BENJAMIN Booker and Bronski Beat absolutely come from a different place, geographically, musically and even from a different age (Booker was born 1989, Steve Bronski had already scored his greatest hits by ’84) yet both acts have lived with intolerance and injustice in their formative years.
Both are extremely literate; indeed, Benjamin Booker is a graduate from the University of Florida in Gainsville with early journalistic ambitions. Integral to the value of Witness is a sober and insightful essay highlighting Booker’s views on society in America today, which ends with two questions, Am I going to be a witness? And Is that enough?
The message of this essay provoked Mavis Staples to lend her vocal support to the title track, and has secured Booker’s inclusion on many a high-profile US chat show. Booker is an accomplished spokesman and an informed craftsman lyrically. His work enhanced with a raw garage sound infused with Southern Soul. Benjamin Booker is an artist well worth investigating.
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