1) I see all of your huge accomplishments as an artist, however I know you more as a promoter, care to discuss your role in promo Thank you. Yeah, i started as an event promoter but i havent promoted events personally in years with the exception of a few musi puts on and those entities have their own staffs. I more so work behind the scenes as a creator and in marketing, management and
Antjuan Washington, better known by his
stage name Benafactor(formerly Tjuan Benafactor), is an elite underground artist in the genres of hip hop/rap & R&B. His talent, passion & drive have also helped Tjuan become a notable producer & award winning songwriter in his own right.Tjuan Benafactor’s creativity and business since can’t be defined nor put in a box.It’s this vastness that’s makes Tjuan the entertaining character that really is just him. Tjuan B is currently signed to his own imprint Arucca Flyboy & distributed by Capitol Music Group. Tjuan first emerged on the scene in 2012 with his well received single “FLY WIT ME” featuring Project Pat being played in-flight by Virgin Airlines & being featured on countless mixtapes. Benafactor is a hip hop artist and much more working behind the scenes throughout the entertainment industry in many capacities. The event promoter turned hip hop artist feels his success stems from the basic desire to help others and the ability to create opportunities for himself as well as others. This has led Tjuan B & his Arucca Flyboy imprint to currently distributes numerous artist & indie labels. In addition in 2014 Tjuan co-founded an expansion basketball team in the famed American Basketball Association(ABA). The Steel City Yellow Jackets finished the 2014-2015 season as one of the top teams in the nation before he sold the team to a long time business partner.. In Feb 2015 Tjuan was named CEO of the ABA’s Media & Entertainment Division where he oversee’s league broadcast deals, sponsorships, merchandising, gameday entertainment and more etc. In addition Tjuan owns the Twin City Jazz(2016-17 Louisiana Div Champs)West Virginia Warlocks, Akron Aviators & Beaver County Indiands;of the ABA. Shortly after the death of his mother in September of 2018 Tjuan threw his energies into professional
arena football and purchased/founded an arena football team the Burgh Defenders. “The Burgh Defenders are members of the American Arena League(AAL). In March of 2017 “First Class” feat Sammie reached #1 on the SpinReports.com (BDS) Hip Hop/R&B Top 40 Charts as well as being the #1 requested song on 107.1 the beat Philadelphia, Power 106.3, Power 98.1 Chicago, Hot 97 the mix & more. Tjuan’s latest single “Orange Crush” feat YFG has reached #2 on the BDS SpinReports (Top 40) & stayed in the top 40 through March of 2017 coming in at #12, “Orange Crush” is also a top 4o requested song and a number of stations Tjuan’s Nov 2015 release “CREDIBLE CONTENT” again showed Tjuan’s consistancy quickly generating & being featured in Hip Hop Weekly Magazine, Reviewindie.com, thisis50.com, indiebandguru.com and many more sites as well as the hip hop heavy “Love & Hip Hop” spinning consistantly on stations around the country. Tjuan brings a unique spin on things to every song and performance & just about everything he does. From Tjuan’s 2012’s Island/DefJam distributed “Quantum Leap” on. On a daily basis Tjuan proves why he has been & continues to be a FACTOR!
otions? ic festivals i put on or partner with in other states. Most of the events i’m involved with my basketball teams, talent agency etc d as an advisor even with my brands and companies.I Today G.C.M. spotlights “Benafactor”. Tjuan Benafactor is a national touring artist, Kentucky Derby winner, venue owner and serial entrepreneur. His current single “Trust Issues” featuring media star “Benzino” and produced by “Big Jus” has been on the Digital Radio Tracker (DRT) charts for 5 consecutive weeks and just climbed to #102.
I must say, I am super proud of you!!! I see all
of your huge accomplishments as an artist, however I know you more as a promoter, care to discuss your role in promotions? Thank you! Yeah, I started as an event promoter but i havent promoted events personally in years with the exception of a few music festivals I put on or partner with in other states. Most of the events I’m involved with my basketball teams, talent agency etc puts on and those entities have their own staffs. I more so work behind the scenes as a creator and in marketing, management and as an advisor even with my brands and companies.
Who is your #1 choice of producers in the business right now that you would like to work with? “Harry Fraud”. As an artist I dig his sound. What female artists have you collaborated with? “Red Eye” (my little sister “Emily Washington”-rest in peace), “DaButtonPusha,” “Boogie Baby” and a few others as in on the track as an artist. I’m working on a couple tracks with “Juss Jayla” as we speak. I dont really have all that many tracks in my overall catalouge with features though. As a producer, song writer, manager, promoter & engineer, I have worked with more female artists that we can list; a good artist is a good artist and good music is good music. I like to work on good music and with artists who are dope as people. Which music scene do you prefer - mainstream or underground and why? I don’t really like 1 over the other... probably because i get to work in both areas. Mainstream works for me because i make more money and its alot less personal. The underground works for me because I’m more an underground kind of person and artist. The heart & soul of hip hop lives in yhe underground. There’s way more passion in the underground and its much more personal for some reason. Mr Benafactor, Thank you for taking this time with us! I apprericate your hustle and this is why you have always Ben-A-Factor and a GRINDA~
How are you able to effectively navigate from mainstream to underground? By being open to opprotunities more than anything. I usually dont look at like mainstream or underground in any specific situation. I look at it all as work. Some days you want to go to work and some dayd you dont. Some work days can be dope and some work days arent.
Follow “Benafactor” @tjuanbenafactor and Grind City Media @mediagrindcity Written by: K. Bey
