BENI

Overview

BENI (born Beni Arashiro, 安良城 紅, on March 30, 1986, in Okinawa Prefecture) is a Japanese R&B singer. She debuted in 2004 on Avex Trax and, after moving to Universal Music Japan in 2008, began performing simply as BENI. She graduated from Sophia University.

Career

Born in Okinawa, she grew up moving between Japan and the United States, including San Diego and Yokosuka. In 2002 she reached the finals of the national bishojo contest and in 2003 joined Bishojo Club 21.

Her solo debut single "Harmony" came on June 9, 2004, followed by "Infinite..." and, on November 25, "Here Alone", the ending theme of the drama Kurokawa no Techo. On February 9, 2005 she released the single "Miracle" and her album Beni, and she won New Artist of the Year at the 19th Japan Gold Disc Awards. Her second album Girl 2 Lady followed on February 22, 2006, and she starred as the heroine in the musical The Beautiful Game. Later releases included "How Are U?" (2006), "Luna" (2007) and the album GEM (2007). She held her first solo concerts in July 2007, and her first greatest-hits album, Chapter One Complete Collection, was released on March 5, 2008.

In June 2008 she was featured on Dohzi-T's "Mō Ichi do...", which sold over two million ringtone downloads and gave her her highest Oricon placing, No. 6. She moved to Universal Music Japan in late 2008 and changed her name to BENI. Singles such as "Mō Nido to..." and "Kiss Kiss Kiss" followed, along with the album Bitter & Sweet on September 2, 2009. In 2013 she duetted with Mary J. Blige on "Wish Upon a Star with BENI" for the Japanese edition of A Mary Christmas.

On September 21, 2020 she announced her marriage, pregnancy and activities under the English name Beni Daniels. She welcomed a son in January 2021 and a daughter in January 2023, and in May 2024 won the 16th Best Mother Award in the music category.

Recent releases include "Last Love Letter" and the album CINEMATIC (2018), the album Y/our Song (2020), "Friday Chinatown" and its English version (2022), "Candy ’23" and "RIDE ON TIME" (2023), and "Escape" (March 31, 2025).

Musical style

BENI works in J-R&B and J-POP. Her influences include Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Namie Amuro and Hikaru Utada. Janet Jackson inspired her to start music, and her first purchased CD was TLC's CrazySexyCool.