Born in Hackney and raised in Islington, Elijah Benoit is a music artist driven by hope and change. A son of Jamaican and Mauritian parents, Elijah Benoit was raised in a very musical family. This includes his father, of Jamaican descent, who was a DJ and played reggae records in the house all the time and his cousin, who was a part of Bob Marley’s legendary group, The Wailers. During his primary school years, Elijah heard Tupac’s Changes and immediately fell in love with rap. Connected by the message, he printed out the lyrics and memorised all of the words to the song. His personal writing journey started at the tender age of 14, inspired by the days when Pirate Radio stations such as Deja Vu, Heat and Rinse FM were prominent. Now 24 years old, the rapper uses his poetics music skills to inspire listeners through thought provoking lyrics and vivid stories that capture everyday experiences and issues. He is inspired by artists such as Bob Marley, Tupac and India Arie and his personal sound is diverse yet sonically intertwined with soul, jazz and funk. His first music video “James”, which was with Dwain Brown, aired on OHTV (Sky Channel 199) and received positive reviews from UK rap pioneer TY. The song was part of Elijah Benoit’s campaign for The Big Issue Sleep Out where he slept out to raise money and awareness for homelessness in the UK during 2013. When Elijah is not in the studio, he is volunteering in the community, teaching songwriting, or mentoring young achievers. This year, he graduated with a first class degree in Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation and also works at one of the largest IT companies in the world. Recently, through using Kickstarter, Elijah managed to crowd fund over £2000 for the release of his debut EP "The Graduate". The EP includes four tracks that fuse alternative Hip Hop and Soul and introduce the bright future that Elijah has in store. The best is truly yet to come from this young gifted artist!