Benz were a British musical group from Hackney which consisted of B.I.G. Ben (Benedict Spencer Ofoedu), Tim Shade (Benjamin Balogun), and Darkboy (Anthony Benedict Thompson). Their name came about due to all their names containing

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

. They entered the UK Singles Chart with "Boom Rock Soul" (No. 62), "Urban City Girl" (No. 31), "Miss Parker" (No. 35), "If I Remember" (No. 59), and "On a Sun-Day" (No. 73).

Career

The group was formed by B.I.G. Ben (Benedict Spencer Ofoedu), Tim Shade (Benjamin Balogun), and Darkboy (Anthony Benedict Thompson). They formed after Ofoedu saw Balogun performing as

Overlord X Overlord X (born Benjamin Balogun, in Hackney) was one of the earliest British hip hop artists to receive national acclaim in the UK, with his most well known song still being his second single release, "14 Days in May" (Westside Records, 1988) ...

, liked what he saw, and invited him to produce a track for him; after Balogun became tired of performing as the said act, they formed Benz as a duo, with their name coming from both their names containing the given name

. Thompson, an old friend of Balogun, joined the group after Balogun saw him walking down the street. Their first rehearsals were at the Wally Foster Community Centre in Hackney. Benz signed with their manager Paul Hendricks of Hendricks Records in July 1993 and with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in December 1993, after walking into their offices with a demo tape. Hendricks attempted to trademark "Benz Boom Rock Soul" in November 1995. The following September, the then-separate companies

Daimler-Benz Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...

and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

tried to sue the band on the basis of copyright infringement. They failed, and in August 2000, they were ordered to pay the band £935. In December 1995, their single "Boom Rock Soul" charted at No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart, and in March 1996, their single "Urban City Girl" charted at No. 31 on the same chart. On 13 May 1996, they released "Miss Parker", which made it onto that chart at No. 35; they began broadcasting on Hacktown FM, their own radio station, the same day. The 22 June 1996 edition of ''Billboard'' noted that the said station played "R&B, rap, hip-hop, swing, and pop", and that such a combination could be expected on their debut album ''3 Men Called Ben'', which was due later that year. In 1997, on Hendricks Records, they had two further UK Singles Chart entries; "If I Remember" at No. 59, and "On a Sun-Day" at No. 73.

Artistry

Benz drew influence from

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, Hackney, and Ofoedu's Christian beliefs (the B.I.G. in his name was an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for "Believe in God"). They described their music as "Boom Rock Soul", a term coined by their manager, based on perceived input to the band; they used a December 1995 issue of '' Echoes'' to explain that Balogun contributed the Boom, or "the deep hip hop, the hard bass", while Ofoedu contributed the Rock, and Thompson contributed the Soul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benz British contemporary R&B musical groups English hip-hop groups English musical trios Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Musical groups from the London Borough of Hackney RCA Records artists