I recently interviewed Ben, who joined the Village community this January, and asked him a few questions about himself. He was born in Jamaica, Queens and moved around a lot through the city for years at a time. After 2011, he moved to New Hyde, where he lives today. He was traveling a lot and subsequently missed a lot of school, even up to six weeks at one point. Village has helped him attend school much more often than he did at South.

Ben is extremely passionate music, writing poetry and his own lyrics. He’s actually going to be working at his friend’s studio soon. Moving around a lot and struggling with personal problems, Ben has developed the music taste he’s into today, anything he can relate to and has relatable meaning.

Below are some other questions I asked Ben, directly quotes from our interview:

What do you do in the studio?
“I mean I kinda just play around with everything. Like it’s no problem, and we have an ill time. I’m a poet, a lyricist, and a storyteller.”

Why were you missing so much school?
“I mean I was busy with my own hustle, traveling and all that. Also, I just couldn’t focus for my life so class had me like: what’s the point?”