Benee Or Not To Be.

That is the question...

Photo Credit: Nikko LaMere (Billboard Magazine)

It was a weekday morning and I was walking out of the subway station at 23rd and Madison. As I climbed the stairs my ears filled with a wonky bass-line, pronounced kick drum, and mesmerizing vocals. As my head bopped back and forth (literally back and forth I probably looked crazy,) I asked myself “who the fuck is this and why have I never heard it before?” Well readers, that song is called “Wishful Thinking” and that artist is named Benee – Stella Bennett if we’re getting technical and weirdly personal, but to the public, Benee.

The 19-year-old singer hails all the way from New Zealand and started her career by posting songs on SoundCloud. If you’ve heard one of her songs, it’s probably “Soaked” which has amounted to nearly 25 million streams on Spotify. Her debut EP, Fire on Marzzz, was released on June 28, 2019 and when I say the response has been overwhelmingly positive, I mean OVERWHELMINGLY positive. When you combine the Spotify streams for each song on the EP, it comes to a total of 45 million streams. People. The numbers speak for themselves here.

I don’t even know who to compare her music to because this shit is so addictive yet refreshing to hear. The only artist I can think of is Billie Eilish but NOT because they sound the same. Billie is a prime example of someone who has drastically shifted the standards for the pop space and I can see Benee rising to the level of Billie’s current success within the next 2 years.

Just listen. I really think you’ll like it.

Peace, love, and head bops.

-Lillee