Career
A native of Reggio Emilia, DJ/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.
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.
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 after the Ministry of Sound record company replaced the original video (an almost still picture of the band, overlayed with graphics) with a video of models using power tools. In 2003 Benny Benassi released his first solo debut album Hypnotica (he won the European Border Breakers Award in the end of 2004 which racked up the most sales for an Italian album outside Italy).
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, thr album Pumphonia marked their first full length release. And in 2005, Benassi Bros. released their second album …Phobia.
Some of Benassi's singles have charted high in the United Kingdom and have been played worldwide in clubs. Remixes for OutKast, Goldfrapp, and Felix da Housecat followed. Benassi also remixes music of his contemporaries, such as Tomcraft and Fischerspooner.
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).
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.
In 2009, he worked with Madonna on a remix for her single "Celebration" which was included on the official music video for the song.
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.
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, 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."
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 7th the same year. Electroman includes several singles, such as "Cinema", "Electroman", "Spaceship" and "Control".
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). Next to them, Benassi produced "Stardust", a track of British singer-songwriter Mika's recently released studio album The Origin of Love.
Read more about this topic: Benny Benassi
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