Headlining His First Concert and Poised for a Breakthrough: Meet BNZA
I won’t blame you if you listen to BNZA’s new single “SELFISH” and mistake him for an industry veteran.
It is a perfect pop track that opens with the punchy lyrics, “Fuck all that drama/ Karma’s coming for you,” before BNZA plunges a knife in with the line, “I think I’m better than you.” “SELFISH” is a song that clicks on first listen, and makes a case for why BNZA could become a very big pop star very soon. But take a listen to his entire catalog and you’ll find a remarkably self-assured artist who’s possessed a sophisticated sound since he first began recording in 2018.
This is important, because BNZA, pronounced “Ben Za”, is still an independent artist, only five years into a career that is just beginning to gain some ground. This year, BNZA is making big moves. He performed his first live show just two months ago as an opener for RUSSELL, an experience that he was still visibly grateful for when we spoke. “That was a dope experience because it made me value music a lot more because I saw people enjoying my work in real-time in front of my eyes,” he said. “That’s something that I definitely look forward to doing more. It gave me a lot of confidence and reassurance.”
BNZA saw enough goodwill from the show that it encouraged him to stage his own. So, on April 23rd, he’ll headline his first show with another Toronto-based singer Melatonin Boy, who he met at Russel’s show, at Toronto’s Drake Underground, a music venue at the Drake Hotel.
“I used to hang out at the Drake Hotel and go drinking with my friends there,” he told me. “And now I’m performing on the stage.”
The show has already sold-out an early bird presale, an impressive feat for BNZA’s first solo concert. BNZA credits the show’s positive reception to hometown support, a community that’s embraced him as a musician: although he works independently, BNZA has a small team that assists him with his music and the visuals. Their work is created entirely in Toronto, typically at a studio called 669 in the downtown area.
“Nothing is super planned. I just go with the flow,” he explained. BNZA’s approach is one that allows him to follow his artistic instincts. There is an effusive friendliness from him and an admirable ability to not overthink situations. These qualities have allowed BNZA to broaden his emotional palette as a songwriter and to diversify his output from smooth R&B to the neo-pop of “Selfish”. ”[My process] is really diverse and based on how I’m feeling,”’he told me. This is thanks in part to the community that surrounds him. “The Toronto music scene is super diverse. The underground scene is amazing,” he continued. “There’s so many amazing artists and producers here. Whether it’s been home sessions or studio sessions, I’ll do anything to make music.”
“I want to be someone that the next generation can look up to for an unfamiliar career choice,” BNZA explains. “A lot of kids have their dreams shut down, so I want to be that proof.”
BNZA’s family immigrated to Canada from Nepal when he was eight years old. They settled in the Parkdale neighborhood, a thriving community for Tibetan immigrants, situated west of downtown alongside Lake Ontario. BNZA remembered how cold it was when he first arrived in Toronto in the middle of December. “I was so shocked,” he said with a laugh. But he adapted quickly and developed a deep pride for the neighborhood.
“We had a couple of cousins here and they helped us get settled in. The Tibetan community is usually pretty tight knit and they look out for you here,” he said. “As soon as I came in there were a couple of Tibetan kids in my class who I’m still friends with to this day. It just felt like home here right away.”
BNZA was lucky, he explained, that his family was supportive of his interest in art. His father and grandfather were both artistic, and BNZA ecognized from an early age that his family was unique amongst many Asian families. “I was fortunate enough for my parents to be really supportive of me. My parents are super open minded and they wanted me to follow my passions and my dreams. They just wanted me to be happy,” he explained. “So to see other people struggle and face problems for what they want to do is sad for me.”
BNZA sees the importance in representation for Asian kids to have successful artists they can look to for inspiration. “I want to be someone that the next generation can look up to for an unfamiliar career choice. A lot of kids have their dreams shut down, so I want to be that proof,” he said. “I want this work to be a little beacon of confidence for the next generation just to reassure them that this type of career is sustainable.”
BNZA was drawn to punk music growing up, typically blasting Linkin Park in his room in high school. While he’d often sing at home, BNZA didn’t make a real effort at music until 2018 when he recorded his first song. “That was the first time I made a song for myself. But I had no confidence. I didn’t show it to anyone except my best friend,” he laughed. But his friend saw potential in the music and encouraged BNZA to stop being so afraid and release it.
"I’m proud of a lot of my songs. Almost all of them they’re like my little babies,” BNZA says.
BNZA’s first album “Soul Tree” is a remarkable body of work. I’d go as far as to call it one of my favorite albums because of how well crafted each song is. BNZA’s sultry and confident voice is the guide of the album’s stories about growth and desire. His delivery is smooth on tracks like “Ice Cold'' when he sings, “I need honeys/ I need dollars/ What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger/ Got a couple father figures.” Then he reminds us, “I got soul, baby/ Been through it all.” He’s at his most seductive on “Us” when he slyly tells a girl, “I’ve been on your mind lately/ Wondering how things have been.”Then reminds her, “He don’t bring what I could bring.”
But the song that announces his arrival as a rookie to watch is “Big Trouble”. BNZA’s appeal sneaks up on you with this track. You hear it in the flirtatious way he teases, “Catch me with my homies/ Big trouble making waves”'. Big Trouble, BNZA told me, is not just a description of himself, but his favorite bar in Toronto’s Chinatown, a smaller connection to a largely personal album.
Since the release of “Soul Tree”, BNZA has released a handful of singles, all of which reflect an artist eager to try new sounds. “I’m proud of a lot of my songs. Almost all of them they’re like my little babies,” he told me when I asked if he could pick a favorite. ”But I still think I got a lot better since’ Soul Tree’. I’m still growing, right?”
“Bounce Back”, released last year, finds BNZA at his most appealing: eager to move on from an ex and not bothered by shit that could get in his way. Similarly fantastic is “Problems”, the kind of melancholy pop music that can bury itself inside your psyche. “They don’t want me to be myself/ They don’t wanna see what I can see,” he sings before declaring, “I ain’t got shit to prove/ Minor setbacks ain’t the end.”
The defiant message of “Problems” feels the most personal to BNZA’s individualism, a trait he’s possessed since childhood. “As a kid I would always think, “I wanna be special.” That’s all I would think,” he reflected to me. “I thought, I wanna be different so why not try something that’s kinda different?” Today, BNZA relies on a healthy dose of self-encouragement and a broad base of family and friends who motivate him to keep creating. When he takes the stage on April 23rd at Drake Underground, BNZA will experience a full circle moment because the hotel is situated in the heart of Parkdale, the neighborhood BNZA grew up in.
These kinds of moments are reaffirming that the best is yet to come, something BNZA firmly believes in. “It does get lonely sometimes, but you gotta keep going and keep pushing,” he said. “I believe my time will come.”
You can buy tickets to BNZA’s concert HERE.
