Beano has made quite the name for himself so far as he's opened for The Dream, performed at MTV's O Music Awards, and headlined his own show at The Blockley. If you haven't heard of Beano yet, this interview is sure to give you all the details you want to know.
So for the readers who don't know who you are, tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Beano, I'm a singer/songwriter from West Philadelphia. I've been singing seriously for about a good 6 or 7 years, and been making a career out of it for the past 2 and a half years.
Who would you cite as some of your main musical inspirations?
My musical inspirations are Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. I was raised in a musical household, but I didn't grow up in household where I was like, forced to listen to artists like Marvin Gaye, I didn't listen to him, I'm gonna be honest. I more so listened to Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson and I even take pointers and inspiration from more recent artists like Mario, Usher, Sisqo, and artists like that. Those artists and my family, my mother and my father.
When did you decide that you wanted to pursue a full time singing career?
Probably about 3 to 4 years ago, but I didn't really buckle down and get very serious until about 2 and a half years ago when I decided...well, it wasn't even when I decided, it was more so when I noticed that I could make a career out of it, like "I really could do this; I really might have something here".
So I know that you recently had your first headlining show at The Blockley; other than that, what would you say were some memorable moments in your career so far?
I try to make every one of my shows memorable to me because something special always happens, but my most memorable show, of course was my first big show when I performed with The Dream. That was like the first major stage in front of the biggest crowd that I had performed in front of by myself. I've done big shows with Chill Moody, but that was the first show where it was me, solo, just me and my band. So that was definitely one of the most memorable experiences because it was kinda like my coming out and letting everyone know that I'm an artist; some people already knew, but it was the first time I got to perform in front of a huge crowd by myself.
You mentioned Chill Moody; I know that both of you are members of Talent Island, so how did the whole Talent Island thing come about?
Well Talent Island came about one night when they (Dilemma, Ashley Coleman, Hank McCoy, and Chill Moody) were in the studio. I don't really know the whole back story on how it happened, but they came together and basically said "We're gonna start calling ourselves Talent Island". Most people get it confused, we're not a label, it's more so just a crew of artists and we feel as though we're all talented and we hang together, and it was just a cool name; just like people say "Yeah, that's my clique". The same way some people say they rep 46th street or 58th street, we say we rep Talent Island, they're the people I'm close to that I know are talented.
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| Chill Moody and Beano performing |
Umm, I'm really on the fence about it, I really don't know. There are perks on both sides. I like where I am right now because I'm still independent and I'm still on the come up, but I don't know how I would feel after a while and start getting all those looks and everything like that. There are things major labels can still bring to you that you'll need. I'm on the fence about it; I can't say I wanna go independent and I can't say I just want a deal; I've seen people get a deal and do nothing with it, just like I've seen people struggle independently and never make it. It's how things turn out, I go day by day, like, you gotta do what you can, while you can.
If you could choose any mainstream artist and any underground artist to collaborate with, who would they be and why?
That's a hard one. Mainstream artist -- Without a doubt I would definitely wanna do a song with Drake. Like I've been rocking with Drake before a lot of people; like I found Drake on Myspace, like before anybody knew about him, back when he did Comeback Season and everything like that. Underground artist -- I don't even know if she's considered underground, but I love Stacy Barthe. She's coming up real heavy, she's so dope. Oh, and definitely Jhene Aiko, she's dope too.
I know earlier you said you live life day by day, but realistically, where do you see your career a year from now?
A lot farther than where I am right now. I don't like jinxing myself, but I can see it's happening now as far as moves really picking up, I'm getting a great response, and I haven't even dropped my first project yet. All these opportunities that are coming my way are based off of me working extremely hard and some of them, like they say come from being in the right place at the right time, sometimes we do get lucky, but I know a lot of it is from the work I've been putting in. I can only imagine where I could be a year from now and what could happen, but I definitely wanna be becoming a household name bigger than just in Philadelphia. I'm not saying I'm gonna be colossal, but definitely somebody who people will know.
Did you have any doubts about getting into the music industry? Like being in public eye and having people always wondering what you're doing, making up rumors, etc.
No doubts at all. I feel like I was raised a certain way; I feel I have a great support system. I have the type of family members that'll check me if I get a little bit out of line. I love the fact that I have that type of family. Even down to Chill, Hank, Tye, and everybody, my music family, they're not "Yes" men. I feel like that happens a lot of times when people get to a certain stature; they get surrounded by people who just let them do what they wanna do and I feel like that's wrong. I feel like you need people that'll keep it real with you and keep you in line because everybody needs to be checked from time to time. Sometimes you don't notice what you're doing because you're doing it. I feel like I'm well prepared for it, even down to the discipline that I learned from sports. I've always been taught that you're a representation of your parents and my parents are amazing people, so I wouldn't be out here acting a fool because it reflects on how you were raised and that's just not how I carry myself.
Other than singing, entertainment wise, is there anything else you can see yourself delving into?
Definitely acting! I feel like I can be actor, I definitely feel like I can act. Y'all saw that "One Shot" video, you see that acting?? *laughs* So yeah, definitely acting. I like event planning; I'm into that. Like, right now, I have my own open mic starting. I just did that because I love live music and a lot of people don't realize the amount of talent that we have here in Philadelphia, so it's dope to go out and hear artists that you never heard before and become a fan right then and there just based on you coming to the open mic; that's why I decided to do my own open mic. I definitely wanna do something like what The Roots do, probably not that big, but when I get to that stature, I definitely wanna put something like that together.
How would you describe your songwriting process? I know some artists say songwriting relaxes them and others say their process is chaotic, so what category do you fit in?
Mine is chaotic, it's so chaotic. I'm one of those people who hates almost everything that I do. A lot of people know, when you go back to Chaka Khan, she hated her song "Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan", but to this day, it's one of her biggest songs, so I'm almost along those lines. Like, I'll hate everything I write down, but someone in the studio will be like "You're tripping, that's hot". I'm very hard on myself, so I'd say it more of a chaotic thing, but once I start laying it down and start flowing, it's pretty good. I mean, I can't sit down and write 3,4,5, songs in one night and sometimes not even in one sitting.
Are there any artists that you would like to write for?
I wanna get better at writing, so right now, no. I just wanna more so write for me, get my skills together more, then maybe I'll venture into that.
What inspires you day to day to pursue your music career?
My love for it; it's just the response I get when I do shows and when people hear records, and even getting my family a better life, for my mother, my father, my grandmom, everybody. I know I has this talent that could potentially change the people I love's lifestyle, so that's enough inspiration for me right there.
To close out, are there any upcoming shows or projects that readers should be looking forward to?
Definitely look for my upcoming project, I'm not gonna put a tentative date on it, just be on the lookout for it. The next show is Hot 97's "Who's Next" showcase with me and Mack Wilds.
Make sure you follow Beano on Twitter and try to make it to his Hot 97 showcase
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