We were lucky to catch up with C4. Benard recently and have shared our conversation below.
C4. Benard, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I’ve been in love with hip hop since a little boy. Listening to 50 Cent and DMX drew me into the genre, but I was never able to truly relate to them. Then, I got big into Kanye, Kendrick Lamar, and J Cole and realized there was a space for the people who weren’t super street and began to want to try it myself. I studied the greats all the way from Kool G Rap, Nas, Busta Rhymes and Hov to the Kendricks, Coles, etc.
C4. Benard, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve been rapping since I was like 5 years old. However it wasn’t until I was in college until I took it serious. I started to drop mixtapes that got me popular on campus. My specialty was the boom bap sound, but I noticed those type of songs don’t go viral. Finally, I made a TikTok and went viral for a song I made called “Sign” and the rest was history.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is people telling me my music has helped them through hard times or motivated them through times they needed it. I looked to hip hop to tap into different emotions and hope to do that to others as well.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
In my opinion, we should allow artists to be artists and not have to be essentially be an influencer as well. It takes so much away from the music. We see it now. The music made in today’s generation won’t last too long.
Contact Info:
- Website: c4benard.com
- Instagram: c4.benard
- Youtube: C4. Benard
- Other: TikTok: c4.benard