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I’m going to warn you now. If you aren’t prepared for the truth get out now, we good? Good. That being said I managed to grab a convo with Jarren Benton this week and got his insight on what you SHOULD do if you plan to one day have a foot in the door of the rap game.

If you are sleep on Jarren Benton, wake up quick! Benton is an Atlanta born and bred (Eastside to be exact) rapper. If you are expecting ABC rhymes and bubble gum verses then Benton is not for you. The man is a lyrical beast and he is always backed up by some spaced out productions. The fast spitting artist started rapping when he was about 8 years old, he gained some traction as a teenager, and became seriously involved in his craft in his early twenties. First lesson is that real talent is developed over time, you can hear in Jarren’s music that he has a veteran sense about rap even though he is still breaking out as a mainstream artist.

Second Lesson, you HAVE to want it. Benton mentioned that he used to pray as a kid to be a successful rapper. Being the family man that he is, Benton could never afford to quit his 9-5 in order to chase his dream of becoming a rapper until he actually made it, he also stayed open to the idea that he would not make it. This brings me to the third lesson, a plan B is everything.

Benton always had dreams of being a rapper but is also a realist. Knowing the likely hood of him getting a record deal was a shot in the dark he always persued a back up plan just in case. Though Benton is a high school drop out he does posses a GED and continued to forward his career outside of rap for the sake of his two kids. Two personal pieces of advice that Benton gave me for the up and comers was 1.) Do it smart and 2.) Have Direction.

There you have it, an Introduction to Grinding: 101. Benton faced a lot of long days on his road to success. He spoke of working 8 hours, coming home to be a dad, and then hitting the studio until it was damn near time to go back to work. Currently Benton who is now 28 (“too old for this shit”according to him) is half way complete with his untitled project. He lives by a simple philosophy of believe in yourself, feed off positive energy, and don’t f**k yourself.

For all you ATLiens out there, Benton did drop a couple spots he loves to hit up when he comes home. The first is the Green Sprout for the Vegetarian crowd. For Thai lovers, Benton says that Lil Bangkok off Cheshire Bridge Road has never done him wrong.