EXTRA THOUGHTS

Here are some extra thoughts/tidbits about each beat on the EP!

Co-Produced w/ kken & JAM

1. Obsessive

This is officially the last beat I made for the EP. The smooth guitar lines (shoutout to kken & JAM) instantly brought to mind Usher's "Nice & Slow" and Xscape's "My Little Secret" (both produced by Jermaine Dupri), which inspired me ;). You can hear it in the hi-hat pattern, the snare level, and the overall mix of the instrumentation. The final touch was adding the very subtle, high-pitched strings in the hook — which took the longest to perfect as I was searching for the right minimalistic element to complete the vibe.

Co-Produced w/ august xv

2. Baby

This was the last beat I made for the EP, and I absolutely love the smooth chords paired with the vocal sample saying 'Baby' and 'Yeah' (shoutout to August XV!). As soon as I heard the sample, I knew I had to build a beat around it. You can probably tell, but I layered the drums and percussion heavily to create a nice flow and keep things interesting, since I didn’t use many instruments outside of the hook. I wanted to rely on rhythm to drive the beat. Even though the tempo is slow, the drum patterns give it that 'banger' feel.

Co-Produced w/ ProdByTy

3. Cr8zy

My second collab in a row on an EP with ProdByTy, and this beat also debuts my new producer tag, 'You're so crazy Benny'—pretty fitting for a track called 'Cr8zy,' right? I wanted the drums to stand out, so I went for a Neptune/Timbaland-inspired kick and snare, swapping out hi-hats for shakers to give the beat a fresh, unique feel. I love the guitar line and the subtle vocal runs that pop in occasionally. The group vocal parts (near the end) weren’t originally in the mix, but I added them to 'extend' the beat a bit more. You’re welcome :).

4. Your Body

I sampled this from a super rare '90s R&B record (sorry, I didn’t keep track of the name, so I can’t link it here). Back in 2019, I actually made a more dancehall/uptempo beat with this same sample, but it had a completely different vibe (the beat is so ass!). When I came across it again, I wanted to take a new approach. I split the stems of the sample, which is how I built this beat. I was inspired by Drake’s 'Madonna'—the tempo is similar, and I pitched the melody down to give it that 'drowsy'/'lowkey' feel, making the two tracks really comparable.

5. PartyNextRoom

I initially planned to end the EP with 'Body,' but this beat felt like the perfect 'chill' track to close with. Also, it's quite obvious where I got the name for this beat from too. Despite the simplicity of the drums and melodies, I really love the lead I played in the intro and chorus—it’s got a strong R&B vibe.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

It’s February 2nd, 1:28 PM as I’m writing this. R&Ben Vol. 2 got approved for streaming yesterday, and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can move on to next month’s release. That said, I’m still debating whether I should tweak the mixes even more, but I’m learning the "art of letting go of your art." I could probably find a million things to adjust in every beat, but it’s impossible to perfect everything—so I’m working on letting it out into the world without micromanaging it.

At the moment, I’ve already planned the next two EPs—one will be hip-hop-based bangers, and the other will have more of a modern-style banger vibe. I’m excited to get started on those and share them with you all.

Some of you might know I’ve started my own playlist called What Is Benny Listening To?. It’s a way for me to share my taste in music while also raising awareness about my own tracks. One of the newer marketing tactics is creating a playlist with songs in your genre or niche, then slipping your own music in there—so as people follow the playlist, they’ll hear your songs too. Pretty clever, right?

Anyway, my next big step is to launch the website and see how the sales go for my digital EPs and merch! This feels like the real start of building my brand and hopefully turning my art into a sustainable income. Let’s see where this journey takes me!

Enjoy R&Ben Vol. 2—there’s definitely more coming in this series! And once again, thank you so much for supporting my music—it means the world to me.

UPDATE: Feb. 16, 2025 — Just swapped out the first track on the EP. Originally, it was a beat called "Lover Boy," but I decided to replace it with "Obsessive" to kick things off with something stronger. I might bring "Lover Boy" back as a bonus track later on. As you can tell, I’m always looking for ways to improve, and I think this switch makes the EP even better!

STREAM "R&Ben Vol. 2" NOW!

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