Born and raised in Ghana, Benson relocated to the UK with her Welsh mother when she was a teenager. Being an artist was not part of her plan. Instead she studied at the London School of Economics [LSE] and worked as a stockbroker. After moving to the US to study at Harvard, her life took an unexpected turn when her mother became seriously ill. Benson immediately broke off her studies and moved back to London.

While taking care of her mother she decided to venture into making music, singing at open-mic nights around town. In 2001, she was snapped up by a small record label in LA, and two years later she released her self-penned neo-soul debut album, Gold Coast, produced in part by Grammy-winning producers James Poyser (Lauryn Hill/D’Angelo) and Bob Power (Chaka Khan/A Tribe Called Quest).

Read the full feature at the Guardian online.

Check out the video for Be. Shout out to homie Baff Akoto for directing it!