Niddy endured an itinerant childhood. Shortly after his birth, his father abandoned him and his abusive mother made no initiative to take care of him. He proudly displays a scar on his forehead from when he was beaten as a kid. Taking care of himself at the age of three and watching his mother steal from locals stores to feed him and his older sister eventually lead to being taken out of his house at the age of four and bounced in and out of foster homes for the next three years before finally settling in San Francisco where his named was legally changed to Benjamin.

Coming from a rough background inspired Niddy. "It made me a really bitter person for a lot of years. I saw a lot of things that kids that age should never have to experience. I've been through more than people will their entire lives before I was six. I found an outlet through graffiti and poetry. I could show my anger, my sadness, my pain through my words my passion through the paint."

Niddy started rapping in friend's basements at 12 where he used turntables to record over instrumentals. Niddy became interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age fourteen under the name "Pages". He frequently participated in freestyle battles across town with his MC/Graffiti crew LSP, gaining the approval of underground hip hop audiences.

Niddy became a self-supportive youth, turning to the streets, where he soon made a name for himself as a graffiti artist and MC. As he vividly discusses in his lyrics, Niddy was a hustler doing what needed to be done to make money. He become a heavy user of narcotics as well and found an escape getting high with his years experimenting with cocaine and ecstasy. At 14 years old, he began dealing narcotics which later led to his arrest for distribution and manufacturing in 2005. No longer a minor, he was convicted with a felony for distribution of narcotics and sentenced to three years but managed to serve six months in San Mateo County Jail. For the next few years he resided in San Francisco where he continue to follow his passion for rapping, performing at local clubs and venues and gaining more and more recognition.

Ironically, it was Niddy's subsequent departure from San Francisco in 2007 that prompted the next step in his musical march. At the age of 21 he moved to nearby Oakland. Being a minority in his predominantly black neighborhood was really a challenge. Having money, cars, and clothes was something people assumed he was given, not knowing where he had come from. Eventually with such talents and a knack for making moves, he was accepted by the neighborhood where he stood out. "I really put my heart into every song. I had to because everybody is expecting me to come with some creative shit. I can't just come with something average, “said the Bay Area rapper.

However his reserved attitude is the opposite cliché of most modern day rappers and his relation to music and hip hop is quite a unique one "Look, music is music. Whether I decide to rap to a hip hop beat or the strings of the violin, my point can still get across. I try to mix them though. It’s like a Bittersweet Symphony meets hip-hop. I love classical music, rock, everything but there is something about being an Emcee that I will never be able to explain. Its Me."

Coming Soon

Production Credits

Press Coverage