Behani
As a mother, singer-songwriter, producer & all-around entertainer Behani certainly keeps herself busy. Her tireless effort has paid dividends with the release of her debut single Let Me Know. She then followed with a collaboration with global R&B icon Ne-Yo.
Pario recently sat down with Behani to discuss her journey from a quiet "reserved" woman to a rising international star.
Behani believes her journey begins all the way back at birth, "music is something you are either born wanting to pursue or you’re not, I don't think it is something you can switch on & off." That being said, Behani was born with an innate connection to music.
"Music has always been a connecting point to my emotional well-being," Behani explained. "I'm not very good with my words in connecting emotionally with people, which was a really big problem for me before I met my fiancé. So music has always been a channel for me to express my thoughts & the way that I'm feeling."
Given that music was such an emotional touch point for Behani it took her some time to build up the courage to expose her "vulnerability" to the world in a professional capacity.
"Until that point, I didn't want to take on music at a professional level. I simply enjoyed doing it behind the curtains for many many years, just because it made me feel good," revealed Behani. "To make that decision to expose that side of me to the world was a very big decision, which took a year or so to come to terms with... Taking that emotion & creativity to a business level can change the nature of where the passion started, but when you stay true to yourself & stay true to the intention it will work out."
A Surreal Series Of Events
Once Behani finally did take that leap into the unknown her supreme passion, talent & dedication to staying true to herself saw her having instant success.
Inspired by the stories of her childhood best friend, Behani's debut single, Let Me Know, epitomised her ethos of opening yourself up & being vulnerable.
"Let Me Know is a love story inspired by, & written for, my childhood best friend. It's all about the dating scene & just how tricky that is these days. The song is about whether you want to open your vulnerability to someone & take that risk."
Following Let Me Know the surreal ride kicked into high gear when Behani was presented with the opportunity to work with 2 of her music idols & biggest inspirations. Those 2 people were, 8-time Grammy Award-winning producer Scott Storch & multi-time platinum-selling artist Ne-Yo.
For her follow-up song, Behani wanted to highlight one of her inspirations, her fiancé. Thus developed the concept for the song Real Man. While the initial plan for the song was simply to work with Scott & Ne-Yo in producer & co-songwriter capacities the collaboration quickly expanded as they built a strong bond.
"Ne-Yo wasn't actually meant to feature on the song, that was never the plan," Behani told Pario. "But then as we were writing down all of the qualities that for me signify a real man Ne-Yo began to love the concept. He was laughing about my list because it was endless. Ne-Yo loved the song so much that he asked what I thought about him jumping on a verse."
As a big Ne-Yo fan Behani jumped at the opportunity. Even if it did feel surreal at that very moment.
"That was a really big moment in my career. I was shocked & screamed of course," recalled Behani with a glowing smile. "I had to pinch myself many times. I think I'm still pinching myself actually... That moment proved that if you are true to the core of the song opportunities just open up."
Behani urges fans to keep an eye out for new music because now that she has opened the door her stream of creativity has quickly become a tidal wave.
"I don't think music ever stops. We're always cutting new songs, cutting new feelings & bringing them all together. When you are an artist there is no end game to it, you just keep going & going. I'm putting all of my passion & energy into it. I can't wait to share it with the world because there's a lot to come."
Follow Behani’s Creative Journey on social media at: @Behani.official
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