Hip-Hop at 50: Benny B Reflects on Genre’s Global Impact and Evolution

"I will always remember my first interviews where the journalists thought it was a fad and I told them that it was rather the beginning of a new musical style that was going to smash everything like rock at the time. And my predictions were right since we are celebrating the 50th anniversary today (Friday) in the USA," Benny B tells La Libre. In Europe, hip-hop is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Under his real name Abdel Hamid Gharbaoui, the rapper of Moroccan origin believes that hip-hop has been "for an entire generation the trigger" that led to rap, which is only a derivative of it.

"The hip-hop culture originally brought together five disciplines: breakdancing, graffiti, deejaying, beatboxing and rap. Today, they have separated and isolated themselves. Each one does its own battles. There is no longer really a notion of hip-hop nowadays, rather of disciplines apart. Today’s youth are more rappers than children of hip-hop," he nuances, claiming to be, in the history of Francophone hip-hop, "the first millionaire of French rap". "It’s crazy! Since I was the first to be played on the major airwaves and to be marketed in France, I was necessarily the first to have touched millions in the field," Benny B assures.

The Belgian rapper is not rich, however. "I don’t have anything left today! (laughs) I spent them well. No regrets, I’m rich in experience, maturity and work today. I never stop working like crazy and nothing is missing. Since 2018 with the Stars 80 and Born in 90’s tours and solo now, I’m touring everywhere and all the time. My idols of 80s hip-hop have forged the Benny B, the rapper I’ve become. My rap is different from the one that arrived in the 90s," he specifies.

From dancing at the beginning, hip-hop has undergone several evolutions, notes Benny B. "I come from dancing hip-hop. What was it at the base? A DJ who had two turntables and could play a sample from one turntable to the other. And this music was used to make the breakers dance. Then the more committed rap with groups like Public Enemy arrived. Today, we are in a mix between committed rap and artists like Gims or Soprano who are more in pop and dancing/singing rap," detailed the rapper.