El Benzo making most of second chance

When dancehall rapper El Benzo got shot in the chest last year in a random act of violence in New Jersey, he thought his world was going to end.

Lying on a hospital bed, recovering from his injuries, he knew that he had to pursue his dreams with the second chance he had been granted.

"Getting shot motivated me a lot because it was a crazy experience, I almost died. My friend had to rush me to the hospital and there was just a lot of crazy emotions and thoughts running through my head. So that scary experience pushed me to get creative within myself, and do things that matter because life comes at you from all angles," he said.

Since then, he has been logging heavy hours in the studio. El Benzo is overwhelmed at the positive feedback to his single Karate.

"Everybody loves this song because it's different. Karate is my first dancehall song, speaking about my Jamaican roots. I got a lot of friends that aren't Caribbean, so my goal is to make people understand and learn from my music ... and this song on the 'Green Dot' rhythm is my chance to blow up," said the artiste, whose given name is Lorenzo Gayle.

"The future is looking real bright right now, I am grateful ... God really has a different plan for me," he said.

The single was released on all digital platforms earlier this month, and once El Benzo posted it to his Instagram page, the comments came flooding in. Now he is fast-tracking plans to come to Jamaica to shoot a video for the project.

Born in the US, El Benzo grew up in New Jersey where he attended Bloomfield Tech. He travelled to Jamaica during summer holidays and fell in love with the island's vibrant music and culture. After graduating high school, he attended trade school where he studied business management and entrepreneurship. However, music remained his first love.

"My style of music is a blend. My approach was just trying to create my own sound by combining two styles of music that I grew up on, and my producers on Chase Mills Records made it a reality," he said. He plans to release an EP later this year.