At the top of the video, the camera captures a scene of Benny in the streets in May of 2017 as he opens up about his recent signing to Griselda. The Butcher explains, “I mean it’s dope, but like I said, my life changed 30 days ago. I was front-lining in the projects.” He continues, “My whole everything changed, and I’m just ready to work. It’s inspiring to be in the position I’m in, especially what I came from.” Benny, who told AFH TV that he’s been rapping half of his life, was on a march to recognition for his extreme talents.
Royce 5’9 Explains How Griselda Has Avoided Some Of Slaughterhouse’s Mistakes
Flash forward to the present day, and as both a fan and curator, Benny is in awe of Griselda’s rise in Hip-Hop prominence. As a witness to all of the work he’s set forth to reach, Conway The Machine believes it’s Benny’s hunger that pushes him forward. The Machine details, “It’s just a testament to his hunger and his drive. I was just talking about this last night I think with Westside, like that ni**a Benny, man, that ni**a is super-hungry. That ni**a hungry like [he] is still broke, like we [are] still in the hood, and in the struggle.”
Benny follows, paying homage to Conway, Westside, and the blueprint they laid forth for him. “I really just took the blueprint from Wes’ and Con and applied it in my own way, without them having to hold my hand. That’s a headache. I’m not a ni**a where I need Wes’ for everything I do. He [is] busy working on other sh*t. Conway [is also] busy doing him. When I need ’em, I’m definitely tapping in, but I’m doing my own thing, holding my weight and pulling through ’cause that’s important too. That’s important. When I first came around, these dudes was up here, I was like, damn, I wanna give back to Griselda and contribute something to it. I feel like I’ve done that in this past year.” Before WWCD, Benny released The Plugs I Met on his own Black Soprano Family imprint. Both albums are included in Ambrosia For Heads‘ best of 2019.
Benny The Butcher Explains Why Rap Is A Grown Man’s Game (AFH TV Video)
In the documentary, longtime Benny producer Daringer provides insight into the MC’s carefree work ethic. “[Benny The Butcher is] great at rapping and being able to work on the spot. I’ve never been able to work with an artist that has been so fast, and just gets busy, and makes songs, and not overthink sh*t. It just comes off naturally and effortlessly, but still putting forth effort, but making it seem so effortless that it’s just like, ‘Wow. We just literally put this beat up, and we’re already got verses down. We’re already bout to keep it moving, and do the next song.'”
In between conversations with the Griselda crew, Benny is captured in shots rapping “Scotties” from WWCD in Premier Studios, and on stage performing with the team for their sold-out show at SOB’s in New York City.
Griselda’s First Song From Their Shady Records Album Shows They Will Never Sell Out
In closing, Conway The Machine relives these same memories, marking the performance at SOB’s as one of Benny’s hallmark moments. “I didn’t know what I was about to witness. That sh*t just had me like, damn. I almost dropped a tear because, do you know how hard it is? One thing about New York City is it’s tough on rappers and entertainers, musicians. That’s how you know you on to something. [If] New York embraces you, they f*ck with you for your craft, then you [are confirmed]. Bruh, that sh*t took me there. That sh*t was amazing, man. That was another milestone, watching what Benny’s doing and has been doing.”
AFH TV recently interviewed Westside Gunn, Conway, and Benny. There is also a separate Plugs I Met conversation with Benny. We are currently offering free 7-day trials. New music by Benny The Butcher and Griselda is presently on the official AFH Playlist.
via https://www.DMT.NEWS/
Jacob "34" Koertge, Khareem Sudlow, DMTDaily
