Born in a town called Serrekunda in The Gambia, Benjahmin Ceesay grew up consuming and creating sound. “It’s a music-loving community, you know. You have so many shops that sell albums of different artists, people are so into music! Also at home, my brothers were always playing music when they had their friends over. That taught me somehow… subconsciously, I was getting inspired, you know!” As he celebrates his first international placement with his song Resurrection appearing both in the trailer and NFL 360 documentary, “NFL Africa”, on NFL Network, Benjahmin reflects on what pushed him into music. “The strongest influence on me was my older brother. His artist name is Hurricane and he was doing music, writing, and singing, he inspired me with the music vibes, that got me into music”.
By the time he was 13 or 14, his family had moved to Brikama in The Gambia. “This is a very Reggae music-loving town, Reggae is so powerful there.” Benjahmin became entrenched in this new stage and threw himself into his newfound genre. “I got more influenced by the Reggae scene. It motivated me to join the Reggae train, so by the time I was around 16, 17, or 18, I started writing my songs and singing. That’s how I got into it. Then I started doing some street shows, my brother motivated me, he said: “Yeah you are so good man, I like your vibes, go to that show and do your thing!” So I started going out to their shows and from the first people appreciated what I was doing, and that kept me going on, then I thought to myself, yes, this is something I want to do for a long time, as long as I can”.
For the last couple of years, Benjahmin has been chasing his dreams in music in Germany with his mentor and manager, Jamaican native, Keith “Roughhouse” Powell. Through MPerium Records, Roughhouse, along with Harvard student/TCC employee, George Cooper, currently manage the up-and-coming star. After confirming their partnership, MPerium Records and TCC Entertainment are in talks to launch Benjahmin’s career through this international hit, Resurrection.
Written by George Cooper