Body Bag Ben

Body Bag Ben is a California-based rapper and producer whose use of samples, thick organic drum sounds, and versatile flows finds the middle ground between the eerier side of West Coast funk and classic New York boom bap. His beats are just as impressive as the rhymes, enough so that his 2021 album Enough to Plague a Saint was also released in a completely instrumental version. Always active, Body Bag Ben frequently releases new projects like the 2022 EP Vulgar Display. Body Bag Ben grew up in Oxnard, California, involved with graffiti and breakdancing culture, but also playing in hardcore bands. Notable rap productions began appearing in 2019 when Ben produced tracks for Sauce Heist and Daniel Son, developing a signature style that relied on moody string samples and meaty drums. In 2019 he teamed with Eto for the brief, seven-track project Integrity, and he had a wildly productive 2020 with multiple mixtape releases like The Season and Milano Constantine collaboration Write It in Blood. In 2021 he teamed with J Scienide for the heady album Enough to Plague a Saint and its instrumental counterpart. That year also saw Body Bag Ben in a production role for Canibus, working on beats for the Kaiju album, and dropping in for a guest verse on the foreboding track "Travis Scott Concert." The next year, Body Bag Ben returned with the Vulgar Display EP, released under his own name and featuring guest spots from Naps Ndreds, Supreme Cerebral, and Mark 4ord. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi