How BNZA Locked In For His Most Successful Year Yet
Though he began as a musician, BNZA has channeled his creativity into several successful creative ventures. This year, he returned to focusing on music with some of the best results yet.
“HONESTLY, I’M ALWAYS a musician first, but I'm always trying to do other things," BNZA told me recently. In Toronto, where he is based, BNZA has become an entrepreneur. Last year, he opened a successful pop-up bar that hosted intimate shows for musicians. But his ventures extended to other mediums: He launched a clothing line named after his mother and collaborated with his collective M6K on several initiatives, including a basketball camp.
Throughout all of these experiences, BNZA has continued to release music, even if last year was a slower run of only two singles. But recently, BNZA shifted back into music mode. "This year I actually took a step back from doing a lot of things cause I was super burnt out," he explained, "which is why I feel like this year I had a lot more time to give more energy into my music."
He honed in on filming music videos, writing better music, and, most crucially, marketing.
In May, BNZA dropped "READY SET GO" after performing it at a friend's show. At the time, "READY SET GO" was still an unreleased track produced by the musician Peach Luffe, but the response from fans and his friends convinced him that he had something special on his hands. "Everyone was laser-focused on that song," he remembered. "People were tearing up. It was crazy." After releasing the song, BNZA "pushed the hell out of it."
"I didn't do anything too crazy with marketing," BNZA said – but he did lock in. "I thought I should promote the music more, so I just shot a bunch of super simple videos with my phone and tripod." The song began to pick up traction almost immediately as listeners made the song their own. On TikTok, couples began using the song as audio for photos and clips of their relationships. "I was not expecting it to go viral like that," he affirmed.
For BNZA, who wrote "READY SET GO" and the following three singles about his significant other, the response was confirmation that his music is reaching people. "These songs are very personal to me," he said." I'm trying to make all the lyrics as genuine as possible without them sounding overbearing or corny. I'm writing pretty lyrics to match the vibe of the song. That's the kind of energy I'm going for right now. I'm in that calm, cool, collected era of my life, and I want my music to portray that as well."
His new single, "NEXT TO YOU”, which was released last Friday, is classic BNZA with hints of WAVE TO EARTH's soundscape. "The song was inspired by very anthemic guitar-heavy songs that make you feel like a kind of dream or like you're floating in the air," he explained. "The lyrics are very genuine, so it came very, very quickly to me."
The music, like BNZA's own personality, reflects an effortless cool that comes from an authentic place. "I'm just honestly living life and not forcing anything," he said. "I'm letting everything come to me so that it feels natural, and I feel like that just reflects all in my music. The more natural everything is. Your music sounds more natural, too."
This approach to music has made BNZA "take it day by day, so I don't get burned out – and I try to be forgiving of myself too." He can't do everything or be everywhere, after all. But the results prove he's on to something: "READY SET GO" is close to crossing over a million streams, and nearly every song released this year has been playlisted by Spotify's editorial team.
Thinking back on the year he's had, BNZA said, he's seen real growth. The success of "READY SET GO" was highly gratifying to him after years of grinding for traction. "I was very happy and, you know, I'm proud of that song. It's still doing numbers, and I'm gonna keep pushing it, so that's it, bro," he reflected. "My hard work is slowly paying off, slowly but surely."
