Aside from being an artist, being self-sufficient means that you are able to take care of yourself, buy your own things; and just for overemphasis, pay your own bills. It means that you are independent. Predominantly this is what being an independent artist is all about; taking care of yourself. Not relying on the next man to get you somewhere, fundamentally pulling your own weight. Therefore you must hustle like you own your own business and market yourself as if your life depended on it. Marketing is typically about people and how they interact and what their needs are. And as an artist, this is one of the things you should focus on. So what does this have to do with Jarren Benton? This has plenty to do with Jarren Benton. Because of his consistency with touring and staying in touch with his fans on a personal level, he is naturally meeting their needs. Beyond this, his eccentric style of rap causes fans to flock to him much like a cult following. Through his grind, he unknowingly gained the same fans of artists that were similar to him and this is in essence how he met Hopsin. Amazingly one of his fans sent his video ‘Skitzo’ to Hopsin and they immediately became fast friends. Eventually he signed to Hopsin’s independent label Funk Volume in 2012 and since then he hasn’t stopped. Jarren Benton’s driven mindset proves that working hard has tremendous rewards.
- Jarren Benton who is from Decatur, Georgia was born in Atlanta on October 26, 1981.
- Growing up, he was influenced by his mom listening to hip hop groups such as Eric B & Rakim.
- He has always aspired to be a rapper and would perform at local showcases in his hometown.
- Jarren Benton is influenced musically by Wu-Tang Clan, Redman, Ras Kass, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, and Marilyn Manson.
- Because of his musical influences, he never considered himself a southern type of rapper.
- Before coming up in the music industry, he has worked various odd jobs including being an exterminator.
- In 2009 Jarren Benton released his first mixtape titled ‘The Beatgods Present… Jarren Benton: The Mixtape’.
- About a year and a half later, he released ‘Huffing Glue with Hasselhoff’ in 2011.
- After posting his track Skitzo online, he caught the attention of Hopsin and they started communicating via email.
- He then started coming to Hopsin’s shows and established a good relationship with the Funk Volume team.
- In 2012 he signed to the independent label Funk Volume founded by Hopsin.
- In 2012 he released Freebasing with Kevin Bacon under the Funk Volume label.
- Jarren Benton also went on tour in 2012 that included the United States, Australia, and Europe with Hopsin, SwizZz, DJ Hoppa, and Dizzy Write.
- In 2013 he released his first studio album called ‘My Grandma’s Basement’.
- His studio album My Grandma’s Basement debuted at number 152 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Heatseekers Chart.
- In August 2013 he went on his own ‘Grandma’s Basement Tour’.
- Currently Jarren Benton is touring with Tech N9ne and Freddy Gibbs on the Independent Grind Tour.
A perfect example of how Jarren Benton connects with his fans is that he pulls random people from the crowd on the stage with him and makes them part of the show. Here’s what he said about it to JackedUpRadio: “It was a completely random person, I try to do that every once in a while, like I like my shows to feel like a party, meaning I don’t really want it to seem like too much of a show. I just want it to seem like a party like everybody’s like fuck it… I’m just here to party with ya’ll. So I’ll pull up some random person, that I’ll just ask if they want to come up and it’ll be that random dude, with a big pair a balls that’s willing to come up and rock out”
Post by: Rosie J. – music marketer
