DBXXL BIO
Whether it’s pulsating beats with a splash of old soul & rnb melodic riffs or rock inflected hip hop, West or East Coast, or hardcore sampled or interpolated grooves with a blend of swagger reminiscent of tracks of old but still freshly current, Maryland-based music producer, remixer, songwriter, & DJ; DBXXL will deliver. Where versatility, in all styles of music ranging from Pop, Rnb, Hip Hop, Rock, & Jazz, is sometimes considered a negative it has only made DBXXL remain a high in demand music professional for several decades til’ present nationally and internationally.
As a child DBXXL aka S. Benn was hitting on pots, pans and just about everything to make beats.
At age 4, DBXXL starting tinkering & making up melodies with their Uncle’s blues-tuned guitar. Throughout their formative years, DBXXL would sit, listen, & learn recordings by All Motown artists/The Funk Brothers, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Slave, The Gap Band, The Isley Brothers, Prince, Chaka Khan, P-Funk, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Hall & Oates, Marcus Miller, The Eagles, Steely Dan, and a long list of other greats trying to soak in all the music that every waking moment could be absorbed. These long intense hours also forged DBXXL’S first forays into songwriting. “I didn’t have a clue what I was doing all I knew was that it felt good and I wanted to become just like Prince”, DBXXL professes.
DBXXL then attended Berklee College of Music with classmates Lalah Hathaway, Quincy Jones III aka QD3, Delfeayo Marsalis, David Dyson, Paula Cole, Juliana Hatfield, etc. working to become a more complete and total musician. During that intense period of learning DBXXL became proficient in saxophone, guitar, bass, keys, percussion, songwriting, and arrangement. Gigged in and around the Boston area and went on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Songwriting & Arrangement.
Upon graduation relocating from Boston to Los Angeles happened immediately. Reuniting with several Berklee Alumnus and forging alliances to work on numerous R&B, rap, rock, & pop projects creating tracks, hooks, vocals, and as a session musician work across a wide range--Indie/Indie Major to mainstream artists out of RUSK, Paramount Recording, & Solar recording studios.
After over a half decade of residing in Los Angeles, DBXXL decided to move back East where more opportunities to tour , produce, songwriting, and recording were prevalent with Gospel & Mainstream artists. After touring with Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, The Canton Spirituals, and various other Gospel acts as a bassist, DBXXL assumed Music Ministry chairs in several large congregational Churches in the MD area. Around 2000 or so, DBXXL began touring on bass with a local group called “Nuance” who garnered a ton of attention from several big name production companies (One-Up Ent. & Round Table Ent.). “Nuance” opened for Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes, Jaguar Wright, Chuck Brown, and various other national acts all over the US & Internationally.
Throughout the 2000 decade, DBXXL continued to garner consistent music production, remixing, music consultation, and clinic work. DBXXL has continued to increase their skill set as a musician and writer citing Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, and a host of other current artists as influences. Also, during this decade DBXXL began their first forays in blogging, script writing, & writing articles for several publications about life and politics. DBXXL is currently writing 2 self-help books and was recently commissioned to create a regularly aired spot on an internet radio station: http://sometroradio.com/ every Thursday night.
In 2006, DBXXL was commissioned to do a remix album of Eazy-E unreleased material however it was never released due to lack of funding to distribute and promote the project properly even though Jerry Heller & Tomika Wright supported the entire project. (Someday it will be released, "that was some of my best work", says DBXXL). In 2009, DBXXL released their first beat CD “BBX WORLDWIDE & DB XXL PRESENT: 808 EDITION VOL. 1” for Indie artists who desired a reasonably packaged mixtape. In 2012, VOL. 2 of the 808 EDITION will be released early spring. One of the highlights of 2010 was meeting and making a remix for International PopStar, Ian Guerin. Several artists, who DBXXL worked with in the capacity as producer, mix engineer, and remixer within the past several months: Logic In The Chi, Ian Guerin, Yorrelle, and a long list of dance remixes released music worldwide in 2012! DBXXL has been an active member of ASCAP performing rights organization
Currently, DBXXL is producing music, Dj-ing, remix-ing, runs a music publishing & music group, blogging, writing op-ed articles, songwriting, hosting music industry events & promoting major act shows for a wide range of Indie/Indie Major to mainsteam artists.
Continuing to provide that unique brand of entertainment to rock the crowds! “I just love to make good music and will continue to do so until I can no longer do what I love to do. Although I have a long list of credits and experience, making music is as fresh as it was when I was a child,” says DBXXL.