IT is safe to describe multi-talented singer and songwriter, Daniel Benson aka BNXN as one of Nigerian music’s best exports to the world. The talented musician has distinguished himself with his ability to take up choruses on any record in an elegant humming pattern style that is unique to him. The 2022 Headies next rated award winner tells SAMPSON UNAMKA in Atlanta, Georgia, about his career, love life, details of his relationship with Wizkid, love for music star, Davido, his take on music critics, legacy, about his forthcoming album and more.
Congrats on your award, did you see the next rated award coming?
To be honest it is good to be hopeful but more like anyhow it goes, I was more like if it happens it happens, it doesn’t change my perception towards working. So yeah I mean it was a great stepping stone.
Since your career picked up, you have worked with all the biggest acts in the industry and created hits, how do you feel with these achievements?
To God be the glory, because there is a whole lot that has gone into my career and my work and to be honest, I feel like I am just blessed because a lot of people relate to my sound and it is always nice for them to actually connect because I have been in the studio with a couple of people, I mean OGs who tell me my sound is like a bridge between music that they like or the music that they make with the younger generation and that’s the reason we can connect. So it is beautiful. Also that is God’s blessing because sometimes it doesn’t work that way too, because trust me collaboration is a conscious effort between two parties just to make the work that they are putting out become substantial so it’s always good to see that whenever I work with anybody it just always goes up.
When Jae5 visited Nigeria, he said you were the fastest musician he ever worked with, he said you made two hit tracks in just minutes, how do you do this?
Firstly, I write a lot, so sometimes even before I get into the studio with anybody, I already almost have what I want to say in terms of the lyrics or whatever but sometimes whenever I am feeling the beat it is always very easy. I am a songwriter and when the beat is proper and I have to write fully, writing is very easy for me, I could put down the rhymes together sharply.
Have you ever been in a situation where you don’t feel the beat?
Of course, I tell the producer to change it. I don’t like to force myself on any vibration or any song that I am not 1000 feeling. I’ll rather hold on and save it for another thing entirely but other times if the beat is not good we change it or work with something else.
How do you handle critics and criticism?
I have come to realise that criticism is part of the game because even when I was younger there were a lot of times when I just came on the internet. After all, I have free data and sub, anybody, because I am a Burna Boy fan so if you’re not a Burna Boy fan, I’m automatically up, but it was based on laziness and boredom and the need to be seen. Like you want to be seen you want to be heard but all that energy is not needed, like I said it is also part of the game, it feels like ginger or courage, sometimes you don’t want to prove anybody, people that think that you are going to be this guy and you are not capable of this and that but I also feel that criticism is something that shouldn’t necessarily affect your game, it shouldn’t shake you. My manager gave me this perspective one time, that have you ever worked down the road and somebody comes to meet you and says ‘I hate your song, I hate you, your song is rubbish’, it has never happened, it is only online, it’s fake so it is like a facade and I would be in a thousand and one places so if that has never happened to me one time you already know that this is online energy, it is from people that you can’t see or hear but they want to be seen and heard and sometimes they are faceless so handling criticism now is a lot easier for me. I just look at it as a facade. Before I used to let it get to me sometimes because I am a very emotional person and I am very personal with my work so especially when I see someone shitting on my work that I have put so much time and effort into, it’s almost very sketchy but now it’s way better. Was portable rise in the industry ever a threat to you?
No lol! I don’t know why but I like Portable, for some reason I think he is one of the outspoken guys and he says a lot of real shit but he clowns it in his insanity. There are sometimes he is actually communicating, saying some proper shit but people always overlook him because of the way he even brings it, it’s dumb.
You gave Ruger a shoutout during your award acceptance speech when many never expected that to happen, what was that about?
I needed people to understand that he is the list of my worries, like on a level, if it is competition, talent wise, or anything he is just the least of my worries, this is not a thing I don’t want people to think there is a Buju and Ruger thing (beef). I needed people to understand that I’m doing me and I am more focused on my music and my journey to even caring about another man’s thing.
Read Also: Headies winner BNXN declares love for Portable
When are you releasing your debut studio album?
I’m trying to do that next year. The consciousness I took with making this project that just dropped ‘Bad since 97’, I want to do that again you know, be well traveled, have a lot more experiences, there is a lot that I have been experiencing over time, so I want to be more grounded with whatever I’m trying to talk about you know, the topics I’m trying to hit, the producers I want to work with because I have been working with a whole lot of producers than before, yeah and I am just excited because the album is going to be a lot more packed.
How will you respond to comments from people who say your biggest songs have been collaborations?
That is very relative because for instance now if I work in the studio with an artist and there is a beat playing and nobody drops anything or nobody drops a single vibe if it is me that drops a vibe, who owns the song? But what people didn’t know was that last year, I wasn’t strategic about my moves, I will literally make a song and give it to an artist just because I need the song out there and I can’t fund the PR, I can’t fund the marketing so it’s always better to drop it in their stable because they can fund the PR, they can fund the marketing. I think people should look at me as the smartest artist around, not just anything. It is very relative like I said. On Spotify or say Apple Music, I have over 200,000 million streams and then the features are only 100 million, so would you say the other ones are not hits? There is a whole 100 million that is strictly just me so it’s people being ignorant, they don’t just know.
What are your plans?
It is all about longevity, I want to be better than the guy I was yesterday. I am not rushing anything, at the same time I’m as focused as ever so that’s where I am at.
Any love life?
My love life don dey crash small small. Some people are trying to rubbish my P and they are trying to stress my babe out but we are still good, we are still amazing.
What legacy will you like to leave in the music industry?
I want to be that guy that just came in and changed everything, the lyricism, the flow, the style, everything.
Who is that one other artist you respect behind closed doors?
I love OBO, Davido, and it is not really behind closed doors because anytime I see him I always let him know, anywhere he is I let him know, it is not a closed door thing. Also, I love Omah Lay, and Rema. I love a whole lot of artists especially if you are doing something different, if you are bringing something different to the table.
Which international act do you look forward to working with?
The only international act I look forward to working with is J hus and it’s mainly because he influenced my style in some terms, genuinely, the confidence on records, the way he does it that is something I have been emulating from time so I want to work with him. I want international artists to be as interested in working with me as I am working with them so the feeling is mutual and the vibe is right.
Do you and Wizkid have another song?
There are so many songs. Big Wiz and I have so many songs I can’t even lie and more to come because we are amazing friends and we work together properly.