N Visible Man
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N Visible Man

Chicago, Illinois, United States | SELF

Chicago, Illinois, United States | SELF
Solo Hip Hop EDM

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Rapper Makes Classroom Rock"

Day Job: part of an occasional series on performers who balance artistic pursuits with a unique career.

As a white suburban male, Ben Garvey (known on record as N Visible Man) defies stereotypes of a rap/hip-hop artist. But the 23-year-old emcee isn't embarrassed by his Wheaton upbringing.

"I may be a kid from the 'burbs with a college degree," says Garvey, who graduated from Ithaca College in 2003 with a speech communications degree. "But it's all about the flow and how you represent. The respect comes because you're real, not because of the look or what you're rapping about."

When not hitting South Side recording sessions, performing in the city's club circuit and self-releasing the CD "Windy City Mix Volume 1," Garvey is also unconventional in the day job that supplements his artistry. As a long-term substitute teacher at Wheaton North High School, he'll incorporate hip-hop in the curriculum to relay material in more interesting terms.

"I look at hip-hop as a form of contemporary literature," Garvey says. "If I'm in English and poetry looks boring to students, I'll use rap to bring it to where they're at."

With school back in session, buzz around campus is spreading about N Visible Man (Mr. Garvey in the classroom). Though Wheaton North is a conservative school, co-workers and students have cheered him on.

"He's all about knowledge and respect," says Robert Hamilton, a 17-year-old senior. "He takes books that are so boring and he'll twist it around to get you thinking."

Garvey also connects with teens and fellow artists outside the classroom at La Spiaza, a Wheaton coffeehouse where he hosts the "Alternative Acoustic Hip-Hop Open Mic" every Thursday. The forum allows the freestyler to test new material and give developing rappers or rockers the stage's spotlight. "People bring acoustic guitars to play and rappers kick it with a beat box," he says.

Through September, the forum will take on a twist with the "La Spiaza Idol" cash prize talent competition. Two people from each week and two wildcard contestants will be chosen to return on Sept. 30 for the finals.

"Urban culture is [coming to] the 'burbs," Garvey says. "And if the scene's to be built up, we've gotta get organized." - Chicago Tribune


Discography

Windy City Mix Vol 1
Windy City Mix Vol 2
The Funk Bombers LIVE!
Brown I'd Wonder Single Release
N Visible Spotlite-Chi 2 NY
N Visible Spotlite- Chi 2 NY Chopped and Screwed
East Section Renegades Vol 1
Team All City- The City is Oz
N Visible Man Presents...Crack For Your Ipod
N Visible Latitude- The First PProject
Peace, Luv, Beats Mixtape (A Bonnaroo Exclsusive)
N Visible 4 Lollapalooza 2008 (Comic Book Series Vol. 1)
Support The Campaign (Comic Book Series Vol. 2)
When The Weather Breaks (Comic Book Series Vol. 3)
Renegade Recordz (Comic Book Series Vol. 4)
How It's Supposed To End (Comic Book Series Vol. 5)
Yo! Chicago Raps (Comic Book Series Vol. 6)
U Won't Live Tru Dis (Comic Book Series Vol. 7)
This Is For Everybody DVD
N Visible Man Presents...Crack For Your Ipad (Coming Soon!)

Photos

Bio

N Visible Man, aka Benny G, got the bug for hip hop when T-Loc, his friend and bandmember, passed him the mic and said you try a freestyle. At that moment the band FSR (Funk-Soul-Rock-n-Roll) rounded the corner from a high school garage band to a professional group of musicians that played a sound that is reminiscent of the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, and Liquid Soul. Unfortunately, due to differences of opinion the band broke up just as they were starting to make waves in the Chicago live music scene.

N Visible Man took his style back to the drawing board partnering with different rappers, producers and DJ's around Chicago putting out several mixtapes, doing appearances at showcases and open mics and eventually starting an open mic night of his own to further hone his style.

Picking his guitar back up while never setting down the mic, Benny G started making acoustic hip hop, in other words blending guitar, beats, singing and rapping into one sound. He got a record deal from a local label called the Velvet Pineapple. Amidst this excitement the label's recording studio was robbed, the president was severely injured in a car accident and eventually the entire organization was dissolved. In the mean time the sound of acoustic hip hop, ala Jason Mraz and Mat Kearney had reached the mainstream, so N Visible Man took it back to basics and reinvented his style once again.

He started taking gigs at weddings as a DJ, and eventually developed a unique style of mixing incorporating different sounds and genres into one blend. The name DJ N Visible started spreading among the bars and clubs in Chicago as N Visible Man's popularity grew. It was not uncommon to see him playing guitar riffs in the background simultaneously spinning hot cuts from the DJ rig giving the music that everyone knows and loves a brand new flavor packing dance floors across the city.

Benny G started embarking upon the next level of music by getting into music video and film production with his long time friend and "partner in rhyme" T-Loc. They started collaborating on several projects including a documentary, a music video and a short film. Then out of the blue a tragedy happened. T-Loc had a massive heart attack and died. This left Benny G heart broken and despondent about the future of his music and video. His only way to deal with the pain was to once again start rapping. N Visible forged ahead, completing his first DVD release called This Is For Everybody bringing back many of the same artists from his mixtape days dedicating it to the memory of T-Loc.

Nowadays, N Visible Man appears as a featured artist in two bands Illamental, and The Smoking Sextion, and is rapping, producing and engineering for several up and coming hip hop acts out of Chicago. He is also a member of an international record pool called The Soul Selectors. He has also taken a few up and coming DJ's under his wing giving them a platform to spin and create their own music.

He is currently working on three projects- His 20th mixtape, Crack For Your Ipad; His second Video Release, Real Talk DVD; and his first album, One Love Is The Movement; Sell A Million Records.

Band Members