Jarren Benton
| Jarren Benton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jarren Giovanni Benton |
| Born |
Oct. 26, 1981 (age 36) Decatur, Georgia, United States[1] |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts |
|
| Website |
iamjarrenbenton |
Jarren Giovanni Benton [2][3] is an American rapper from Decatur, Georgia. In early 2012, he signed to rapper Hopsin's independent record label Funk Volume and released a mixtape called Freebasing with Kevin Bacon in June 2012. A year later, on June 11, 2013 he released his debut studio album My Grandma's Basement, which received positive critical reviews and debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200. After the Funk Volume split up, Benton was between labels, until 2018 when he was signed to ROC Nation[4], founded by Jay-Z in 2008.
Early life
From his early youth, Benton aspired to be a rapper. He told XXL, "I started trying to rap pretty young and the shit was kind of whack and then I got a little older and I started going around Atlanta performing at certain showcases. I got a little name for myself, but it was kind of hard in Atlanta, just due to the type of music that comes from there, which is you know, typical down south shit."[5] He credits his musical influences as OutKast, Goodie Mob, Dr. Dre, Ludacris, EL-P, Busta Rhymes, Sean Price, Redman, Wu-Tang Clan, Eminem, Ras Kass, Nine Inch Nails, Chino XL, Deftones, and Marilyn Manson.[6][7][8]
Musical career
2009–2012: Mixtapes and signing with Funk Volume
On August 5, 2009, Benton released his first official mixtape titled, Jarren Benton: The Mixtape, produced entirely by The Beatgods.[9] On January 25, 2011 Benton released a collaboration mixtape with producer SMKA.[10] The mixtape titled Huffing Glue With Hasselhoff was supported by the lead single "Get a Load of Me".[11] He soon begun to gain attention after the release of his song "Skitzo", which has received over 3 million hits on YouTube.[2] American underground rapper Hopsin would watch the video, and passed it on to Funk Volume CEO Dame Ritter. Ritter would contact Benton a few months later and then in May 2012, Hopsin and Ritter signed Benton to their Funk Volume record label. He had previously been courted by industry heavyweights such as Erick Sermon and No ID for major label record deals, with labels such as Def Jam Recordings and Interscope Records, however he chose to sign with the independent record label Funk Volume.[12] His first project on Funk Volume, a mixtape titled Freebasing with Kevin Bacon would be released on June 28, 2012. The mixtape featured guest appearances from Dizzy Wright, Rittz, Freeway, Gangsta Boo, Jon Connor, and Planet VI among others.[13]
2012-2015: My Grandma's Basement and Slow Motion, Vol. 1
In late 2012 he toured internationally with Hopsin, Dizzy Wright, SwizZz and DJ Hoppa for two-months, which included 54 shows in 60 days in the United States, Europe, and Australia.[14] He explained his mindset going into his debut album saying, "This album has a different vibe. It’s a lot more personal stuff so people can learn who Jarren is." He also said it will feature a more refined production sound that translates more to his ambitions of being a household name.[1] On June 11, 2013, Benton would release his debut studio album My Grandma's Basement on Funk Volume. The album featured guest appearances by Dizzy Wright, Hopsin, R.A. The Rugged Man, Vinnie Paz and SwizZz.[15] My Grandma's Basement debuted and peaked at number 152 on the Billboard 200 and number four on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.[16] He released music videos for multiple songs including "Go Off", "Life In the Jungle" and "We On (My Own Dick)" among others.[17]
On August 2, 2013, R.A. The Rugged Man released the remix to his song "Underground Hitz" featuring Hopsin and Benton.[18] From August 1–August 19, 2013 Benton toured the United States on the Grandma's Basement Tour, his first solo headlining tour.[19] Then, Benton went on "The Life And Times Tour" with Strange Music rapper Rittz and Atlantic Records rapper Snow Tha Product, the tour went from October 31, 2013 to December 8, 2013. Benton also featured on Hopsin's third studio album Knock Madness, on the song "Who's There" with Funk Volume label mate Dizzy Wright. Benton received the most fan-votes votes, earning a spot on the 2014 XXL freshman class and was named the "People's Champ".[20] He was the oldest rapper that had ever been selected to the list at 32.[21] From April 9 to June 28, 2014, Benton is touring with Tech N9ne, Freddie Gibbs and Krizz Kaliko on the Independent Grind Tour 2014.[22][23] On January 27, 2015, Benton released his Debut EP, "Slow Motion, Vol. 1" named after old friend and fellow rapper "Slow Motion" who recently passed away at the time.
2016-2017: Slow Motion, Vol. 2 and The Mink Coat Killa LP
On July 22, 2016, Benton released his 2nd official studio album, and his first one under his newfound independent record label "Benton Enterprises" Slow Motion, Vol. 2, the sequel to his 2015 EP, Slow Motion, Vol. 1. On June 23, 2017, Benton released his third studio album titled "The Mink Coat Killa LP" supported by two singles from the album "C.R.E.A.M. 17" featuring Nick Grant being released on June 1, and "Again" featurng Aleon Craft being released on June 19, from the album. Initially, Benton stated that this project was intended to be a Wu-Tang Clan tribute project, the title of the project being a reference to his Wu-Tang name "The Mink Coat Killa."[24]
2018-Present: One Week Notice, Yuck Fou
On January 5, 2018, Benton, with the record label StillMovin, released a collaboration project called One Week Notice. One Week Notice was created when StillMovin label owner Damian Ritter got Benton together with Dizzy Wright, Audio Push, Demrick, Emilio Rojas, Reezy, DJ Hoppa, and Kato to record an album in one week. On June 29, 2018, Benton and Kato released the single "Don't Need You" featuring Hopsin, and announced a collaborative album. On July 25, 2018, Benton and Kato released the single "Money Bag" featuring Jay Park, and announced that their collaborative album, Yuck Fou, would be released under Roc Nation.
Personal life
Benton is married and has two children.[8]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B/ HH |
US Rap | ||
| My Grandma's Basement |
|
152 | 16 | 12 |
| Slow Motion Vol. 2 |
|
- | 43 | - |
| The Mink Coat Killa LP |
|
- | - | - |
| One Week Notice (with Dizzy Wright, Audio Push, Demrick, Emilio Rojas, Reezy, DJ Hoppa, and Kato) |
|
- | - | - |
| Yuck Fou (with Kato) |
|
- | - | - |
EPs
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B/ HH |
US Rap | |||||||||||
| "Slow Motion Vol. 1" |
|
168 | 15 | 10 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Beatgods Present... Jarren Benton: The Mixtape |
|
| Huffing Glue with Hasselhoff |
|
| Freebasing with Kevin Bacon |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Rap | ||||||||||||
| "Skitzo" | 2012 | — | — | — | Freebasing With Kevin Bacon | |||||||||
| "Funk Volume 2013"[25] (with SwizZz, Hopsin, Dizzy Wright & DJ Hoppa) |
2013 | — | — | — | N/A | |||||||||
| "Razor Blades and Steak Knives" | — | — | — | My Grandma's Basement | ||||||||||
| "Gimmie the Loot" | 2014 | — | — | — | N/A | |||||||||
| "Anarchy (featuring EARTHGANG)" |
2016 | — | — | — | Slow Motion Vol. 2 | |||||||||
| "Tec In The Church (featuring Locksmith and Joyner Lucas)" |
— | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Scared (featuring OnCue & Big Rube)" |
— | — | — | |||||||||||
| "C.R.E.A.M. 17"(featuring Nick Grant) | 2017 | — | — | — | The Mink Coat Killa LP | |||||||||
| "Again"(featuring Aleon Craft) | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Money Bag (with Kato and Jay Park)" |
2018 | — | — | — | Yuck Fou | |||||||||
| "Don't Need You (with Kato and Hopsin)" |
— | — | — | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Don't Mind If I Do" | 2012 | Futuristic (rapper), Dizzy Wright | Chasing Down A Dream |
| "Hotel Stripper" | Dizzy Wright | The First Agreement | |
| "Shotgun Kisses" | Dizzy Wright, Irv Da Phenom | ||
| "Y.B.W. (Young Black and Winning)" (Remix) | 2013 | Irv da Phenom, Dizzy Wright | Los Kangeles LP |
| "1 O'Clock Jump" | Stevie Stone | 2 Birds 1 Stone | |
| "Step Yo Game Up" | Dizzy Wright, Tory Lanez | The Golden Age | |
| "Insanity" | Kasland | Devil's Delight | |
| "YDGI" | verbal PHANTOM | THEO | |
| "Meditation Obliteration" | Bloodstepp | Bass And Bubblegum | |
| "Who's There" | Hopsin, Dizzy Wright | Knock Madness | |
| "Get Your Weight Up" | 2014 | Goldyard | Fuck Culture E.P. |
| "Meditation Obliteration (Bent(on) Destruction Remix)" | Bloodstepp, KD The Stranger | Grand Theft Ufo: Floppy Disk Edition | |
| "Hundred Percent Legit (Gmix)" | Knifer, WC | Hundred Percent Legit (Gmix) | |
| "Rage" | The Dillinger Escape Plan | Converse CONS Compilation - CONS EP Vol. 2[26] | |
| "Ohh Noo" | Chris Webby, Tech N9ne | Chemically Imbalanced | |
| "Don't Know" | Jon Dubb | The Leilana May Project | |
| "Explain Myself" | 2015 | Dizzy Wright | The Growing Process |
| "Ramona" | Hopsin | Pound Syndrome | |
| "Jack Move" | Erick Sermon | E.S.P. (Erick Sermon’s Perception) | |
| "Joe Jackson" | Twisted Insane | Voodoo | |
| "Flags Fly High" | Serial Killers | The Murder Show | |
| "Outta My Brain" | 2016 | Bernz | See You On The Other Side |
| "Bulletproof" | Wax, Sahtyre | The Cookout Chronicles | |
References
- 1 2 "Jarren Benton". myfunkvolume.com.
- 1 2 "The Come Up: Jarren Benton". XXL.
- ↑ "Funk Volume on Twitter". Twitter.
- ↑ "Jarren Benton - ROCNATION". ROCNATION. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ↑ The Come Up: Jarren Benton - Page 2 of 7 - XXL
- ↑ "The Come Up: Jarren Benton". XXL.
- ↑ "Source Exclusive: Jarren Benton Speaks On His Funk Volume Family, Redman & His Latest Album". thesource.com.
- 1 2 "Jarren Benton Conquers His Stage Fright - XXL". Xxlmag.com. 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
- 1 2 "Booth Favorite Jarren Benton Drops Self-Titled Mixtape [Download] | DJBooth.net". djbooth.net. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ↑ "Amazon.com: Jarren Benton Meets Smka: Huffing Glue With Hasselhoff [Explicit]: Jarren Benton: MP3 Downloads". amazon.com.
- ↑ "Jarren Benton Meets SMKA: Huffing Glue With Hasslehoff". DJBooth.net.
- ↑ "The Come Up: Jarren Benton". XXL.
- ↑ "Jarren Benton - Freebasing With Kevin Bacon". DJBooth.net.
- ↑ "Hopsin Announces Funk Volume 2012 Tour with Dizzy Wright, SwizZz & Jarren Benton [Video] | XXL". Xxlmag.com. 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ↑ "The Come Up: Jarren Benton". XXL.
- ↑ "Jarren Benton | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
- ↑ Tyler Keyes. "Video: Jarren Benton f/ Hopsin & SwizZz "Go Off"". Complex.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - Underground Hits (Remix) [feat. Hopsin, Jarren Benton] - Single by R.A. the Rugged Man". iTunes.
- ↑ HipHopDX (24 June 2013). "Jarren Benton Announces "Grandma's Basement Tour" Dates". HipHopDX.
- ↑ "XXL Freshmen 2014 Cover Revealed - XXL". xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
- ↑ "XXL Freshmen Class: By The Numbers". xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
- ↑ "Tech N9ne, Freddie Gibbs Are Hitting 70 Cities For New Tour - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
- ↑ "What We Learned: Jarren Benton's 'Ask Me Anything' Session On Reddit - Page 2 of 2 - XXL". xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
- ↑ "Jarren Benton talks Mink Coat Killa LP, "Fuck" Atlanta, Post Funk Volume Life w/ Adrian Hernandez". The Beat 101.1. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - Funk Volume 2013 - Single by Various Artists". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
- ↑ "The Dillinger Escape Plan and rapper Jarren Benton, "Rage" video premiere". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
External links
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