INSOMNIAC SONG

J-POP

BENI

 

Birth Name: Beni Daniels
Stage Name: BENI
Other Names: Arashiro Beni (安良城紅)
Birth Date: March 30, 1986 
Birth Place: Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Genre: Jpop, J-Urban, J-R&B

Country: Japan

Years Active: 2002 -

Status: Active

Notable traits: Clear, confident feminine voice, Biligual

Recommended Songs: Kiss, Kiss, Kiss; Home Sweet Home; Gimme Gimme;


After being discovered during the 8th National Japan Bishojo Contest, Beni was chosen to be part of Bishoujo Club 21 in 2002. She appeared along with the group on the television show GIRLS A GOGO! on TV Asahi. In 2004, the group added 10 more members to become Bishoujo Club 31. It was shortly afterward that Beni was signed to avex trax as a solo artist. Eight singles, three albums and on best album were released from 2004 to 2008 under avex trax using the name Arashiro Beni. It was during her time under avex that she also hosted a segment on MTV Japan's show M size. She starred in the Japanese run of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Beautiful Game as well as appearing in the film Burabura Banban (ブラブラバンバン). Her television hosting continued with NHK TV's Tokyo Kawaii TV. 

 

In October 2008, Beni switched labels from avex trax to Universal Music Japan's NAYUTAWAVE RECORDS. Her name also endured a change, dropping Arashiro to be simply BENI. The changes suited her well as she began to write more of her own material. Sixteen singles, four original albums and one live album followed from 2008 until 2011.  After the release of her original single Eien in January of 2012, Beni surprised fans with the announcement that she would be releasing a cover album. For COVERS, she took popular songs from Japanese male artists and translated them into English. The album peaked at #2 on the weekly Oricon Charts with it's overall ranking for the year sitting at #27.  

 

Following the success of COVERS, a second cover album was released in November of 2012. Beni once again translated the Japanese language songs into English. COVERS 2 peaked on the weekly Oricon charts at #5, ranking #58 on for the year to give Beni two albums in the top 100. 2013 seemed to be shaping up as quiet until April when she released Satsuki Ame, her first original song since Eien. Our Sky and AM 2:00 followed in June and July respectively with July 31st bringing her first original album since 2011's Fortune. 

 

Her success isn't limited to her musical career. Beni has designed a line of wedding dresses called 'Rouge de Beni'. The label has released six collections of dresses, each more unique than the last. The future looks very bright for this highly talented, bilingual songstress.