Beni

Beni may refer to:

Places

Culture

People

Beni (commune)

Beni is a commune of the city of Beni in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Coordinates: 0°29′19″N 29°27′32″E / 0.4885°N 29.4590°E / 0.4885; 29.4590

Beni (singer)

Beni Daniels (born March 30, 1986 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), is a Japanese-American R&B recording artist, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label under the name Beni Arashiro (安良城 紅, Arashiro Beni). In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform under the mononym, Beni (stylized as BENI).

She was initially best known for her 2004 single "Here Alone," though later singles after her move to Universal (such as "Mō Ichi do..." with Dohzi-T, "Mō Nido to..." and "Kiss Kiss Kiss") have surpassed this.

Life and career

Start of her career

Born in Okinawa she moved to California and then Yokohama. Her father is American of European descent, and her mother is Japanese. She was influenced by Namie Amuro, Alicia Keys and her father's favorite singer Janet Jackson. She graduated from Nile C. Kinnick High School in Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. She majored in Sociology at Sophia University.

From a young age she wanted to become a singer and because of her musical parents she took up piano. Because her parents were living overseas she was traveling between Japan and America a lot which exposed her to both Japanese as well as overseas music. When she was in Japan she participated in the Kokuminteki Bishōjo Contest the largest talent contest. She made it all the way to the finals. This was quite special since she had no formal training. When her demotape was seen by Avex Trax they were so impressed by her clear voice, natural beauty, and English pronunciation that they decided to sign her to the label and prepare her for a debut. She became a member of Bishōjo Club 31. Beni was the first from the group to pursue a solo career while being active as a member of the group. Her first solo single named "Harmony" was released on June 9, 2004. The song "Harmony" was a theme song for the Japanese drama Reikan Bus Guide Jikenbo.

Lovebox

Lovebox or Love Box may refer to:

Lovebox (Groove Armada album)

Lovebox is the fourth album by the English electronica duo Groove Armada. Released in November 2002, it encompasses a variety of genres.

"Madder" was used as the opening theme of the video game Rayman 3.

Track listing

Lovebox (Beni album)

Lovebox is Beni's fifth studio album, and second original album under the mononym Beni released through Nayutawave Records. It was released on June 2, 2010. Natuyawave describes the album as "fully loaded with different feelings of love: happy love, painful love..."

Background

The album was released only nine months after her debut album with Nayutawave, Bitter & Sweet. Bitter & Sweet is the most successful of Beni's career, it being certified gold by the RIAJ (her only album to receive a certification).

Singles

"Sign", released January 20, 2010, was the first single from the album. "Sign" samples Yumi Matsutoya's number-one hit, "Haru yo, Koi" (春よ、来い, "Come, Spring"). The single charted at number 50 on the Oricon single chart. On the Billboard Japan Hot 100 the single peaked at number 96.

The second single released was "Bye Bye", on March 10, 2010. "Bye Bye" peaked at number 57 on the Oricon charts and is the lowest ranking single from the album.

The third single, "Yurayura/Gimme Gimme" was released May 5, 2010. "Yurayura/Gimme Gimme" saw more success than the other two singles. The single peaked at number 20 on the Oricon charts, becoming her first Top 20 single since "Mō Nido to...". "Yurayura" was also her highest charting single on the Japan Hot 100, ranking in at #25.