SINGER KING BENJ-I TO RELEASE HIS LATEST ALBUM “RACIST COP” BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER!

A prolific artist, King Benj-I reckons he has released over 25 albums since he began recording music in the mid-1970s. His latest effort, titled Racist Cop, is scheduled for release in September.

The self-produced album will be available two weeks before the veteran singer performs on Au Festival Lumiere D’Afrique which takes place October 5-6 in The Congo. 

As its name suggests, the set was inspired by questionable police behavior against black people, especially in the United States where King Benj-I has lived for 40 years.

“Watching other people’s experiences throughout the world, mean dem tune ya haffi (have to) sing. A lotta bad things happening to black people out there and we haffi address dem,” said the New Jersey-based King Benj-I.

Racist Cop will be marketed in Africa where he has performed and done social work since 1998. King Benj-I has done shows in Ghana, Coite d’Ivoire and Togo, and has also produced songs by artistes from across the continent.

Born in rural St. Ann parish, Jamaica, King Benj-I was a patient at the Mona Rehabilitation Centre in Kingston as a boy. During his 16 years of treatment for polio there, he befriended three other wards who later became Israel Vibration.

His recording career started at Channel One studio where he did songs such as Crazy Lover, a ballad he co-produced with Raymond Smith. It featured an upcoming band named the Roots Radics.

In addition to recording a number of albums, King Benj-I has produced albums and songs by many acts such as Josey Wales, The Wailing Souls and Sugar Minott.