Meet Richie Benson, a 24-year-old Nigerian artist, songwriter and sound engineer from Anambra. Born and raised in Kaduna state, he started his career pretty early as a secondary school student at the British Nigerian Academy, Abuja, where he made his single under the moniker ‘Pilate.’
This was followed by a sabbatical to hone his craft, create an independent imprint called ’Island Boy before moving to the United States to continue his education. There, he abandoned Pilate for Richie Benson, released Stay with his college roommate named Theblackboyjohn in 2017 and subsequently opened for huge acts like Wizkid, Davido and Yemi Alade.
Richie returns this year with his debut project titled Benzo. He shows off his gritty vocals with great bars mixed with some calm melodic notes in his latest offering. Throughout the ten songs, we hear quite a bit of flexing and flashiness from him that leave you feeling ambitious, stylish and lustful while painting a portrait of success, love and the many sides that follow. With this as his first long-form and most multifaceted release yet, he makes a case for his validity as one to watch out for.