_____________________________________________________________________________ \\\\\___CHEROKEE ELVIS RESOURCES___\"-._ /////~~~ south asian resources ~~~/.-' _____________________________________________________________________________ Indian American pop singer to perform at Grammy's _____________________________________________________________________________ * Scroll Down for another great article: "Alumni Profile: Reggie Benjamin - Elvis Fan" _____________________________________________________________________________ Indo-Asian News Service Chicago, January 4, 2006 Pop singer Reggie Benjamin, the first Indian American to win a Hollywood deal, is all set to perform at the Grammy awards next month. Benjamin, who has also filmed a music video in Hugh Heffner's fabulous Playboy Mansion, said his success was a lucky coincidence, coming as it did with an increasing American interest in Bollywood. "Suddenly, it is cool to be Indian," Benjamin, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, told the agency. To become a Hollywood pop singer was an unusual career choice for Benjamin who was studying to be a chemical engineer. His persistence paid off when he was signed on by music industry mogul Kerry Gordy. But the path to success has been long and arduous. In the initial years, no one wanted to even listen to him, said Benjamin. "After September 11, Hollywood stereotyped Indian Americans in the category 'Middle Eastern'. It was very hard," said the singer who has knocked on Hollywood doors since 1998. "Earlier they did not even give a chance. Finally, I tried to trick them - I stopped sending my pictures along with my portfolios. It worked because my name does not give a clue to my Indian ancestry," he said. Benjamin, the son of immigrants from Andhra Pradesh, studied music, business and chemical engineering. But his talent for show business set him on a trajectory to become a pop star. Benjamin's choice of vocation could not have been more unconventional. His father was a Christian pastor who was especially fond of Elvis Presley's gospel songs, to which Benjamin attributes his interest in music. "My parents always listened to Elvis' gospel music and watched his movies," recalled Benjamin. He began doing Elvis impersonations when he was eight. "I was performing live for relatives and friends for money." On a visit to Washington, he got all his cousins together and charged them a dollar admission fee. It was his first paid performance. Benjamin quickly graduated to performing at music concerts and at major Hollywood events. Now, he is all set to perform at the Grammy awards red carpet event Feb 8. Over the years, Benjamin has won several distinctions in pop music. He was the first Indian to make it to the Billboard charts and has had 10 hits in a row in more than 25 countries. But perhaps Benjamin's most spectacular coup was the shooting of his video "Hurry Up" at Hugh Heffner's Playboy Mansion. Benjamin was looking for something controversial for his new video and thought shooting at the Mansion would be sensational enough. "I rang up Heffner's office every day for four months to seek permission to shoot. When they denied me permission to shoot inside the Mansion, I asked if I could shoot outside the gates or on the driveway. The answer was a firm no. "Finally, one day when I called, I heard Heffner's assistant telling him, 'It is that kid again' and Heffner's reply in the background, 'Let the kid shoot his video inside the mansion.' Unexpectedly, he also allowed me to use five Playmates in the video." On the shoot, Benjamin said: "It was quite an experience. Playboy Mansion is beautiful. One has this preconception of a house filled with girls. But when I went there for the first time there were no girls but monkeys, flamingos and parrots in the backyard, and a huge swimming pool." Benjamin subsequently took his parents to meet Heffner. "He was very nice," said Benjamin. "Although on the trip home, my mother kept asking me 'What exactly is Playboy'?" The success of "Hurry up" paved the way for his second single, "Ride", which was quickly ranked number four in the Billboard Breakout Dance Charts. Another of his albums, "Chandamama", turned out to be hugely popular with the younger generation. "It is an album anyone from eight to eighty can relate to," he said. In Bollywood, Benjamin likes the late playback singer Kishore Kumar. "But Hariharan is my favourite," he said. He said he was negotiating with Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to feature the actor in one of his music videos. How did his parents react to his choice of career? "Initially, they were sceptical and very worried. Like all Indian American parents, they wanted me to become a doctor, engineer or a lawyer. But they saw me on television with the likes of Steve Wonder - that is a sure sign that you have made it. And then money started coming in. That makes all the difference." FROM: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5967_1589582,001600060015.htm _____________________________________________________________________________ * Alumni Profile: Reggie Benjamin - Elvis Fan _____________________________________________________________________________ Columbia College alumnus Reggie Benjamin (class of '97) has come a long way from his childhood days of impersonating Elvis in front of his neighbors for candy money. Now he's one of the hottest pop stars in India, his latest single, "Hurry Up", is in the top 10 in Italy's club scene, and the video for "Hurry Up" was filmed at the Playboy Mansion. For Reggie, it's all part of his plan that predicts a Grammy acceptance speech. Born in Toronto and raised in Chicago, Benjamin's parents exposed him at an early age to gospel music, both Indian and American, but especially, to the soulful sounds of Elvis Presley. "I started performing for friends, relatives, and even knocked on the doors of stranger's houses and asked them if they wanted me to imitate Elvis. That's how I got all my candy money." While in junior high school, he formed The Reggie Benjamin Band and started playing schools, colleges and talent shows. With his next band, R.P.M. (Rapid Party Motion) he started writing his own music, and played the regional college circuit through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. He enrolled at Dupage, and later came to Columbia to study music. "Columbia was great," says Reggie." The teachers [were] of more friend-type teachers. I met a lot of great people while I was in school, and still keep in touch with them." While in Chicago, Reggie mastered the art of promotion and marketing on the club circuit. Knowing that Thursday nights were one of the slowest for dance clubs like the trendy Elixir, he approached the club's owner and said that R.P. M. would pack the house on Thursday nights, or they wouldn't get paid. Reggie knew his college circuit days had developed a big following, and the fans followed him to Elixir. Soon, R.P.M. was the house band at the club, bringing standing room only crowds. Breaking as a solo artist, Reggie recruited top producer and re-mixer, Eric E. "Smoove" Miller, and recorded his first album, 2X-Centrix (pronounced "too eccentric"). E-Smoove has worked with such legends as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, INXS, and many others. One of the songs on the album moved quickly. "We wrote one song entitled Hurry Up," says Benjamin. "We didn't have a lot of money, so we sent 500 vinyl records overseas to all the clubs. My sister Rena Benjamin contacted people that could help promote the song. She quit her job and went to India to make sure things were done right, and a few weeks later we find out that we have the number two song in India. Now we're number one." Persistence runs in the family, for Reggie's dogged pursuit of his dream kept him knocking on one of the biggest doors in the country: the doors to the Playboy mansion. "I called 411 for Playboy's number," he recalls. "They turned me down for three months, but I kept on persisting. They finally heard the music and said it was great. After another month of harassment from me they said they would ask Mr. Hefner. They told him the story and he finally said, ‘let the kid shoot the video here.' They even said I could use some of the Playmates in the video. Ever since then Playboy has helped me in a very big way!" With the video playing in Asia, Reggie has ruled the MTV-India airwaves, as he both hosted and performed on the network. His concerts in India draw thousands, and he's mobbed whenever he goes out in public there. His musical blend of Indian style and instrumentation and American pop sensibilities makes for very catchy, sweet tunes that you have to dance to. Now for the next hurdle: breaking in America. When asked about the hardest part to a successful music career, Reggie replied "all the door slamming, and people who discourage rather than encourage." Fortunately, there's at least a few encouraging hands helping him. Reggie is negotiating to work with the Columbia College choir to perform at the Nocturnal Nightclub in Chicago at 1111 W. Lake Street on May 6th, 2002. Celebrities are flying in from LA (expect at least a playmate or two). Doors open at 8pm and tickets are sold through Ticketmaster. Continuing to push his career, Reggie is teaching himself to tap dance by watching Fred Astaire videos in slow motion, ("An Indian who tap dances?" he jokes). He also is donating a portion of the proceeds from his debut album, "2X Centrix", to the Hands-2-India Foundation, which Reggie created to help reduce poverty, clean up the sewer systems, and help foster freedom of speech in India. No problem for a guy who started his own record label, Club 2X Records, with $110. At this rate, you can bet that Reggie already has his Grammy speech prepared, and it won't be long before he delivers it. For more information on Reggie Benjamin, check out www.2x-centrix.com FROM: http://www.colum.edu/alumni/profiles/Benjamin.htm _____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html Doctrine of International Copyright Law ____________________________________________________________________________