Ben Monroe Jr.’s team keeps alive what Ben Sr. started
By Candis Mumford
For the St. Louis American
I’m in the legendary Chapel. Many great artists have crossed this threshold before me, and as I close the door behind me I feel honored to be here. I enter a brightly lit, well-constructed basement studio full of the magic of hip hop and R&B.
The surroundings are all wood-built from the floor to the walls. There are several rooms adjacent to one another that resemble a maze. Two beautifully crafted guitars sit side by side in the hallway. An autographed poster of local rapper Shaunessi rests on the wall by the steps.
Ben Monroe Sr. is where the legacy began. Monroe Sr. built the Chapel from scratch himself, with only wood in the basement of his own home located in North St. Louis.
“My dad is a genius. One day he just decided that he wanted a studio, so that’s what he did – built one,” says Ben Monroe Jr., also known as Benvo Xp.
“I walked down the steps, and my dad was sawing wood. I said, ‘What you doing?’ ‘I’m building a studio.’ I couldn’t believe that he made all this out of wood.”
Ran by Monroe Sr., the chapel became a great success, seeing recording artists such as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre., Shock G, Ram Love and Bulletproof.
“Ben Monroe Sr. is possibly one of the best sound engineers in the Midwest,” says Bradd Young, of Black Persian LLC and producer.
“Over the course of 20 years, Ben Monroe Sr. has made a name for himself that was so easily passed down to his son Ben ‘Benvo xP’ Monroe Jr.”
In 1995 at the age of 13, Benvo went into the lab to construct his own music. He started out making beats then elevated to a full-blown producer/engineer/songwriter and owner of a production company, xP Musik LLC. Benvo coined the name xP Musik from his tracks’ extraterrestrial sound.
“I wanted to make a company of producers that were self-sufficient,” says Benvo. “In a sense, all the producers in the company work together as a team with different sounds and styles and approach a track completely different.”
The team consists of Monroe Jr., Fa’non “Fa’non xP” Jackson, Jarreau “Ro xP” Randolph and Dustin “Charlie Brown” Douglas.
The lists of tracks produced by xP Musik is extensive. They include “Broken Wings” and “Drop It” from the Ebony Eyez album Seven Day Cycle and numerous tracks on both the All Stars albums, The Movement and All City, such as “Little Do They Know (featuring Akon), “So Serious” (featuring Styles P), “Boys and Girls” and “Bring ‘em Out.”
A personal favorite of mine is “Pop One of These” by Fabo, featuring Vic Damone and Ali. This xP joint has me bouncing and doing the lean. If you’re not already, you can expect to hear this one on your local radio stations.
In addition to hip-hop, xP also dips a hand in R&B. Company member Fanon Jackson is said to be the R&B guru of the clique, producing a hot one titled “On My Own” by Carla.
The old member of the GIB Boys, Whone Valdez, has a new track “Keep It Moving” that constantly hypnotizes me into playing that same song over and over again. I don’t know if it’s the systematic bounce to the beat or the way the beat drops when the hook chimes in.
Whone Valdez is one of three artists signed to xP Musik, along with J Kidd and Big B. The company is considering pushing radio with their artists, but is silently waiting for the right time to hit the waves with that extraterrestrial sound.
