DJ Equipment Reviews

Watch out for Benny Benassi at the Global Dance Festival

Now that the Global Dance Festival is in full swing, since it started a couple of days back on the 18th, to be precise, the heat is on on some top working DJs of the moment to make that party unforgettable. And no doubt it has been, as Benny Benassi mixed at the Global Dance Festival at Red Rocks right in the first day, but this post is rather to let everybody know about the story behind Benny Benassi’s career and not his current gigs, because with his reputation, there are going to be a lot more of these to cover over time.

You don’t even have to be a dance music fan to know about Benny Benassi, as his single Satisfaction probably broke all the previous barriers that house music had before. It hit the tops worldwide and it massacred other great songs along the way, but it was so recognizable that it made Benassi a clear world renowned DJ almost over night. This was back in 2004, and since then, Benny Benassi has created a style for himself, which DJ surely know, love, and probably learn from: a pulsing back beat with a trademark, almost filthy bass line that make his music the kind of electro house that gets the crowd jumping in the air.

Well, for a little history, Benny Benassi was born in 1967 as Marco Benassi in Regio Emilia, Italy, and is now based in Milan, but his tracks have gone all over the world, breaking into both the U.S., U.K. and all throughout Europe. His connection with music was established back at 15 years of age, when he was hitting the clubs with his cousin Alle Benassi. Benny and Alle became close because of this habit of their and they started DJ-ing together sometime in the 1980s, and they both ended up working for the Off Limits production studio, making music behind the scenes for various acts across Europe.

The first Benny Benassi single that made the charts was I Feel So Fine in 2001, releases under the name KMC, but although it was a hit, that track didn’t feature the electro style Benny Benassi is so well known for nowadays. That happened with the Satisfaction single in 2002, which came out as a collaboration between Benny and Alle and released as The Benassi Bros. For there, it’s all, as they say, history, but Benny Benassi wasn’t an overnight wonder, as he kept defining that style and eventually even ended up creating his own label, Pump Kin, to help promote lesser known DJs and to get some more mixing done.

As a pure DJ, Benny Benassi mixed for Subliminal Records, Vital and his own label Pump Kin, not to mention contributing as the main DJ to the Toolroom Knights 2009 compilation after being asked by Mark Knight. By now Benny Benassi has 4 albums of his own out, but he’s still going strong so keep an ear out for his beats.

Before getting to our next DJ participating in the Global Dance Festival at Red Rocks, in the next post, I’ll leave you with some official numbers about Benny Benassi, such as that he’s number 12 on the most popular DJs list worldwide, and some of the awards he’s got over time include:

• a best remixed recording Grammy Award in 2008 for his remix of Bring the Noise, original from Public Enemy
• 3 nominations at Dance Star, Miami and a win for the best video award in 2004
• European Borders Breakers award for his Hypnotica album in 2004, which sold most in Europe outside his home country of Italy
• number 1 in the Minstry of Sound internet radio’s top 100 in 2003
• tune of the year in UK in 2003, awarded by DJ Mag

For a little radio exposure from Benny Benassi, be sure to check out his one hour long "Benny Benassi Show" on Sirius XM radio, the Area channel, or of course, his MySpace or Facebook profiles.

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