Being part of a group can be hard for everyone involved. No matter how cohesive of a unit the act is, there’s always a sense that the members of the team are sacrificing some of who they are for the betterment of the group.

We’ve seen some of the best acts in hip-hop dissolve after one member decides to dip their toe into the solo artist pool. That’s not the case with Pennjamin Bannekar and Project Fresh. The Chicago based trio built a healthy fan base through the internet and old fashioned hard-work. So when I found out that one third of the group, Pennjamin Bannekar decided to try his hand at being a soloist, I was nervous.
But those nerves were calmed after talking with Penn recently. Though his solo album “Hello World” expects to drop in the 4th quarter, you can still expect to hear him rock out with his Project Fresh crew in 2010.

Wordonthestreetsmag.com chopped it up with Pennjamin Bannekar about his new album, his swagger and how his going solo was looked at by the rest of the group

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: How did you you get into hip-hop?

Pennjamin Bannekar: I started rapping when Diddy came out with “Cant Nobody Hold Me Down”. I remember I had the “CD single”

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: I remember those

Pennjamin Bannekar: (laughs) Yeah, remember those. It had the instrumental version of the song on there and me and my home girl from Houston decided it would be dope to spit a rap over it. I’ve been rappin ever since.

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: I remember when you were part of the group Project: Fr3sh? Are you still part of the group and how do they feel about you pursuing your solo aspirations.

Pennjamin Bannekar: Yeah, I am still 1/3 of Project: Fr3sh and we are currently gearing up to start recording on the second album. Breeze and Chi are definitely supportive of my solo project. They produced on my solo project and both put a verse on the album. They were right there in the studio helping me record it so, yeah to both questions (laughs)

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: Talk about your album? What can we expect from Penn’s album?

Pennjamin Bannekar: The album is an introduction to Pennjamin Bannekar. I’m sure everybody got a feel for me on the Project: Fr3sh album but the solo album is allowing me to multiply that feel by 10. You can expect the album to be dope! I got a good team around me that has critiqued every inch of every song to make sure its nothing but dope and I’m hoping that the album will exceed everyone’s expectations.

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: There are a lot of artists out there right now coming out. What sets you apart from other emcees out right now?

Pennjamin Bannekar: I would say that I’m not into doing what’s hot or catchy for right now. I’m really just doing me. For instance other emcees may set out to make a hot single or string a lot of bars together to make a witty verse. I’m just really doing what the feel of the tracks tells me to do and as a result I think it comes across as “natural” where some people might be “forcing it”. And I really love making music. Not taking anything away from any other artist but I love to do this! I think that comes across in my music and I hope people can relate to that.

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: I know you have a good team around you from management to producers. Talk about you team and how influential they have been to your current success.

Pennjamin Bannekar: I got a good team around me that has critiqued every inch of every song to make sure its nothin but dope. I really started working on this project at the beginning of the summer and here it is almost Thanksgiving and there have been so many brain storming sessions, phone calls, critiquing and re-writing that has gone on behind the scenes, and that’s really a credit to the team because when I may think something is dope, they may tell me I can do better. And at the end of the day, I wouldn’t be where I am without them. If Breeze, Chi, d.C., Nameless, and Grinch hadn’t laced the beats I’d have no sound because I don’t produce. If Kream didn’t work as hard as she does and basically smack everybody in the face with my tracks then we wouldn’t be doing this interview! So I got some great people around me

Wordonthestreetsmag.com: When can we expect the album, if you have a date?

Pennjamin Bannekar: “Hello World” is the title and I’ll be finished recording it by next week (shout out to Kream for giving me a deadline because I would just keep recording. You can look for it in December if not late November.

Find Pennjamin Bannekar at twitter.com/pennbannekar and myspace.com/pennjaminbannekar you can also face book. “Hello World” coming soon