Ben Okafor - The One To Watch!

CAMBRIDGE, UK (Top40 Charts/ Quite Great PR) Ben Okafor is a unique musician who makes roots reggae music and bridges an artistic gap between Jamaican reggae, Afro-pop and UK folk. He has shared a stage with popular music giants like Cliff Richard, Van Morrison and Billy Bragg and has been touring and making new music since 1985.

Ben's music is his political focus and drive for social change. Born in Enugu in eastern Nigeria with 7 siblings and his early life was defined by the Biafran civil war which erupted when he was 12. He enlisted in the Biafran military intelligence arm known as 'the Boys Company' without telling his parents, but luckily missed his mission rendezvous which failed with horrendous consequences. Nevertheless Ben witnessed the fighting, terror and violence first hand and has experienced being in the line of fire.

I fantastic story teller, it is no wonder he has received praise from the likes of Chris Rea, Bono and BBC Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo and he has played at Glastonbury Festival, the Cambridge Folk Festival and the World Music Festival in Copenhagen.

He currently runs a charity called 'Amaka Beautiful Child' (ABC) which is itself committed to 'social and personal transformation through the arts'. It aims to use poetry, music, art, drama and dance (all interests of Ben's) for the sake of social cohesion in order to bring communities together.

Albums like 'Thing with War' (2003) and 'Child of Biafra' (2007) investigate some of the effects of war and express Ben's own experiences of conflict and violence. Whereas some of his other records such as 'Nkiru' (1989) and his most recent album, 'Diverted Traffic' (2009) delve more broadly into the human condition, self-identity, and the potential conflicts between artistic expression and a market centred music industry.