RJ Benjamin

Despite what a lot of my new & old fans may think, house music has been an integral part of my life & my career.

I guess it all started in high school. I went into high school, Standard 6 back then (now grade 8), not really knowing anyone. I befriended a crazy little Portuguese dude named Grant de Sousa. Back then we used to rip him about being a Prince fan…all those people are now religious fans…thanks Grant! Anyway, Grant’s older brother was the guy it seemed every guy wanted to be, to us anyway. His name is Craig de Sousa. Way back he was one of the 1st of a new breed of DJs & friends with many of whom are now massive DJs in South Africa. I just remember sleeping over at Grant’s place as a kid & hearing Craig & his buddies at 4, 5am & later coming home & blazing house music…no chance of us sleeping! Every now & then Grant & I would tag along with Craig & his buddies to some of the early raves.

From there it was only inevitable that Grant would take up DJing…Grant & I used to record these crazy tapes of us singing. Once I left school & started taking my music & singing more seriously I would tag along with Grant to various clubs in Johannesburg & test my improvising skills over deep & funky house. From there I decided to go it alone. I’d take my microphone to the local house clubs & randomly ask DJs if I could sing. Initially reluctant, I’d sell it that if they didn’t like it I’d leave knowing they would be impressed & I would score a few bucks out of it. Whoohoo!

I also met a little known but highly driven guy while studying at a little Campus in Bramley. Back then it was known as Allenby Campus – DJ Cleo. He was studying Sound Engineering while I was studying music. He showed me the other side of house music…how the Kasi people party. Quite a learning curve & it was dark but I could swear at one club one of Lebo Mathosa’s male dancers started grinding on me which must have been pretty funny to Cleo & all the other Black peeps at the club that night. Never the less it was Cleo who gave me my 1st opportunity in house music & as a result I recorded a few tracks on his debut album Eskhaleni ext. 4.

As a result of that & recording my 1st album Who I Am at Jazzworx, I met Craig Massive, one of the masterminds behind Tamara’s Dey’s early work & a great house DJ too. He’s now a member of the Flash Republic. Craig & Ryan Dent (a past friend of Craig De Sousa I might add) brought me on to record a track called Good Times which appeared on Ryan’s album Ryan Dent Presents Platform Music, a big hit on White radio stations country wide. I finally got the chance to work the man who made all the noise back in the day, Mr Craig de Sousa on a track that had huge success called Everything. It featured on his album The Deeper Sounds of Craig de Sousa. I followed that with a cover version of Prince’s When Doves Cry which appeared on a local cover album called The Cover, again produced by Massive & the Dentist. That along with Good Times & Everything have been the few songs featuring me on “white” radio stations.

Fast forward to now & Change the World has brought me back into the house scene & now is followed by a new track called Goodbye Baby produced by 37MPH. Check his great new album 37 Energy Levels. I still perform with Grant de Sousa which is kinda fun considering the way we used to mess around as kids & many other performances with various house DJs.

I know people often see me as a soul man & that I truly am BUT when I look back on more than half my life & certainly my music career…it all started with house!