We recently connected with Benni Hunnit and have shared our conversation below.

Benni , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

At A Young age, I was always musically involved. I played the piano for a few years at the age of 8, then shortly after that I moved on to playing the cello from ages 10-18. I learned quite a bit about music theory, and sight reading, and that really helped put things into perspective for me as a musician. Knowing what I know now, what I could have done to speed up the process was just build my studio in the very beginning, and higher mentors to help cultivate in the skills I was lacking. the skills I think were most essential are definitely being able to understand music theory and music composition. that way you can manipulate the song better to your liking. the obstacles that stood in the way of learning really were just the lack of support and struggles I’ve endured in my life. every musician who’s balling on a budget like me always has some unique struggles.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure thing! I am Benito Layton, I am a decently known EDM/Trap Musician who goes by the name of Benni Hunnit. I always dabbled with music but I decided to actually take it seriously in about 2019-2020 ish. what separates me apart from the rest is mainly the fact that I’m me. nobody really in the EDM Trap Music scene has a voice or style like mine and it’s not easily replicable either. My overall approach and how I come at music is just a completely different way of attacking things, and you can never pinpoint me to sound like someone else which has its benefits but also comes with some cons. I’d say the thing I’m most proud of is I finally got a chance to become somewhat successful as a musician and got my streams up, people are beginning to know of me, and it’s always nice to get a little bit of recognition at least and make a little bit of money as an artist. people just don’t know how REAL this struggle is being a musician. I once told someone, that being a musician is like being in a classroom of a million students and the teacher tells everyone ok, put your hand up in the air and you’re just waiting for your opportunity to get picked. it’s a tough game so…the recognition for your art is always nice because many people never see the time of day many times, and it can be pretty crushing to experience that

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

the lesson I had to unlearn was that you had to be famous in order to make it. That’s not true at all.

So a little back story on this lesson: I went through a phase of trying to higher all these “marketers” and people that claim to be able to get you out there and whatnot, and what I really should have been doing was just focusing on the basics, creating great content, and putting it out there! the way how i kind of started getting known in this community I am in now, is because I went out myself and started networking with producers, and I had a decent little bit of work on my resume, my Instagram(LOL), and then just got plugged in. at the end of the day, your success is pretty much what you make it so… don’t feel the need to have to spend all this crazy money highering “marketers” and “Guru’s” because all it’s doing is taking you away from what you should be doing most. making music, great content, and networking/ trying to connect with producers.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

sure, you got an hour to spare? lol I’m kidding.

well…2020 like all of us, was the worst year of our life but…I’m going to definitely say it was mine. I lost my job in March of 2020, shortly after that I lost my mother in June of 2020, I had a fall out with my cousin and had to leave in around September and moved in with my grandma, and then I caught Covid-19 in November of 2020 and then ended up in the hospital around Christmas time of 2020 from food poisoning. by the end of that year, I pretty much was just crawling like how a soldier uses his elbows to kind of crawl from one side of an area to another to the end of the year. and I was just so glad that I made it through because those experiences back to back really helped chisel my personality into the strong person I am today.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bennihunnitt/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bennihunnit

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