Wayne Donald Benjamin better
known as Mr.
Benji
N²0
was born
on June 9, 1981 in Fond Cole,
Dominica. It was from an early
age that he realized his talent
and blessing to be in the music
arena. Coming from a strong
Christian background, at church
he played drums; however, he had
the love for keyboards. As the
years went by it became more
obvious and evident that Wayne’s
career would have taken a
musical direction. Being a lover
of reggae music especially those
produced by the internationally
known Steel Pulse he slowly grew
interest in the new genre of
music, which was created by the
pioneers
W.C.K.
Band, Bouyon music. He then
started to shift his eyes to
becoming an artist in bouyon
music and sorts the advice from
one of the founding members of
the W.C.K.
Band, Ashton “Wackas” Lugay,
whom is his neighbor and role
model. It was from that time
onwards that the rise of then
Benji began.
Wayne and a group of friends
from his neighbor, all whom had
a love for music as well,
decided to come together and
form a band known as the
Ruthless Band.In this
band he not only sang but also
received the opportunity to play
the keyboards. The band
practiced and held dances in the
neighborhood and surrounding
areas which gave them exposure.
They produced a number of songs.
Even with the rise of
Ruthless,
Benji felt even though the band
was becoming popular and getting
some recognition that there was
more to be accomplished. He was
never satisfied with things just
being all right. His drive grew
even more intense after the
number of songs that were
produced.
After several years with
Ruthless Band, he went on to
work for Carnival Cruise line’s
entertainment band as a drummer.
Even then, he still believed
that it was not his
calling and that it was not
enough. But who knew that things
would have changed when he made
his vacation visit and met with
old friends that introduced him
to other musicians like himself
but from another band.
During his time sailing with
Carnival Cruise lines, the
Triple
Kay Band,
was a rising band with its
members from the village of
Laudat. At the time, this band
was popularly known for
mastering their performances in
Compas and Zouk music and even
Cadence. Former band member of
the Ruthless band and friend
Denis “Speedy” Jemmot introduced
Benji to members of the Triple
Kay Band
upon his vacation visit. Benji
performed with Triple
Kay Band
as a guest performer and
recieved theopportunity
to produce a song, Log On,
on the band’s second album
Fanatik. Log on marked a
new sunrise for the band because
Benji now brought in a new
flavor to the band’s performance
and sound, bouyon music.
In 2004, Triple
Kay Band was working
on their third album and by that
time Benji became popular not
only for his energy and getting
the audience hyped but also his
amazing ability to use chants
and put in song. Sewo,
which was the name of the album,
came from the song written and
performed by Benji, brought the
band one step closer to being
one of the most promising bands
in Dominica. Sewo
allowed that band and Benji to
gain more recognition.
Shortly after the album was
completed, Benji had to return
to his job on the cruise ship
and within two weeks of the
release of the album Sewo
Triple Kay Band proved to be one
of the most popular band on the
island of Dominica. In October
of 2004, Benji returned to
Dominica to work with the Band
fulltime.
Triple
Kay Band and Benji became
a force to be reckoned with and
with his skill of being able to
produce tracks that would take
the country by storm and his
high source of energy when
performing on stage. In 2005 the
band was awarded Band of the
Year and Best Album of
the Year,Sewo
was named Best Song of the
Year and Benji captured the
title of Best Male Artist
which he felt was one of his
greatest accomplishments.
With Triple
Kay Band’s and Benji’s
success, countless promoters
within the Caribbean, United
Kingdom, and the United States
booked the band to perform at
many events. The highlight of
his career came when the band
performed in Belgium in 2006. He
is sometimes reminded of how far
he has come in the music
industry when he often hear his
songs played on the radio or
even his fans showing their
appreciation to his work.
Now as
Mr.
Benji
N²0, music is a
full time career. Has has
competed in the Soca Monarch in
Dominica and plans on releasing
his debut solo album titled
Life
in 2008. Benji visions him and
Triple Kay receiving
international recognition. The
band’s goal is to promote Bouyon
music and Dominica globally.
Benji now has a new inspiration
and that is his two-year-old
daughter Rayne, which gives him
additional drive to go on. She
is one of his motivations and
surprisingly she has an ear for
music and often assisted her
father in writing hit songs.
Mr.
Benji
N²0 is the name he
goes by and whenever he steps on
the stage, be prepared for a
show and not just a performance.
He hopes one day to make
collaborations with artists like
Bunji Garlin and his favorite
international artist Machel
Montano HD.
His final words to his fans are,
“See you at my next N20
performance, faster than
ever!!!!”
