Benny Benassi

Benny Benassi
Background information
Birth name	Marco Benassi
Also known as	Benny B., Benny Bee
Born	July 13 1967 (1967-07-13) (age 40)
Origin	Milan, Italy
Genre(s)	House, Electro, Techno
Occupation(s)	DJ, Producer, Remixer
Years active	Late 1980s–present
Label(s)	Energy Prod. - D:Vision Airplay Records Ministry of Sound Ultra Records
Associated acts	Bat67, Benassi Bros., Benny Benassi Presents The Biz, FB, KMC, M&M, Two Men
Website	Official website

Benny Benassi (born Marco Benassi on July 13 1967 in Milan, Italy) is an Italian disc jockey and producer of eurodance/electronic music, who lives in Reggio Emilia, a town in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. He is known for his 2002 summer club megahit "Satisfaction". Benny Benassi ranks as the 15th most popular DJ in the world according to the TheDJList website^[1]. On December 2007, Benny Benassi was nominated for the Best Remixed Recording at the 50th Grammy Awards for his remix of Public Enemy's Bring the Noise. The awards will be held on February 10th, 2008.

History

A native of Milan, DJ/producer Benny Benassi started DJing alongside cousin Alle Benassi in the late 1980s in their hometown, before moving to Larry Pignagnoli's Off Limits production studio in the mid 1990s, creating music for various acts, including Whigfield, J.K. and Ally & Jo. Benassi first hit the dance floor with his own projects in 2001 with the single "I Feel So Fine". Released under the name KMC with vocals by Dhany, the track first stormed the charts in Benassi's native Italy, but soon became a number one hit in the U.K. After moving from eurohouse to electro, "Satisfaction" took Benassi's success worldwide a year later with high-profile DJs like Carl Cox, Darren Emerson, and Roger Sanchez singing its praises. This reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart after the Ministry of Sound record company replaced the original video (an almost still picture of the band overlayed with graphics) with a video of models using power tools. Released in 2003, the campy and quirky Hypnotica was Benassi's solo debut. At the end of 2004, he won the European Border Breakers Award for Hypnotica, which racked up the most sales for an Italian album outside of Italy. Benassi often works with vocalists Paul French and Violeta, who are collectively known as The Biz. Benny then produced a group with cousin Alle, called Benassi Bros., a project designed to shine the spotlight on the two Biz vocalists, Paul French and Violeta and other guest singers. A year after the release of Hypnotica, Pumphonia marked their first full length release. And then in 2005, Benassi Bros. released their second album ...Phobia. Some of his singles have charted high in the United Kingdom and have been played world-wide in clubs. Remixes for OutKast, Goldfrapp, and Felix da Housecat followed. Benassi also remixes the music of his contemporaries, such as DJ Tomcraft and Fischerspooner. In 2005, Benny founded the record label known as Pump-Kin Music. The focus of the label is primarily new and unsigned producers. Through this venture, he hopes to give exposure to some of the lesser known DJ/production talent across the world. More recently it has been announced that it's also opening a sub-label, Funky Pump-Kin. In August 2007, Benassi released a remix of Public Enemy's 'Bring the Noise.' The track quickly reached the #1 spot on Beatport.com and imeem. The video for the track was created by 'The Eclectic Method'; featuring a montage of live footage from Public Enemy, the video was premiered on imeem.com.

Appearances in media

• In December 2005, the fast food chain Wendy's used "Satisfaction" in their ad campaigns.link
• In 2006, Ludacris sampled the Benny Benassi track "Satisfaction" in "Ultimate Satisfaction" featuring Field Mob from his album Release Therapy.
• In 2007, DJ Laz sampled Benny Benassi's track "Satisfaction" in "Move, Shake, Drop" featuring Pitbull from his album "That Chico's a Pimp".^[2]

Discography

Studio albums

• Hypnotica (2003) as Benny Benassi Presents the Biz
• Pumphonia (2004) as Benassi Bros.
• ...Phobia (2005) as Benassi Bros.

Awards & nominations

2007

• On December 2007, Benny Benassi was nominated for the Best Remixed Recording at the 50th Grammy Awards for his remix of Public Enemy's Bring the Noise. The awards will be held on February 10th, 2008.

2004

• three nominations at Dancestar, Miami and won the best video award
• DjMag favourite DJ Poll Top 100: Benny is number 18, the highest new entry
• European Border Breakers Award for Hypnotica, the Italian album that sold most in Europe outside Italy

2003

• number one in the Top 100 dance tracks on the Ministry of Sound Internet radio
• DJ MAG tune of the year in UK
• Revelation of the year – Italian Dance Music Awards
• Dance revelation of the year – Danish Music Award
• Nominated for international revelation of the year – NRJ Awards, France

See also

• Alle Benassi
• Sandy
• Dhany
• Larry Pignagnoli

References

1. ^ theDJlist.com
2. ^ BeatKing.com

External links

• Official Site
• Off Limits Productions
• Pump-Kin, Benny Benassi's record label
• Benny Benassi at The DJ List
• Benny Benassi at Discogs
• Benny Benassi at MySpace
• Benny Benassi at iLike
• Benny Benassi at Last.fm
• Benny Benassi at MusicBrainz
• Benny Benassi at All Music Guide
• IndexTube - List of Benny Benassi's music videos from YouTube and Google Video
• Music Videos of Benassi
• Sfaction, Benny Benassi's official Russian website