In the artist's words:

Benjamin Asare has been through music once. He has written songs for some of Germany's biggest stars, torn up the country's stages with Peter Fox and done pretty much every job imaginable in a studio. With his new solo project, he has finally come into his own. As BENSH, he combines the universal power of a good song with a unique sound between Afrobeats, R&B and post-everything pop.

Who is this TYP, please? Anyone who danced under the stars at one of Peter Fox's live shows last summer will not forget BENSH in a hurry. As Fox's sidekick and congenial partner-in-vibes, he helped turn concerts into real parties with maximum endorphin levels. When you see the 32-year-old from Hamburg with Ghanaian roots on stage, you can feel everything immediately: his talent as a singer and entertainer, his early musical education, his love for the boards that still mean the world. "Being on stage," he says, "is exactly my thing. That's the moment when I feel free." But his story begins somewhere else. Somewhere else entirely, far away from the big stages and the wider world. Benjamin Asare grew up in Lurup, a district of Hamburg on the north-western edge of the city. Lurup is what many call a hotspot. For Young Benji, however, it is above all a place of contrasts. Close to pressure, frustration and violence. But just as close to the Ottensen district, where home office jobs and cargo bikes have long since hijacked reality. Close to his parents' Ghanaian church, which is not only a spiritual meeting place, but also a space for subcultural development. But also close to hip-hop culture, be it the outlet of conscious rap or the larger-than-life fantasies of success of Usher and Nelly, which suddenly seem just as tangible thanks to MTV and VIVA. This is how BENSH grew up, this is how music found its way into his life. Worship & Praise in the church choir on Sundays. Then meeting the boys and doing it. At home, listening to his parents' old reggae and swing records. Outside, the search for a new thing. His own thing. His thing. But BENSH still has a long way to go before he actually finds it. Music is his constant companion. As a teenager, he rapped, played drums and sang in a punk band, and picked up guitar and piano. He takes part in hip-hop talent competitions, makes contact with various producers in Hamburg and gains access to studios. There he works out what is needed. A hook needs to be sung? A soundtrack needs editing? A brilliant idea is needed? BENSH delivers. He eventually forms a songwriting team with Malte Kuhn and Farsad Zoroofchi and writes for artists as diverse as Helene Fischer and Disarstar. As a solo artist, he releases as Eso.Es, King LX or Benji Asare, sometimes in German, sometimes in English, sometimes self-therapeutically in the closet, sometimes collaboratively. Through his work on the Ricky Dietz project, he finally ends up in Camp Fox. The rest is the beginning of a story. It's not going too far out on a limb to say that Benjamin Asare has come into his own with BENSH. Bensh has been his nickname since childhood, his mother still calls him that today. And as BENSH, he is making the music he has been working towards all his life without knowing it. All his experiences flow into this new music, the countless hours in the studio, the euphoric moments on stage, the confrontation with his biography between cultures. While for a long time music was primarily an outlet for personal trauma and emotional baggage, his more recent experience as a writer has taught him to open up songs further, to make them more accessible to an even larger group of listeners. BENSH is with himself - and that is precisely why he is for everyone.

He is currently influenced by the fresh sounds of Metro Boomin and D'Mile as well as the emotionality of Frank Ocean or the XOXOVO continuum. Above all, however, he is inspired by the openness of the streaming age: the freedom to do exactly what comes out of you. An undefined vibe of R&B without the clichés between womanizer and world-weariness. The energy of Afrobeats without the dictates of the dancefloor. The eternal, all-encompassing power of a great pop song without it ever becoming cheesy. More than anything else, BENSH is a communicator, a bridge builder between different artistic traditions, an instinctive musician by conviction and a virtuoso arranger of vibes. A perfect example is "Blackbirds", his recently released song with Peter Fox.

He developed and recorded it together with Fox and his producer team The Krauts in Berlin. BENSH is currently also working on his own EP in this environment. Long-time companions such as songwriter Darwin Miller and his younger brother Kofi Asare, alias DAZZIT, are also involved in the creative process as sources of inspiration. This results in songs that illuminate the entire range of possibilities of contemporary post-everything pop, both musically and emotionally. "Stressed Out", for example, gives an insight into BENSH's history and personality, his demons and the convoluted ways in which he has tried to escape them. "Over" and "My Bad", on the other hand, are lighthearted, bright snapshots of the night in full swing, exposed by Amapiano, UK garage and BENSH's very particular swag. And more is in the making. Much more.

BENSH has come into his own. It's time for a new departure.