WHO AM I?​

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Songwriter, Composer, Singer, Performer, Producer, and also Guitarist, BENNY METHO SPIRIT truly launched himself into music at the end of the 1990s, under the influence of rap, hip-hop, beatbox, and related styles.

 

Born in the working-class district of Abobo, in the cosmopolitan city of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on the West African coast, Jean-Louis Tchétché, his real name, grew up surrounded by African urban music and Afro-American dance culture. His modest parents saw him as a future brilliant lawyer. But young Jean, the only boy and youngest child after four girls, already had other desires and dreams.

 

Under the nicknames JLT, then METHODIK, he moved from one group to another, delivering flows in the style of KRS ONE, REDMAN, MC SOLAAR and others through the city’s sound systems. But in 1996, his meeting with a Rasta named JAH STELL inspired him to learn the guitar, and above all to sing rather than rap.

 

He then began performing well-known songs by Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, Steel Pulse, The Police, and others, before going on to compose his own material. That is when he became BENNY METHO, which in the Béthé language (a western Ivorian dialect) means: “Bênié Monto, there is no one after me.”

 

Through hard work, self-sacrifice, and perseverance, BENNY METHO released his first solo album in 2002, a Reggae/Funk-flavoured record entitled “Mama Africa”. Produced by the label GENIE MUSIC, under the artistic direction of Evariste Yacé, the album was distributed by the major label SHOWBIZ.

 

The famous hit song “Sophie affoué”, awarded Best Music Video 2002, enabled him to top the Ivorian charts for more than three months. It was the beginning of a true success story. BENNY METHO went on to perform on stages throughout Côte d’Ivoire and beyond, before setting out in search of new inspirations and collaborations outside the continent.