Name: Ben Reilly
Nationality: American
Occupation: Rapper, songwriter, vocalist
Current Release: Ben Reilly's new album SAVE! is expected for fall of 2025.
Shoutouts: I wanna give a shout out to some of my bros. I think a lot of peers are on the verge of doing some incredible things, including myself of course! So, I wanna shout out Marco Plus, SwaVay, Chris Patrick, Reuben Vincent, Jordan Bell, Chase Shakur, City James, Jai’Len Josey, Zyah Belle, Oksurf, The Letter M, Life of Thom, & Lord Sko!
Hometown recommendations: In my hometown? Linden Diner in Brooklyn. In Atlanta, I recommend The Chattahoochee River, it’s beautiful.
Topic I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I’m actually very passionate about cooking! I love to cook!

If you enjoyed this Ben Reilly interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram. 



What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your interest in hip hop?

Some of the musical experiences that planted a seed in my interest for hip-hop were honestly just a lot of the moments at home.

Growing up, I was introduced to hip-hop by my neighborhood. Where I’m from, there was always people playing hip-hop loud out their windows, cars, boomboxes, and block parties and things like that.

But most intimately, my mother introduced me to old mixtapes and music videos she would have on CDs and VHS. Times like that made me fall in love with hip-hop.

What does the term hip hop mean and stand for today, would you say?

Today, hip-hop means and stands for the people. To this day, I still feel like hip-hop represents all aspects of our culture, whether it be positive or negative.

For me, hip-hop tells the stories of the people we are and grew up around, giving us stuff to party to while also being inherently political. I feel hip-hop at its core still represents the same thing as it has before.

I just think it may look and feel a bit different because the parts of it that some people may have fallen in love with may not be as highlighted to the degree it once was.

Hip hop has always been about a lot more than just music. For you personally, is hip hop a way of life – and if so, in which way?

Hip-Hop is one thousand percent a way of life for me. I see hip-hop as so much more than just music.

I’m not ashamed to dance because breakdancing was such a core part of it. I used to do graffiti. I currently MC, and even when I’m having fun, I try my best to dish out knowledge as much as possible. I recognize that I have a voice to speak up for those who don’t.

Hip-hop is the way I dress, talk, walk, live, think, and more.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to creativity?

The key ideas behind my approach to creativity are really simple honestly.

It’s making sure no matter what I do creatively, I leave a little bit of myself in there, or else it’s just creativity for creativity’s sake.

Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?

Most of my inspirations to create come directly from my life experiences and my interests. The current social / political / ecological developments I feel the need to respond to are vast I believe.

I try to speak toward the plight my people feel in this country. I feel minorities have been dealt a bad hand by my country, between my community, as well as others. There’s a big issue with how this country has treated immigrants, members of the LGBTQ+, the disabled, the elderly, the unhoused community, and more – even down to how we handle healthcare.

There are also issues regarding the Palestine conflict, Congo, and more that I believe need addressing and way more attention than some of the issues we highlight, because so many innocent people are suffering.

Hip hop has always had an interesting relationship between honouring its roots and pushing the music forward. What does the balance between these two poles look like in your music?

I often try my best to stay in touch with what’s new and modern while still communicating my creativity with the ones that came before myself.

I feel like if you’re able to understand what’s going on with hip-hop’s future, you can figure out how to unite it with the past.

What role do electronic tools and instruments, including AI, play for your creative process?

AI doesn’t play any role in my creative process. I’m currently against the use of AI in music.

How do you see the role of sampling in hip hop today?

I honestly think people can sample better. There are so many cool sounds out there that people could sample but I feel a lot of people try for what’s easily recognizable and nostalgic rather than what’s cool and interesting.

I also believe sampling is necessary for development. A lot of people learn so much about the past from samples.

There has always been a close connection between hip hop and jazz. What role does improvisation play in your current creative process?

Improvisation plays a huge role in my current creative process.

I usually associate how I come up with flows and cadences with scatting. I believe that method of writing derives from jazz.

It can sometimes seem as though, in hip hop, production is the main force of progress. Do you feel like there is still space for genuinely new ideas for lyrics and vocals as well? If so, what could these look like?

Yes, I believe that right now lyrics are the most important they’ve been in a long, long time.

We have had these moments in hip-hop at the turn of the 2020’s decade, where we see artists returning to the 3 verse format in their songs, and even trying to bring bridges back. We’ve even seen the recent battles between Drake and Kendrick, or Joey Bada$$ and the West Coast, where we see big numbers of people actually dissecting what an artist says.

We need more of that.

For many artists, life-changing musical experiences take place live. How do you see that yourself?

Live music is king.

How, would you say are your live performances and your recording projects connected at the moment? How do they mutually influence and feed off each other?

Yeah, they mutually influence one another.

When I write music, I like to envision two things: How I would perform the song live and how will this translate visually? What would a music video look like for this lyric, or downbeat?

From Star Wars via The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to the Fifth Element, there have always been amusing sci fi ideas about how music could look like at some point. For a not too distant future, where do you personally see it going?

Unfortunately, Idiocracy.