Matthew David Benson, better known by his stage name Matt B, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. In 2022, Benson's, '' Gimme Love'' (Matt B featuring Eddy Kenzo), was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Global Music Performance and charted at Number 36 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's US Afrobeats Songs chart. In 2025, he won a Grammy Award for "Best Global Music Album" for '' ALKEBULAN II''.

Music

Matt B began his solo career in 2009 and has released six studio albums. His genres have been generally classified as R&B,

Hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

. In 2019, Benson performed at the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, which was nationally televised. In 2022, he was nominated for a

for his single, '' Gimme Love'', which features Eddy Kenzo. ''Love and War'' was released and distributed by Tokyo-based,

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Records in 2014. ''Dive'', Benson's self-produced sophomore album was released in 2016. The album charted at #1 on iTunes R&B Chart in Japan. Benson teamed up with producer, Bryan-Michael Cox and recorded the EP, ''RISE'', which was distributed by

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Silkk the Shocker, Jay-Z, Paris, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung, ...

in 2018. His single, ''Losing You'', earned him ''Best R&B Male Artist'' at the Indie Music Channel Awards. In 2021, Benson released his US debut album, ''Eden'', produced by Bryan-Michael Cox and

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. Stewart, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, began producing music in 1992 and has contributed to unit s ...

, which received favorable reviews and charted on

's ''Top 40 R&B Albums''. The album's single, ''Deep'' received favorable reviews. * Gimme Love In 2021, Benson teamed up with Ugandan recording artist Eddy Kenzo and co-wrote and recorded, '' Gimme Love''. In 2022, the single was nominated for a Grammy Award for ''Best Global Music Performance'' as well as charting at #36 on Billboard's ''US Afrobeats Songs'' chart. The single's music video won numerous awards at film festivals including winning ''Best Song'' at the New York International Film Festival as well as his wife and manager, Angela Valarie Benson winning an award for the single's music video, which she directed. Benson and Kenzo performed, '' Gimme Love'' at the ''Eddy Kenzo Festival'' at Kololo Airstrip in Uganda to an audience of over 100,000, including Uganda's Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.

Awards

{, class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Nominated Work !Category !Award !Result , - , 2025 , , '' ALKEBULAN II'' , , Best Global Music Album , ,

, , , - , 2024 , , ''Need Some Wine'' , , Afrobeats/Afropop , , Hollywood Independent Music Award, , , - , 2023 , , ''Gunjale'' , , Music Video (Independent) , ,

Hollywood Music in Media Awards The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special p ...

, , , - , 2023 , , ''Best in Genre'' , , Best Vocal (Male) , , Hollywood Independent Music Award , , , - , 2022 , , '' Gimme Love'' , , Best Global Music Performance , ,

, , , - , 2022 , , ''Losing You'' , , Best Male R&B Artist, , Indie Music Channel Award, , , - , 2022 , , ''Gimme Love'' , , Best Special Video , , Indie Music Channel Award , , , - , 2022 , , ''Gimme Love'' , , Best Song , , Oniros Film Awards , , , - , 2022 , , ''Gimme Love'' , , Best Song , , New York International Film Award , , , - , 2022 , , ''Gimme Love'', , Best Male Vocal, Male Artist, Music Video, Best Song, Best Rhythm & Blues, , LIT Talent Award, ,

Discography

*2011 - ''Matt B:301B'' *2014 - ''Love & War'' *2016 -''Dive'' *2018 - ''RISE'' *2019 - ''Homecoming'' *2021 - ''Eden'' *2023 - ''ALKEBULAN'' *2024 - ''ALKEBULAN II''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matt B 1989 births African-American male singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters American hip-hop singers Grammy Award winners Living people Singer-songwriters from Illinois American contemporary R&B singers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers