Benga
Benga performing at Boiler Room in Liverpool, January 2024
Background information
Birth name	Adegbenga Adejumo
Born	(1986-09-01)1 September 1986 (age 38) Clapton, London, England
Origin	Croydon, South London, England
Genres	Bass dubstep UK garage future house
Occupations	Record producer DJ
Instruments	Synthesiser sampler drums vocals
Years active	2002–2014 2015–present
Labels	Big Apple Benga Beats Tempa
Member of	Magnetic Man

Adegbenga Adejumo (born 1 September 1986), known asBenga, is a British musician fromCroydon, known for being a pioneer ofdubstep record production.^[1] He has been featured on a variety of compilations includingMary Anne Hobbs'sWarrior Dubz,Tempa'sThe Roots of Dubstep and theBBC Radio 1Xtra anniversary mix.

Adejumo is ofYorubaNigerian descent.^[2]

Inspired byUK garage producerWookie, Benga would produce tunes on aPlayStation, and subsequentlyFruityLoops. As a teenager he would visit the Big Apple record shop in Croydon where he was introduced toSkream, and together they would help forge the sound of dubstep emerging in the early 2000s.^[3][4] His productions caught the attention ofDJ Hatcha, who worked at the shop, and, by the age of 15, Benga had made his first record, "Skank", released on Big Apple's own record label in 2002.^[5]

Benga's second release was a collaboration with Skream, called "The Judgement".^[6] Further releases followed on Big Apple Records,Hotflush Recordings andPlanet Mu, before Benga self-released his debut albumNewstep in 2006.^[7] As dubstep garnered mainstream attention, Benga continued to release singles, including a collaboration with Coki ofDigital Mystikz called "Night", that reached 98 in theUK Singles Chart in 2008.^[8]Diary of an Afro Warrior, Benga's second album, followed in the same year withResident Advisor describing it as "one of the most anticipated LPs in dubstep yet."^[9]

In 2007 Benga along with fellow producersSkream andArtwork, formed the dubstepsupergroupMagnetic Man.^[10] This resulted in the release of anEP andeponymous studio album in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Benga also producedKaty B's debut single "Katy on a Mission", which peaked at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 2010.^[11]

From January 2011, Benga joinedBBC Radio 1 with Skream as part of 'In New DJs We Trust',^[12] and presented a weekly Friday night show.^[13] Skream and Benga performed together atField Day music festival in Sydney onNew Year's Day 2012.^[14]

Benga generated controversy in July 2012 after reportedly saying he wished to remove himself from dubstep, insisting that he no longer wanted to be a part of the genre. He went on to clarify his comments saying "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."^[15]

In 2013, he released his third albumChapter II onSony Music, which included the single "Forefather" featuringKano. He also created an official remix ofDonna Summer's "I Feel Love", which features on the tributeremix albumLove To Love You Donna,^[16] and co-producedDominique Young Unique's 2014 debut single "Throw It Down" withDJ Fresh.

On 2 February 2014, Adejumo announced on social media that following his engagement to Holly-Jae Treadgold, he was retiring to focus on raising a family.^[17][18][19] However, in May 2014, he announced plans to complete a new album.^[20]

In September 2015, Benga revealed via his Twitter account that mental health issues had been the reason for his retirement announcement.^[21] In an interview withThe Guardian, he explained that he noticed issues in late 2013 and was subsequentlysectioned in March 2014. He stated that excessive touring led toschizophrenia.^[22] In an interview withAnnie Mac onBBC Radio 1 in 2018, Benga claimed to have deleted all of his productions from his hard drive during his hospital stay. He premiered a new track "Psychosis" on the radio show, inspired by and to treat his psychological experiences, and was released in February 2018 on his new Illuminate record label.^[23][24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBenga (musician).

• Official website
• Benga discography atDiscogs
• Benga RBMA lecture

• 1986 births
• Living people
• British dubstep musicians
• Black British musicians
• Black British DJs
• English people of Nigerian descent
• English record producers
• Musicians from the London Borough of Croydon
• People from Croydon
• People with bipolar disorder
• People with schizophrenia
• English people of Yoruba descent
• Yoruba musicians
• Planet Mu artists
• English people with disabilities
• British electronic dance music DJs
• DJs from London

• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• EngvarB from August 2014
• Use dmy dates from August 2014
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link is on Wikidata