The 21-year-old from Harborne, better known as ‘Mr Dialysis’ decided the music business was for him after dropping out of education due to a severe illness.
 | | Ben Ryan |
It was only then he realised he had to try something new and wrote his first lyrics. He has now managed to produce 30 of his own songs with his latest being ‘All The Same’. Frustrations “When I was 17, in my first year of college I suffered a really bad illness which affected my intestine and resulted in it basically bursting in my stomach whilst I was in bed. “Because of this I totally dropped out of education and had loads of time on my hands. I remember recording some really lame lyrics to "Got to get through this" by Daniel Bedingfield on my mobile phone and slowly progressed from there as it was a good way to get out my frustrations of being house-ridden.” UK hip hop Ben says his musical inspiration came from listening to Task Force, a British hip hop group from North London: “Their music really made me think what music was all about and made me realise that it’s all about what you say and not about how aggressive you can sound on a track” Unlike most hip hop and rap music, Ben expresses the true meaning of living life and the journey he is going through without trivialising the usual gun and gang crime themes. “I'm so sick of all the same old gun talk that seems to plague our Ipods. I mean fair enough if you have grown up in that environment and lived the life, but I sincerely doubt that more than 10% have. People get to see the real me through my music, I don’t see the point in being anyone else.”
 | | Ben Ryan |
Ben has admitted he has become quite a popular figure as his music has attracted more then 140,000 people on Myspace and his most successful track ‘Its Just Normal’ had over 40,000 plays in under two months. Birmingham celebrity “In the past few months I have become quite the celebrity in Birmingham. I have become well known over night and its weird, but yet exciting. I've been on buses and heard my songs go off as ringtones, people have asked me for autographs and pictures and that is proper mad. I just think I appeal to a slightly different and vaster audience than a lot of rappers out there. “My main inspiration is all from life really, things I have been through, things my friends have been through, things I have seen, what goes through my head on a daily basis, struggles with religion, the list goes on. ‘Its Just Normal’ is a track everyone can relate to and was all over downloading programmes.” Ben says that being a ‘white rapper’ has not fazed him at all but in fact has encouraged him: “I just think that being a white rapper is far more acceptable these days than it ever was, but to be a white rapper people will still judge you. But I’m not the stereotypical white rapper, I’m just me, dress as I do and still have long hair.” From a makeshift studio in his house, Ben’s music is listened to by many and he is starting to believe that he is getting his message across to people. Hope “I aim to give people a sense of hope that it’s not just them that think these things. I really want people to realise that we're not all so different in this world. We all still have days where getting up is just the longest thing to do, where there are times when you really just don’t want to exist and also that you can get through all that. I just want to make a difference really. “As an artist I really want to get my stuff heard by people, there are a lot of people in this world who feel the same as me about things but don’t think that they can vocalise that, maybe I can help?” Ben is currently working on a CD which he plans to deliver by the end of February 2007. It will be based around different elements of his life such as religion, depression, and school times. With all the support he is receiving, Ben is hoping he is getting closer to a record deal, but in the meantime will continue to what he does best. “People have been so kind towards me with feedback and telling me how they relate to my music and I would like to thank them all. Music is my diary “I would have to consider all aspects of it first, but at the rate that I am going at the moment, I don’t think a record deal is far away, we'll see. “I want to keep things going, keep making music and maybe get somewhere one day with it, but I'd still carry on if I didn't. My music is my personal diary, one that everyone can read.” Gig Want to see Ben play live? He is at Epic Skatepark, Birmingham, West Midlands on February 3rd 2007. Tickets are priced at ₤7. Listen to Ben's music on his Myspace profile at www.myspace.com/mrdialysis | 
