Marco "Benny" Benassi (Italian pronunciation:[ˈmarkoˈbɛnnibeˈnassi]; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit "Satisfaction".[3]
He started his career as DJ along with his cousin Alessandro "Alle" Benassi, forming the electronica duo Benassi Bros. Although he began to gain popularity with his pseudonym in 1997 by releasing the song "Electric Flying", his first international hit was "I Feel So Fine", launched in 2001 under the nickname KMC.
In 2003, Benassi released his first solo debut album, Hypnotica, to positive reviews. Known as a pioneer album for electro-house, it incorporates electroclash sounds, many elements of house music and MacInTalk voices, and won the European Border Breakers Award. The following year, the debut album of the Benassi Bros., Pumphonia, was released. Their track "Illusion" became very popular in the American club scene, finally peaking at number 4 on Hot Dance Club Play. Following "Hit My Heart" peaked at 15.
A native of Milan and raised in Reggio Emilia, DJ and producer 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.[6] In 2001, Benassi, under the name KMC, released his first hit called "I Feel So Fine", with vocals by Dhany. The track first climbed the charts in Benassi's native Italy, and soon became a #1 hit in the UK club charts.[1]
Moving from house to electro, "Satisfaction" took Benassi's success worldwide a year later with high-profile DJs like Carl Cox, Darren Emerson, and Roger Sanchez offering praises. The track reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart[7] after the Ministry of Sound record company replaced the original video (an almost still picture of the band, overlaid with graphics) with a video of models using power tools.
2003–04: Hypnotica
In 2003 Benny Benassi released his first solo debut album Hypnotica (he won the European Border Breakers Award[8] in 2005 which racked up the most sales for an Italian album outside Italy).
2005–07: Pumphonia and …Phobia
Benassi often works with vocalists Paul French and Violeta, who are collectively known as The Biz. He 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 Claudia and other guest singers. A year after the release of Hypnotica, the album Pumphonia marked their first full-length release, and in 2005, Benassi Bros. released their second album …Phobia.
In 2005, Benassi founded the record label Pump-Kin Music. The focus of the label is primarily new and unsigned producers. The stated aim of the venture is to give exposure to some of the lesser known DJ/production talent across the world.
In August 2007, Benassi released a remix of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise". The video for the track was created by Eclectic Method and features a montage of live footage from Public Enemy. It premiered on imeem.com. In February 2008, "Bring the Noise" won a Grammy for best Remix (Dance).
2008–09: Rock 'n' Rave
His album Rock 'n' Rave was released on 16 June 2008. The first single from the album was "I Am Not Drunk."
Benassi also broadcasts the one-hour long The Benny Benassi Show on Sirius XM Radio's channel Area.[9]
In 2009, he worked with Madonna on a remix for her single "Celebration" which was included on the official music video for the song.
On 28 October 2009, DJ Magazine announced the results of their annual Top 100 DJ Poll, with Ultra Records artist Benny Benassi placed #26, 13 spots higher than the previous year.[10]
2010–14: Electroman
In 2010, Benassi released "Electro Sixteen", a video for Benny Benassi vs. "Iggy Pop", "Electro Sixteen," published by Ultra Records, which is an experimental music video featuring more than 15,000 photographs from his DJ set at New York's Electric Zoo Festival.[11]
On 24 May 2010 "Spaceship", which featured Kelis, apl.de.ap and Jean-Baptiste, was selected as the Song of the Day on About.com, with the site calling Benassi's production "tight and melodic, [while] Kelis turns in a fantastic performance." The single was released via digital download on 21 August and charted at #18 on the UK Dance singles chart on 28 August."[12]
On 23 January 2011, Benny Benassi released the music video for "Electroman", a single featuring T-Pain.
Benassi produced the track "Beautiful People", off Chris Brown's 2011 album F.A.M.E. and off Benassi's album Electroman, released June 7 the same year. Electroman includes several singles, such as "Cinema", "Electroman", "Spaceship" and "Control".[13]
In 2012, Benassi worked a second time with Chris Brown. He contributed to "Don't Wake Me Up" which was released as the fourth single of Brown's fifth studio album Fortune. Benny Benassi also worked with Madonna, producing three tracks for her latest album MDNA: Second single "Girl Gone Wild", "I'm Addicted" and "Best Friend" (the latter is a track which can be found on the deluxe edition of the album). In addition, Benassi produced "Stardust", a track of British recording artist
Mika's recently released studio album The Origin of Love. Next to them, Benny Benassi produced Anjulie latest single "You & I".
In 2013, Benassi collaborated with John Legend and Heather Bright respectively for the songs "Dance the Pain Away" and "Ghost". In 2014, he released the single "Shooting Helicopters", featuring Serj Tankian.
^"Benny Benassi Announces New Album". Noiseporn. Retrieved 2018-03-01. The chart-topping track paved the way for Benassi's career and for what we know today as electro house.
