Essentials: Benga

This installment of Essentials reveals the tasteful and unassuming personal property of a dubstep pioneer. Benga is an East London-born music producer and DJ from Croydon in South London. The 26-year-old has been making his own tunes on the PlayStation since he was a boy hanging out at the Big Apple record shop in Croydon. After his homemade tracks caught the attention of dubstep producer Hatcha who worked at the shop, Benga went on to release his first record “Skank” on Big Apple’s record label before the age of 15. Although he was an early pioneer of the dubstep scene and has been credited as practically inventing the genre, Benga has denied the title of chief dubstepper and chosen to stay progressive. “For me to remain creative, I’ve kinda not got to call my music dubstep and for me to keep pushing boundaries and moving around, making songs… I can’t call myself dubstep.”

Despite this, his legacy persists. I Am Benga is a new six-part series produced by Red Bull Studios London that takes an exclusive look at the life of Benga as one of UK’s heavyweight electronic music superstars. The series traces Benga’s early life in Croydon to his present success as an electronic tour de force worldwide, also shedding light on the small town roots of the global dance movement known as dubstep. Watch it online here.

Photography: Scott Peters/HYPEBEAST