Benji Kush is in his own lane, on his own time.
On his standout single “Paranoid,” the rising star opens the track spitting “The f### is you talking ‘bout? While you run your mouth, I’ma steady keep stacking up. I’m high as the clouds now, we ain’t sparing nothing n*gga knuck if you buck.”
Hailing from Panama City, Benji Kush got his name from a female, with Kush also reminding folks of his love for cannabis. The Benji portion stems from Benji Wilson, the basketball player from Chicago who was shot and killed at 17-years-old. Greatness comes in all shapes, forms, and sizes, and Benji is here to take his throne.
When it comes to his music and personal life, Benji refuses to be put in a box. With the ability to switch from singing to rapping to everything in between, Benji prides himself in his sound being everywhere and everything. At the end of the day, he hopes to inspire the masses: if he can make it out the trenches and turn his life around, then so can you.
AllHipHop: What was the household like growing up in Florida?
Benji Kush: Family s###. Everybody knows everybody in the trenches. Just horrible really, but s### we made it out of it. Everything’s good now.
AllHipHop: Elaborate a little more on where you grew up.
Benji Kush: Panama Country. Other side the city, one side the hood. Nggas is snakes, nggas is fools. All types of s### out there, but it’s good people out there too. Good honest people, hard-working people.
AllHipHop: What do your parents think of the music?
Benji Kush: Oh they love it. They feel like any song I drop goes hard.
AllHipHop: Biggest influences growing up?
Benji Kush: Trick Daddy, Wayne. Who else? I’ma keep it 100. Jeezy, Gucci, and Ross, that’s it. No Florida rappers.
AllHipHop: Really? People from Florida swear by Florida rappers.
Benji Kush: They hard, but I be different. I try to be different. I can’t be put in a box. You can’t let a n*gga stop you. You can’t let s### stop your boundaries, you gotta keep going. You have no boundaries.
AllHipHop: At what point did you realize you could do music for a living?
Benji Kush: To be real, a couple months ago. When I started seeing people comment on my s###, telling me “Keep going, I listen to your s### everyday!” Damn, this s### real now.
AllHipHop: Do you remember making your first song?
Benji Kush: Yeah, my first song was at the crib on a laptop. F###### off forreal, I produced that b#### and engineered it myself.
AllHipHop: You taught yourself how to produce and all that?
Benji Kush: Mmhmm, it took time. I did the s### off YouTube. It took a minute but we got right.
AllHipHop: What were you on when you recorded “Paranoid”?
Benji Kush: “Paranoid” was recorded in my hometown, with Woodrow engineering in Panama shout out to Woodrow. I stay in Panama City Beach.
AllHipHop: What were you paranoid about?
Benji Kush: S###, life s###. Family s###, ties, just a lot of s###. Music takes my mind off other s###.
AllHipHop: Best memory from the “Paranoid” video shoot?
Benji Kush: Right before it, I almost died off some weed. A n*gga gave me some bad weed bro. That s### happened right before the video shoot. I remember that s###, that s### crazy. I don’t take s### from nobody now.
AllHipHop: What do you want fans to get from your video?
Benji Kush: I want them to take it seriously. I want them to see that you can do anything you want in this b####, just put your mind to it and keep going. Don’t let nobody stop you.
AllHipHop: Can you touch on the Young Lyric collabs?
Benji Kush: Young Lyric, she’s a GOAT. She did 2, 3, 4, 5 songs with a n*gga and s###, her fanbase merged over to me. She got a lil base out here, she got a lil base everywhere.
AllHipHop: How’s the independent grind?
Benji Kush: S###, I’m not going to say hard. That s###’s fun. I’m meeting a lot of people. I’m here with you!
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio?
Benji Kush: Ooh, 100% fed (fed is a nickname for weed, also a acronym F.or E.very D.ollar). I need my alone time in that b####, everybody gotta get out. That’s it, just two. Fed and everybody out my face. Give me some time.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from your new single, “Interstate”?
Benji Kush: Vibes, some s### you never seen before. Some s### that you’re gonna feel, you gon’ bop to. It’s a banger.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from the video?
Benji Kush: Energy. Good ass uptempo energy. Scenery, we shot that b#### in Atlanta.
AllHipHop: What would you be doing if you weren’t doing music?
Benji Kush: I’d still be finessing nggas. I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for music. I’d literally still be finessing their ass, going down on them. Don’t do that shirl. [laughs] I would be finessing nggas, but I’m staying focused with it.
AllHipHop: Why should people f### with you?
Benji Kush: Because man, they’re gonna have to. It’s some s###. Once you see it and catch the vibe, when it’s real love, you gonna f### with it. They’re gon’ see.
AllHipHop: What’s the vibe?
Benji Kush: The vibe is genuine. Love. Respect. Positivity. Teamwork. Uplifting your ass.
AllHipHop: Where do you see yourself going as an artist?
Benji Kush: I’m going everywhere. I’m going overseas. I’m becoming an icon literally.
AllHipHop: How was it opening for the likes of Lil Durk and Boosie?
Benji Kush: Man, I ain’t even gonna cap. Right before Boosie came on, I guess some ngga tried to take his chain or do something. Boosie wasn’t f###### with it so they got on his ass. [snaps] Thinking they finna shoot that b#### up, s### Boosie went right back on stage and turnt that b#### up. That ngga be T’d. But Durk, that s### was hard too. That s### had me lit.
AllHipHop: Where did you open for them?
Benji Kush: We were in Atlanta. I forgot the club name, but I remember it was in Atlanta.
AllHipHop: Were you nervous at all?
Benji Kush: Yeah, but that’s everybody though. That’s everybody. Right before, we went back to the car. Somebody broke in the car and took the blick, all that. That was a crazy night.
AllHipHop: What can we expect next from you?
Benji Kush: Next year, I’m performing at Rolling Loud. I want everybody to know that. I tell everybody that. In Miami, somewhere down South.
AllHipHop: What about music-wise?
Benji Kush: I got a song dropping with Young Lyric coming. In about a week or two, we’re gonna drop it.
AllHipHop: What about your drip, do you like fashion?
Benji Kush: Hell yeah, I have a clothing line coming. ThetaSportClothing,. My brother put that s### together, that’s gonna be hard. The special thing about it is that it’s all my type of way. I have control over all that s###. I have control of everything. Most people don’t get control over s### like that, I have full control over it.
AllHipHop: Who would you like to work with in the future?
Benji Kush: Youngboy 100%, that’s real. DaBaby. Soulja. I’d work with Polo G, I f### with Polo.
AllHipHop: Were you working anywhere before the music?
Benji Kush: Hell nah, I was trapping and finessing. I stopped for the music. I don’t do nothing, I’m not on no gangsta s###.
AllHipHop: What else should we know?
Benji Kush: I’m on the grind, I’m not stopping man. Yall gonna see a lot more of me. We out this b####. Follow me on IG too @BenjiKushh.
