aaamusic | On 14, Apr 2011

Brought together by BLAG – Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Estelle, rapper/producer/Grammy winner David Banner and Daley (fresh from featuring on ‘Doncamatic’ alongside Gorillaz) collaborate together for the first time. Inspired by Janis Joplin’s iconic song ‘Mercedes Benz’ the super-group have written and recorded ‘Benz,’ a new single and video, which will be released internationally on iTunes on April 18th.

‘Benz’ by Grammy award winning producer, David Banner, was recorded in Los Angeles and inspired by his Mississippi roots. Estelle, David Banner and Daley constructed a brand new melody and lyrics for a modern day reinterpretation of the blues classic. All the artists brought their own style and influences to the song creating something truly unique.

“That’s why they call it soul music, you can’t put an equation to what we just did…When we first put it together and listened to it, it was something special.”
David Banner

Daley goes on to describe Banner as a “versatile, musician, producer and writer who can pretty much do anything” While Estelle was clearly impressed with Daley’s contribution commenting, “he was singing like he was James Brown’s son.” Estelle did not escape the compliments with David Banner also adding “You don’t have a lot of people that professional and it was beautiful”.

Beautifully shot, the video is set in three specially created connecting rooms and takes a playful fly-on-the-wall look at the dynamic supergroup creating the song and getting set for a night out together. It was directed by BLAG’s Sally A. Edwards and Sarah J. Edwards.

After hearing about the idea, Mercedes-Benz directly offered support to the project and have given the supergroup a prime slot at their press conference at the Shanghai Auto Show on 19th April. This will be their live debut and coinciding with their celebration of 125 years of Mercedes Benz. To watch the first live performance please check Mercedes Benz Facebook on April 19th.

Multi-talented producer, actor and rapper David Banner has previously produced records for Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, and Akon. While also no stranger to super-collaborations fellow Grammy Award winning singer-song writer Estelle has previously topped the UK and US charts with ‘American Boy’ featuring Kanye West. With Daley having previously worked with Gorillaz, and listed in BBC’s Sound of 2011 longlist, completing the star-studded line-up.