An Unlikely Rapper Makes His Music Work For Others

By Nancy K. Crevier

There are no dark glasses, his pants barely sag, he exudes no anger, and he lacks the bling and swagger that mark a rapper. But Asian Jewish rapper Ben Federman holds his own on his CD, Second To None, recently picked up by iTunes. The CD consists of 17 original pieces written, performed, and mixed by the Newtown High School junior, a prolific young musician who has been pursuing music in one form or anther since he was 7 years old.

Getting his CD picked up by iTunes might seem a career booster, but Ben’s motives are not self-centered. All of the income produced by the sales of his CD and individuals tracks goes to support the humanitarian group SosteNica.

“I first heard about SosteNica from my dad’s friend, who works with the organization,” said Ben. “I don’t need the money and after I read about and researched SosteNica, it sounded to me like a really effective program, and something I want to support,” said Ben. “SosteNica helps start small businesses and farmers to support themselves. It’s little amounts to little people for big results,” he explained.

SosteNica Sustainable Development Fund of Nicaragua has “created opportunities for Nicaraguans in the form of 25,013 loans worth $13,919,958” between 2001 and 2008, according to its website. It is dedicated to providing sustainable economic, human, and community development in Nicaragua to support small businesses and farmers in the form of microloans.

“I’m not sure how much I can expect to make. I only get a percentage of the sales,” said Ben, “but it’s an ongoing program, so I’m hoping people will buy the CD or just a track or two. If they visit the website for SosteNica [sonstenica.org] they can donate directly there, too.”

Beginning with piano lessons in second grade, Ben has since studied guitar and bass guitar with former Meatloaf musician Steve Buslowe, and taught himself to play drums. His training leaned toward classical and rock music, and during his junior high years, said Ben, he gravitated more toward the “emo” type of music and rock.

“I got into hip-hop the beginning of sophomore year, when some friends turned me on to it,” said Ben. “I liked it a lot and it seemed like a joke for an Asian Jewish guy to get into rapping. It actually was a joke, the first song I wrote with friends. Then I started getting serious about it.”

Over the years, Ben has acquired the equipment to mix and record his own music. “I have a mixer for all the instruments to feed into the computer; that’s the basic piece. Then there’s the recording software, and the instruments, of course,” said Ben, describing his home “studio.”

In listening to other rap and hip-hop recording artists, Ben found himself particularly influenced by the music of R&B singer Ne-Yo, and by producer Danja, who is behind the music of many hip-hop artists. “Absolutely, though, out of anyone who has influenced my music, Steve Buslowe has, the most,” said Ben of his guitar teacher. “He’s always telling me to ‘rock up’ my music more. He helps me improve my music, even when I don’t always listen.”

Going His Own Way

“Sometimes I liked that Ben didn’t follow my advice,” laughed Steve Buslowe. “He follows his own heart, and that’s important.” As with many students he takes on with piano experience, Mr Buslowe found that while Ben knew how to play music, he did not understand music. “It’s always my intent to explain music and how things get put together. Ben learned a lot of music and I introduced him to a lot of different music styles,” said Mr Buslowe.

When Ben started to explore writing songs, the former band member got excited. “The idea that Ben was willing to sing was fabulous to me,” he said. At Ben’s request, Mr Buslowe would sometimes critique Ben’s work. “I would point him in a direction, but what I like about helping my students is that I’m only giving them an idea of what they can do,” he said, “and Ben always came back with his own way of doing things.”

Having played around with rapping and hip-hop for several months and with a home-mixed CD of his music nearly ready, in September Ben decided to apply to Apple to have the CD of his music made available on iTunes. “I had to do a little searching on the Apple website for the application; it’s kind of buried,” said Ben. His persistence paid off, and in February, Ben received word that Apple was interested in his CD. “I sent it in, and in April the tunes became available for downloading from iTunes,” said Ben.

The collection of upbeat, lyrical songs with a driving beat is a compilation of pieces Ben wrote after school when he had finished his homework, and sat down to “just fool around” with his music. Many of the lyrics reflect his personal experiences, or those of his friends, or just day-to-day school and after school happenings. Occasionally he takes on a persona in order to tell a story. “I try to make every song sound different from the other,” said Ben.

Ben bills himself as a rapper, and the majority of the songs, including “Gameday,” written by request of the soccer team to psyche them up before games, “Goin’ In,” featuring NHS junior Jeff DiNicola, and “Anthem,” jump with a rap beat. The album also includes songs like “Crush,” performed with another NHS student, Kristin Tanner. It is one of several songs Ben has written in which he boldly exposes his heart — and the feelings of his peers — to the audience. The CD title song, “Second To None,” is a boisterous affirmation of youth, and like “Looks Could Kill,” carries a more techno flavor. “Daydreams” is yet another example of Ben’s musical versatility, being a more reflective, mainstream song.

There are practical purposes to his music, as well. This spring, Ben asked his date to the Junior Prom with a one-minute song that he wrote and put on his website. The successful musical request has been reworked into a longer version on the CD, one more example of Ben’s ability to turn a typical high school scenario into a song that youth anywhere can relate to.

More Music On The Way

Second To None is available from the iTunes music store for $9.99, or single songs can be purchased for 99 cents each, at apple.com/itunes.

He is presently at work on his second CD with the working title Voice Of Reason. “It’s a little bit more rapping than I did on the first CD, but it’s still the same genre,” Ben said. He has already completed ten songs for the new CD. The proceeds from Voice Of Reason, which he hopes will also be made available through iTunes when he completes it later this summer, will also benefit SosteNica.

“It has been exciting, all the compliments I’ve gotten from friends and even people I didn’t know before. That’s really rewarding,” said Ben. If sales of Second To None are successful, he hopes that his efforts will be rewarding to SosteNica, as well.