iHeartRadio Interview
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BENJAMIN HEY! EMBRACES HIS MUSIC CAREER ONE SONG AT A TIME
On April 15th, 2017, Benjamin Hey! took on a daily songwriting challenge. The NYC-based artist and producer, who was then working as an actor and model, has written a song every day since.
“It’s like one of those situations where I thought I was done with music, but it wasn’t done with me. So I decided to just try it again. But this time around, I said to myself, I have to have fun, so I can’t take myself too seriously. Whatever songs come through, I’m going to write it—if they are good songs, bad songs, if they’re serious, if they’re silly, I’m just gonna create it and not judge it. It led to me just doubling down on my commitment,” explains Hey! “I didn’t plan on writing a song every single day for over five years. It just happened.”
Hey! started writing music in 2008 as an independent artist. Feeling that music had been following his various paths serendipitously—taking acting courses that always ended up having singing involved—he decided to return to music-making after a 30-day challenge that was brought to his attention by a friend who was a contestant on The Voice. The friend ended up with 4 songs, while Hey! wrote 22 songs. He soon reached out to a producer friend in L.A. (Jonny On The Rocks) and started production on those 22 songs.
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Love is the message in Benjamin Hey!’s new singles “Ra-ta-tat-tat” and “No Samples”
NEW YORK — Music has been saving Benjamin Hey!’s life ever since he took a personal pledge on April 15, 2017 to write a new song every day.
Now Hey!, also known as “The Captain,” is hoping his new singles “Ra-ta-tat-tat,” and “No Samples,” can reach out with love to help others and save more lives in the process.
“Ra-ta-tat-tat,” is a single that cries out against gun violence, especially the violence that is killing inner-city young people.
“No Samples,” is a love song that encourages people not to accept second best when it comes to the loves in their lives.
Both songs were released under the John Beyer Music label owned by Hey!’s friend and frequent collaborator, John Beyer.
“With John and I, our goal is to not only have a hit song and hit record, but we want to bring a message to the music,” Hey! said. “We want to really connect to people who love the art of storytelling and listening to a song and being like, wow, not only is it an amazing vocal but there’s an important message that I really connect to that hopefully can move me and change my life.” “Ra-Ta-Tat-Tat,” is an anthem, released in May, seeking to promote peace on the streets of America’s cities, asking people to “Pull off the covers, of hate towards each other. We gotta start using our brains.”
Hey! said the song was originally Beyer’s idea and he was reluctant to even tackle the topic.
“It just pains me to se all these young kids, particularly in the inner-city, killing each other and the gangs and the gun violence,” Beyer said. “It’s not getting better, in fact it seems to be getting worse and I witness it from afar, I saw a glimpse of it when I was growing up myself in Queens and it pains me to watch it.
“I mentioned to Ben that I wanted to write a song about it and he said no, that as the subject matter hit too close to home for him.”
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W42ST.com
Benjamin Hey! talks about "pretty privilege," protest, and coming out to his proud Black father.
When Benjamin Hey! first wrote 'God Where You At?' – a song he says is one of the most honest, most raw he’s ever had to write – he’d already been penning a new piece of music every day for more than three years.
Every single day – even on the days when he didn’t think he had a song in him – he’d write, and post the results on Instagram. “I made a commitment,” he says. “It started, in April 2017, as a year. That went to two years, then it went to three years, and I said, ‘You know what, I'm just going to keeping it going.
As the pandemic took hold, and every day’s news held another grim piece of the puzzle – the virus affects older people; it disproportionately hits people of color; but some younger people can get it too – he said it felt like a boogeyman we didn't know anything about. “And there was the economic fallout. It was a lot,” he says. “I was like, ‘God, where you at? I'm looking for you. I can't find you.’”
Then Ahmaud Arbery was shot by two white men while he was out jogging. Breonna Taylor was fatally shot in her bed after three plain clothes police officers broke into her house in a bungled drugs sting. And George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, who knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
And Benjamin had to rewrite the lyrics. “‘Can't jog, can't breathe, can't be, can't stand. They treat me like I'm less than human.’ It was like stuff I’d heard about from history, from slavery, before Civil Rights. I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this stuff is still happening in 2020? That's crazy.’
“For so many years, because I went to private school, and because I've been exposed to so much abundance – and I'm grateful for all those things – I’d think, ‘That's not my experience.’ I think Black culture is like, if you're educated, if you're a doctor, if you're a lawyer, if you live in an affluent environment, you're not the same as somebody who lives in the hood.”
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INSTINCT MAGAZINE
Talent Plus Sexiness and a Whole Ton of Charisma is Coming Your Way, Courtesy of Benjamin Hey!
Talent plus sexiness and a whole ton of charisma is coming your way courtesy of Benjamin Hey!who has officially dropped his first full length album today, January 10, called LAX.
Ben has categorically become one of the biggest names that is on people's lips in and out of the entertainment industry. Looks aside, he's a talented individual both in the singing and writing department, as he's worked with big names like Laverne Cox who he co-wrote "Beat For The Gods" with.
That track became a huge success for both of them last year, and now its Benjamin's turn to bring his lyrical game to the masses on a solo level in 2019 with his stellar album that is worth the listen to and then some.
Ben is taking ambition to a whole other level with LAX as he's not only supplied 14 fantastic tracks within it, but he also plans to shoot videos for each of the songs as well. Talk about a Beyonce 2.0 situation here!
Benjamin Hey! Feature with Rust & Fray
“When I complete a song by putting music with lyrics and melody, I’m extremely happy. To have something start out as an idea and then have it be realized is the greatest feeling in the world.” – says R&B artist Benjamin HEY !. His new single California Ave from his LAX album will be released this Friday and we are super excited about it!
Ben graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Marketing Management and went on to explore a career path full of diverse experiences including an internship at MTv. He is currently a Group Fitness Instructor with Equinox and a private personal trainer to a lucky few while pursuing his passion for music as a songwriter and R&B artist.
In his spare time, Ben loves playing Words with Friends and old school video games like Nintendo and Super Nes. He’s a self proclaimed Super Mario nerd and loves geeking out for hours playing those games. He also loves superhero movies – “they remind me that helping others less fortunate is extremely important!” Five years from now Ben sees himself reigning the Billboard charts. “I will be a force that creates momentum and opportunities for driven and hungry individuals like me who have come from abuse and low socio economic backgrounds.” His favorite quote “I aspire to inspire before I expire” sums up his life’s motto well.
Sustainable to Ben means sufficient, powerful, thorough, tough, reliable, reuseable, and withstands the tests of hardship and obstacle. “I am sustainable.”
You inspire us Benjamin Hey!!
Benjamin Hey! Brings Sexy, Soul & Sophistication Back to the Biz
RYAN SHEA | MANHATTAN DIGEST | SEPT. 11, 2017
Benjamin Hey! has tons to bring to the table in the music industry. Good looks, great vocals and a ton of self awareness could make him the next big thing. Upon first listen to his record “LAX”, its very clear that he is bringing back the three s’ to the music industry: sexy, smooth and sophistication. In a time where music is running high on stale material, Benjamin Hey! could easily be a fresh spin on what’s going on right now.
I spoke with Benjamin Hey! a little time ago in Hell’s Kitchen and got to understand his passion for his music, which he goes into at great lengths below. Take the smoothness of Usher with the charismatic flavor of Trey Songz with a hint of Michael Jackson and the solution is him. Here’s why....
