Rhian Benson
Rhian Benson is a new African/British artist
that offers what USA TODAY calls "a rich blend of R&B,
soul, jazz and reggae". Billboard Magazine calls her
music "a breath of fresh air".
Rhian was born into the renowned Ashanti tribe in Ghana, West
Africa. Her family is deeply involved in music - Her father,
an Ashanti dignitary from Ghana, is a guitarist and her British
mother is a singer. In addition, her grandfather and uncles
are all musicians. This musically rich heritage inspired Rhian
to begin playing the piano and writing songs as a child. She
composes her songs on guitar and keyboards
Rhian Benson temporarily
abandoned her musical roots to study at the London School
of Economics. After a short stint as a banker she enrolled
at Harvard in Boston for graduate school. She had to leave
Harvard when her mother fell ill with cancer. She went back
to London to take care of her mother and during this stressful
time, she began writing songs again as an outlet for her emotions.
Realizing the true importance of music in her life, Rhian
continued to write songs after her mother's recovery. She
also began performing at open-mic nights in London, where
she was eventually discovered and signed by DKG Music, a new
Los Angeles-based label.
Her label asked her to move to L.A., which
is where she has spent the last two years recording her debut
album- "Gold Coast." The title refers to her journey-from
her home in Ghana (which historically used to be called The
Gold Coast) to her new home in 'The Golden State' of California.
She wrote all the songs on Gold Coast and also co-produced
the album with Grammy-winning producers James Poyser (who
has worked with Lauryn Hill, The Roots and Jill Scott amongst
others) and Bob Power (D'Angelo, Tribe Called Quest, Erykah
Badu).
Gold Coast recently hit the stores and Rhian
just completed a national 20-city tour with R&B superstar
Brian McKnight and has also opened for Raphael Saadiq and
Musiq. Rhian was also just spotlighted in an hour Who is Rhian
Benson? special on BET, and in addition, is scheduled to be
hosting her own series on the network. Entitled "Gold
Coast," the series will air in November and December.
She was also recently featured as the Sirius
Satellite Radio/House of Blues Emerging Artist of The Month.
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