Certified Fresh: Jarren Benton - Independent In Thought & Practice

The rap game is a facade in most cases. Through the lights, cameras, and action, glamour, glitters and gold, most rappers aren’t flourishing nearly as much as their Instagram pages show. Meanwhile, there’s a sect of MCs pegged “underground” — a group major label rappers often scoff at, despite once being underground themselves — that have circumvented the major label sphere in favor of true liberation.

The indie process, though a lot more difficult, can amount to massive pay days, and more importantly devoted fans who will support whenever given a chance. Tech N9ne’s Strange Music is probably the current rubric of success on this level, but there’s a Los Angeles-based collective called Funk Volume that are moving the needle in their own way. For starters, they’ve scored three XXL Freshman in consecutive years. While Hopsin started the trend and Dizzy Wright continued it, we’ll be focusing on Jarren Benton, a Atlanta MC who’s acclaim has been long overdue.

Many scratched their heads when they spotted the lyricist with the fur hat sitting among more recognizable spitters. But we’d contend that you’re looking for music in the wrong places. Benton’s YouTube views equal well into the millions and he’s coming off of a 72-stop tour, which is a feat in itself.

Allow us to enlighten you on the charismatic Jarren Benton below.

Who: Jarren Benton, 31, is a well-seasoned MC whose story is as unique as his rhyming ability. Hailing from Atlanta, he grew up with hometown heroes like Outkast, Goodie Mob, and Kilo Ali in his backyard, but he also took a liking to East and West Coast artists, a fact that would later mold his own style. Benton’s had major label situations with the likes of Def Jam and others, but he eventually separated himself from the corporate structure in favor of the indie circuit. Though he calls the process “a grind,” the scoreboard and the success of his 2013 studio album, My Grandma’s Basement, says he’s winning.

Credentials: It’s been a constant progression for Benton, who first impacted in 2009 with The Beatgods Present… Jarren Benton: The Mixtape. His affinity for wordplay and eccentricities on wax were clear from the beginning, but he’d only get better with 2011’s Huffing Glue with Hasselhoff and his 2012 breakout project Freebasing with Kevin Bacon. The latter gave him greater prominence among Hip-Hop fans, and took his YouTube presence to astounding levels. Next came the aforementioned album and mound of touring.

Fun Fact: Was selected to tour on Tech N9ne’s “Independent Grind” tour alongside Freddie Gibbs, Krizz Kaliko, and more.

—

Photo: YouTube

Hip-Hop Wired: Around what ages are you detailing on My Grandma’s Basement?

Jarren Benton: On that project, the age I was going through that sh*t was 23 until 27.

HHW: You elected to put your grandmother on the cover, so we’d like to know how much she inspires your music?

JB: My grandma’s like hella animated. man. If you meet her now, she’s a sweet lady; she’s chill now, but growing up with her, she was just hella animated, saying what she wanted to say, hella funny, just joking. She’s damn near like be in a sense, but a lot older and wiser, and a f*cking female.

When I did the cover, I was lost. My whole goal is I always want to make a dope cover. If it’s not a dope title or some title that’s out there, at least the cover has to catch your attention. I had the title and I was talking to my homeboy Mike – he was managing me at the time – and I was debating on something animated. He was like, ‘Nah, f*ck it. Why don’t you go to your grandma’s house and actually shoot a goddamn picture.’ Me, him, and my homebody Walter Ford – the dude that shot it – we just went to my grandma’s house. And I called her and said, ‘Yo, you’re going to be on my album cover. She was like f*ck it, let’s do it.

HHW: What inspired the lengthy tracklist?

JB: I know it’s a lot of songs on there. My managers at the time, they wanted me to just f*cking make it 11 songs, and I just had a lot of sh*t. And I was like, ‘I don’t even know when I’m putting everything else out.’

Most of the classic sh*t I f*ck with. N*ggas had like 18 [songs]. I was going back, I was listening. Em had like 18-20 songs. Dre had f*cking a lot of songs on there. Most of the sh*t I came up listening to had a lot of songs. Probably the next project won’t have as many songs.

Coming up with this CD, I knew for a fact that I just wanted to do something a little different, but I didn’t want to do anything too far different. I still wanted to add the same element that I had in the other projects. I still wanted to give the outlandish side of myself and I still wanted to give fans the hardcore lyricism, but I also felt like I was getting a lot of feedback and people were saying that they felt like I wasn’t giving them a lot of personal sh*t. That’s why I made that project. I just wanted to give them a balance of everything.

HHW: Since your rhymes are visually stimulating, would you say that film inspires your records?

JB: You know what, I love f*cking film. I think I pull from so much sh*t to be honest with you. I love comedy. I love action, drama… definitely film. I definitely will say that film is an inspiration.

HHW: Seguing topics, how much does Atlanta music influence your own?

JB: I love just music. Even though I came up and my main influence was East Coast/West Coast sh*t, I love f*cking south sh*t. I love the energy of it. That’s where I’m from.

You know how certain cities have a sound. Like Troy Ave was saying, when you think of old New York and you hear the griminess, you feel like you’re in New York. It feels like the subway, the projects or pissy hallways. Same with LA, when you hear that California sh*t, that funk sh*t, you think of that cliché shit – 64s, n*ggas shooting, you know? And Atlanta has a sound that says Atlanta. That’s the sound, that heavy 808. We’ve always been like that from the beginning from listening to Kilo Ali, and all the bass and booty shaking music. It always had to be heavy 808, but that sh*t’s just propelled to where it is now, just slowed down thanks to Three 6 Mafia and Lil Jon.

You can talk sh*t about… it might not be the best lyricists on those tracks, but something about the feel and the energy of those beats — I love that sh*t. I’ve made projects with sample-based beats, but what I wanted to do [on My Grandma’s Basement] was make some sh*t that represents where I’m from. I wanted to take the music, and I wanted to still incorporate dope lyricism on it, because I feel a lot of those beat can’t be denied.

Imagine if those were the f*cking beats that Nas or someone like that [rapped on]. That type of feel and that type of sound would get a whole different look. My goal is to take that sh*t, still get love from the A for it, and still please the fans that want to listen to lyrics.

HHW: Does Funk Volume model its movement on the move of previous rap cliques?

JB: I don’t think there’s any particular movement that we just studied. I think it’s just thinking smart man. With the majors – and I’m not saying every major is like that – but my experience major labels has always been, ‘Let’s f*ck with you when you get a song. When you get a hit, then you’ll get the attention you need.”

They all had that common denominator. They never wanted to concentrate on grass roots sh*t – just building something. They want to concentrate on building from something that was always there. But the independent sh*t is like let’s get a fan base. Let’s go after the people that f*ck with us and let’s grow this sh*t from the ground up, versus let’s concentrate on a f*cking song.

The independent sh*t from what I’ve learned and what I’ve seen has always been let’s concentrate on the fans. Let’s concentrate on building something. Let’s concentrate on being on the road doing shows.

HHW: Do you plan on collaborating with any of your fellow XXL Freshman class?

JB: Yeah. I knew Jon Connor before he was on the Freshman list. He’s a cool motherf*cker, and I plan on doing some sh*t with him. Rich Homie Quan was cool as f*ck too. Actually, I would like to work with all them dudes on the cover to be honest with you. But the dudes that I gelled with and I thought were cool, were Jon Connor, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich Homie Quan, Kevin Gates and Troy Ave were cool as a motherf*cker, and Lil Bibby — he was kind of quiet — but was cool. I chopped it up with them dudes the most and I got a good vibe from all of them.

HHW: I’ve read that Outkast is your dream collaboration, but who’s the artists that fans may not ex

JB: Thom Yorke from Radiohead. I would actually love to work with that motherf*cker. I’m a f*cking Radiohead fiend. That group right there, that’s who I’d love to work with. I don’t know how the f*ck we’d do something together, but I’d think it’d be dope.