Discography
2017-2019
the Forget Me years
The "Forget Me years" started with the release of The Human Tardigrade. An 8 minute song detailing an incident in which b-nign was hospitalized with 2nd and 3rd degree burns.
Released 10 years to the day of the accident, the song accounts every aspect he could remember in the month-long, drug-induced stay at Parkland Hospital. He considers it an ode of sorts to the people that helped him in his recovery.
After recording and releasing THT, he went back to SG studios in Fort Worth to begin recording what would become his debut Album, Forget Me.
2018 saw the first single, Dwayne Johnson, but the album would not drop for 2 more years.
During that time, b-nign was learning music production and began recording and releasing
b-sides that he would dub, "The Forget Me singles."
6 songs varying from lo-fi pop, to Alt-rap, to Post Punk, they were an eclectic mix of styles and genres that all would come across in his debut album.
Finally, just before the launch of Forget Me, b-nign released a cover of Modest Mouse's "Gravity Rides Everything" and with that, the Forget me years were over.
the human
tardigrade
2017
Dwayne
Johnson
2018
Stranger
2019
2020
Facing the Pandemic
2020 began for b-nign as it did for most people. With the plans to drop the debut album Forget Me on May 4th 2020, he released 2 more singles to build anticipation for the record.
The first was God is Out for a Cigarette .Written in 2 days; Music the first and lyrics the second, b-nign enlisted the help of freelance website, fiverr, to hire a drummer to perform this track. All other instruments, Guitars, bass, and vocals were performed by b-nign. Including the programmed 808's in the outros' breakdown.
The next single was a slow and moody cover of a Modest Mouse song called, Gravity Rides Everything.
Then came the pandemic, just weeks before the planned May 4th launch of Forget Me.
Forget Me was a culmination of the different influences and genres that inspired him to create music in the first place. The second track, beefive, is a prime example of that. Starting with electronic sounds like synthesizers and an 808 drum machine, it explodes into a post-punk jam with electric guitars, bass, and a live drum kit.
b-nign worked on his debut album, Forget Me, for over 5 years. The earliest written track was originally called "Drake vs. Jay-Z (Rap Feuds)." He made an acoustic demo which released on Vizibilitie Records Youtube channel 3 years before it would be recorded for the album. That song would eventually be renamed Rapper Rumble. However, some of the lyrics were even older, with "Train of Thoughtless" being a poem/concept written 8 years before eventually being put to music. He vowed to never take that long to write a record again.
Forget Me was spinning like crazy, and since b-nign couldn't tour or play shows, he saw this as an opportunity to learn how to live stream shows on Twitch and Instagram.
2020 was a bust, but it led to a very productive year for b-nign. Just one month after Forget Me released, he was back in SG studios recording a follow-up single.
Weekend (Groovin') was released on the first day of Summer 2020. Intended as a Dance/Party song, it was met with mild acclaim which set the bar for the most successful song b-nign ever released.
Squall (Leon) was released on Youtube first as a One-Take video entitled "Rap in 5/4 Time." He had been working on Squall (Leon) since the beginning of 2020; and after finishing Final Fantasy VIII on PS4, he was inspired with the lyrics to finally write the song. It was playlisted multiple times, and within 1 month had more plays than the entire album of Forget Me.
Finally, to close 2020, he brought a song, that was previously exclusive to soundcloud, to all platforms. He rediscovered the beat and started applying new techniques and plugins to better realize his vision for the track. The remake and the original released together in a new single, called Intimate.
2021
Sic Parvis Magna
Over the course of the previous year, b-nign was producing more often, cutting demos, trying different techniques, and upgrading his home-studio. This was the year he honed in on what would become his signature sound.
Although it seems like he is quick to release new music, b-nign usually works on his tracks for months. For instance, he started production on Squall (Leon) in January of 2020, 8 months before it finally launched. Another example would be a song he started writing in September 2019. Over a year before it's release, he created a drum loop that would eventually be called, I'm a Tree.
Sic Parvis Magna was an album that ended up being a record about soul-searching and self-realization. His creative process is deeply rooted in one unexpected entertainment medium; Video Games. He never realized he was a gamer, he just loved playing them, both solo and with friends. This would be the conduit in which music took hold.
The first time he heard punk, reggae, thrash, and hip-hop was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. He would play the ocarina in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time just for fun. The Zora guitar from Majora's Mask is the reason he chose to play the guitar. The catchy fun melodies of Kirby and Super Mario would be burned into his brain for years before people would say b-nign's songs "sound like video game music." Dwayne Johnson's chorus melody was even inspired by Greg Edmonson's score to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Naughty Dog's Uncharted series became one of the most influential factor's in b-nign's musical journey. Having been down a long and arduous road of trying to understand where he belonged in the world of contemporary music, it was on a second playthrough of the series that gave him the perfect words for his next album. Sic Parvis Magna. "Greatness from Small Beginnings."
10 years prior he was writing with just an acoustic guitar and his voice, and now here he was with a full studio and 20 songs streaming on Spotify. Greatness doesn't just describe value, but also size. It made the signature phrase inscribed on Sir Francis Drake's ring a perfect title for an entirely self-produced album.
Sic Parvis Magna was released just 8 months after his debut album.
Another genre blending record, the follow-up to Forget Me was released on February 19, 2021. It was bookended with an intro and outro that sampled some of the very best and inspiring quotes from Astronomer Carl Sagan. It had many featured artists including, Heir Max, Odder Moniker, Mike Khaos, Akuma, saxophonist Reese Bailey and additional mixing and mastering by Troy Clemens.
During the pandemic, b-nign became lead guitarist for a project called The Extracts. A band which he recorded/produced the debut single Awake. During a rehearsal session one day, he played a riff into his loop pedal that was difficult to recreate. So he sampled the riff into his DAW, and added a beat. From there he closed the project and saved the working title as "iSampled Myself."
After promoting the release of Sic Parvis Magna, he began working on this new song as a follow-up single, and the second annual "Summer Single." Set to release on June 21st, he began writing lyrics about finding strength within yourself, and eventually found the working title and theme to be a perfect fit. iSampled Myself released on the first day of summer 2021.
Having been on the journey of self-producing for 2 years, b-nign revisited an earlier song that he considered a bit "half-baked." The Know How came out Dec. 16, 2019 and in the few months after the release he began to feel it wasn't as good as it could be. Considering to re-record the song, he didn't want to release it alone. 2021 was ending and in August, he began working on a new single to finish the year. He saw this as an opportunity to re-record and remix "The Know How."
Avoid the Roads We Know was mainly produced live on Twitch. The title track began similarly to iSampled Myself as a loop on a guitar pedal. The lyrics were written based on the first line about only getting one chance to be successful. He packaged the track as part of a 3 song single to be released Oct. 8th 2021. The 3rd unlisted song was to remain hidden until the day of launch. The surprise bonus track ended up being a, still unnamed, love song about his wife of 15 years.
During that time, fellow producer Odder Moniker, proposed a project in which both artists use the same Dinosaur Jr. sample (the intro to Thumb off of Green Mind) and flip it into a new song. Both artists would make a fully produced single, and release them under the group-named project, Vizzie Inc. One would be named "Right Thumb" and the other, "Left Thumb." They made a video called "Twin Producers flip the same sample" where they explain the writing process, and reacted to each others songs. The singles were released on 12/17/21.
2021 was slow and scarce in terms of releasing music, but was big as far as creating a community on Twitch. This was the year b-nign became a Twitch Affiliate, as a Music Producer and a gamer. While the solo releases were few and far between, he was stacking up new tracks with his flagship project, Vizzie Inc., a collaboration with Odder Moniker, and an album with Fort Worth Rapper, Mike Khaos. 2021 was just the buildup.. 2022 the bomb drops..
2022
Cosmos X Khaos
For most of 2021, b-nign was working on a collaboration with Fort Worth rapper, Mike Khaos. Khaos was featured on Sic Parvis Magna twice in "One for the One" and "its whatever," but those were more like features.
b-nign had always been meaning to do a collaboration album with Mike Khaos, and after the release of SPM, they started getting together to work on the project.
Before they even started, b-nign knew it would be called "cosmos x khaos" considering b-nign is such a fan of Cosmos, and...well.. Mike's name.
The project is an amalgamation of Conscious rap and Alternative Pop, and showcases the greatest strengths of both artists. Mike's incredible lyricism, flow, and wordplay plays perfectly with the indie-electronic production and cryptic lyricism of b-nign.
The album dropped on 3/4/22, and was punctuated with an Album Release Party in Fort Worth, TX, where the performed the album in its entirety.
But, Mike wasn't the only one to collaborate with b-nign this year..
Through Twitch, he had met a producer/streamer named I'm In Limbo out of Pennsylvania. They shared an interest in games and music, and it was a perfect fit. This was the first time b-nign collaborated remotely. Starting with a simple guitar riff, Limbo took the production to a whole new level. They came up with an angsty song about not letting other people control your opinions. It was released on May 6.
The 15 year anniversary of b-nign's accident was this year. He planned to write a new Human Tardigrade song a couple years before, but when the time came, he drew blanks. The song ended up being a sort of rebirth and reanalysis of why he made music in the first place, as well as how a skin graft and a month in a hospital 15 years ago plays into his identity. It serves as a second "thank you" song to everyone involved.
The Human Tardigrade 2 was released June 6.
By this time, writing and production for b-nign's 3rd solo album was already well underway. So much so, that he was already playing most of the new songs live. One song in particular, Garnet (Dagger), was getting a lot of attention. It started as a collaboration with b-nign's (non-musician) wife. The song took form and borrowed themes and lines from one of his favorite games, Final Fantasy IX (Hence the name). Two years prior, b-nign released a song based on Final Fantasy VIII. So, it made sense to drop Garnet on the same day. It released on Aug 10.
2022 was a sudden upward trajectory. Shows were in the books, the reach was starting to expand globally, and streaming numbers were consistently rising. Singles were less frequent, and the year was more about collaboration. A full album with Khaos, a single with Limbo, and just before the year closed, we saw a new single from Vizzie Inc.
Produced by b-nign, the new Viz Inc. single was a tongue-in-cheek song about the aquisition of higher numbers.
The year was closing and the 3rd solo album was finished.
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By the end of 2022, the growth of the "b-nign brand" was starting to take its toll on the mental health of the "b-nign artist." Personal afflictions had piled up and, to prioritize music production, social media fell by the wayside. Now that it was a new year, it was time to release the 8 new songs that have been in the chamber. But first, one more release from Viz Inc. would prove to solidify the Vizibilitie resurgance.
I Can't Sleep was written and conceptualized by Odder Moniker, while b-nign engineered and did additional production. The song melded Folk, Hip-Hop, and Alternative Rock in an unprecedented way.
The stage was now set. It was time to release the most personal album b-nign ever produced. Years of studying, practicing, trial and error culminated into a record called Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat. The title and cover art pays homage to Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin & Hobbes, as well as Jawbreaker's 1989 debut album, Unfun. The album speaks on global topics like climate change, political divide, and social media addiction, as well as introspective topics like why we make art, and what death means. One song in particular condemns alcoholism while portraying the all-too-real childhood of growing up with an alcoholic parent, and watching it consume a sibling.
3/16/23 Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat hit streaming services. The numbers were growing but 2023 would prove to be a hard year for b-nign. What was planned as a busy year finally came to a screeching hault. From early 2022 to late 2023, a string of untimely deaths, coupled with a personal mental health battle, the year would be the least productive year since the first single release in 2018.
Behind the scenes, B-nign had been working on the second cover song he would release. Condition Oakland by Jawbreaker resurfaced at a perfect time for the indie artist. Initially, just wanting to have fun with the arrangment, he was crafting his version of Jawbreaker's song for over a year. The lyrics were strangely reminiscent of the time he was going through. Paralyzed by anxiety and depression, the classic punk song was the perfect thing he needed to push forward. Condition Oakland dropped on August 7th, 2023.
Ready to move on, write, and release more music, B-nign had been tossing around the idea of doing another Halloween song, and on top of that, a Holiday/Christmas tune. Friday the 13th was in October this year, and that gave him the perfect angle to start composing. Using spooky chords and voice leading, he arranged a track and teased in on his IG story saying, "First person to reply to this gets a feature." Former Viz Inc. member and frequent collaborator, Akuma, answered the call. Friday the 13th dropped on 10/13/23.
With sheer determination and willpower, the first holiday song became a reality. Unwrapping You was released on Dec 11, 2023.
Continuing to work low-key on several different projects, Vizzie Inc. dusted off a song thats been on the back burner since 2018. The working title, Make a Fucking Song made its way into the lyrics of this supercharged post punk song. The V-boys got together to finish this up at the end of 2023 to have something in the chamber for the next year. Good at MAFS was released on..
Feb 12, 2024
Gathering up a few more beats and ideas, b-9 dug deep to release Instrumentals, Vol. 3. The most ambitious and different album yet, 6 of the tracks included were brand new arrangements made specifically for this record. Released on Feb 19th, 2024.
Meanwhile, I'm in Limbo and b-nign were cooking up a follow-up to their first single. In a conversation on IG, they talked about sampling bioshock, time, and how far they had both come as artists. This would be the theme of their next song eventually titled, 'relative delirium.'
The song dropped as a solar eclipse passes perfectly over Texas on April 8th, 2024.
As it approached the first day of summer, also known nationally as Go Skateboarding Day, he announced a new single, "loose lips for a tight snrr." Having only performed the song live once or twice, it was immediately evident that this song was something very special.
It came together as one of the most cohesive blending of Alternative Hip-Hop and Indie Rock that B had ever put to wax. Building from the momentum of dreary and grimy production and writing of relative delirium, the song was ready to be painted into the sky.
SRQE
2024
