In the last decade he has shaken the music scene with his enigmatic aura, his introspective poetics and an unclassifiable sound that draws from both Satie and his African ancestors. And this despite the fact that the enlightened Benjamin Clementine (London, 1988) is a slow-growing artist: in a decade he has released three albums. And if the first was the result of his homeless adolescence as a musician in the Paris metro, this And I Have Been (2022) with which he is now on tour (on the 19th at Sala Apolo, 9 p.m., and on the 20th in Madrid ) is witness to his dizzying consolidation as a cult artist and fashion icon of the London scene. Clementine seems to lead a free existence (this interview has been attempted since February) and creative honesty.
Do you feel that you have defined yourself more on this third album?
I'm getting older and I like to think wiser too... I've started to accept myself as the man who will always be an outsider, who never acts like the majority. He has accepted it. I can't function without doing my own thing and in my own way.
And what was the most difficult thing for you to accept about yourself?
The fact that I'm not that affectionate. I wanted to believe that he was this loving and tender guy but when I became a father my son exposed all my shit. Everything that I didn't know was there became evident and I became that crazy person who has no empathy, you know? It's obviously a childhood trauma. But I think I'm in a better place now with my wife and my son. I have to do internal work, although once I accepted it I became a better person.
Are you closer to completing your creative work, with your special mix of prose and poetry?
Life will complete you, because nothing is complete in the mind of a perfectionist. I allow others to take what they want but nothing is finished.
How do you now remember your childhood in the Chrystal Palace neighborhood, when you played hooky to go to the library to teach yourself?
It was a lonely road. But I didn't know any other paths other than going to mine. I left the house in the mornings long before my parents went to work, when daylight has not yet dawned in England. I would take the bus to school and it was so lonely... My brothers had friends or whatever, but I didn't. He wasn't a nice guy. I did not want to talk to anyone. I was afraid of bullying. It was the childhood of someone who was contained, introverted. In the end, life is about living experiences that make you open up.
Do you think you would have learned the same way in class?
There are many ways to learn and we should not be judged by a single endeavor. I love knowing, reading on my own and coming up with my own theories about other theories. For me it was a game. But in class there was bustle, one got up, another spoke, the teacher trying... it seemed like a zoo to me. I just wanted a quiet place to read or watch a movie... I wish I had a small group of friends, of course, but the library changed my life. There I basically studied music and read literature.
And philosophy, isn't it? What idea did you get about what politics is from reading John Locke?
It's just that I thought then that I was going to be a lawyer. It's what my parents wanted. So, in case I don't become one, I thought I should at least read this and that. I did it guided by my brother. Lock's idea of government is fundamental, it is a universal principle. He maintains that the government has a duty to limit its power over the citizenry. And that idea of freedom and state interested me. His is an essay on understanding: laws and morals and what we have to adopt as a society to comply with what we call democracy. I carried that book in my hands every day and opened it to any page... because it also required unorthodox methods and I read the books not in a linear way or from chapter 1... That one, no matter where you opened it, you It was jaw-dropping, and it was also written in that beautiful old English. I also read Immanuel Kant and that English judge, Lord Denning, who was my intellectual hero. If he was going to be a lawyer, he wanted to be that man.
Do you pursue an awakening of people with your music and poetry?
I want them to be helpful. Music has never failed me, just like literature. The arts never fail you, they will always be there. I feel lucky to be part of this idea and experience. I dedicate myself to something that has been part of humanity since the beginning of time.
When you were unknown, Paul McCartney told you in a dressing room to never stop doing what you do; David Byrne wanted you as an opening act and interviewed him and he dedicated an article in The New York Times... Why do you think you are a beacon for previous generations of colossal musicians?
Yes, it's a crazy world: I was playing on the train, in Paris, and I came to England to perform on the same stage as Paul McCartney and Alex Turner and the next day I returned to Paris, to continue playing on the train. Of course it's flattering when those great musicians tell you that, because they have no need to invite you to play with them. Crash. But I actually feel like I've been here for a long time, like this isn't my first life. If you want me to believe that this is my only life, I'll think you're joking. I have been here many times. I can't say when, but I know.
And how do you feel about going from street musician to coveted model for big fashion brands?
To tell you the truth, that is not in my hands. Let's see, I hated living on the street. He didn't lead a terrible life either: he didn't drug me and at that time he didn't smoke either. He was healthy and dressed well. Half of the money he earned he saved and the other he used for grooming, to be presentable. Because with a good presence my music would go further. If you see videos that were taken of me at that time, you will see that I wear clothes like Fred Perry, but I don't like the issue of brands, the brand should not be seen. Clean teeth, shaved face, always smelled good... because it's my natural. And, mind you, people gave me more money. So when the brands came looking for me I took it as a livelihood. For me it is important, it allows me to create, because what I do is not cheap. I don't sit down and record with a computer, mine is analog and done in expensive studios. I need sponsors to help me make the music that my fans like, I'm not one of those who have two billion streams on Spotify.
Could you tell me about your ancestors? Where does your family come from?
I am Akan. We came from Kenya, then we went to West Africa and then south of that area. And from there my family moved to Europe. You are from Barcelona, right? Well, the Catalans are like the Akan, who are neither from Ghana nor from the Ivory Coast nor from Togo... we are Ashanti.
And artistically, how do you live this bond?
I grew up in Europe, in England, so my European influence was notable. But as I got older and especially after my father died, I started thinking about my ancestors and realized that there is something that is not at all European about my playing. And I attributed it to my origins. And I feel proud because it is what makes my music so unique, a combination of both worlds. I don't do soul, I don't do afrobeat, whatever. Mine is a mix of purely European classical music and pure African music. It's a return to the tribal, like when I play the piano, which is a classical instrument but I play it in a tribal way.
