Druglords

Druglords are an American multi-genre music duo, formed in 2015. The sibling duo consists of vocalist Monet Benton (born October 25, 1998) and producer Mikal Benton (born September 29, 1997). The siblings grew up in Brooklyn, New York and started writing and recording music together in 2015.

Early life
Born to professional musician parents, their father is bassist Jermone Benton, who played bass for rock bands The Revolution in the 1980s and later for The Time and The Family. All three acts are heavily associated with the late entertainer and musician Prince. Benton also appeared in music videos by Janet Jackson. Their uncle is Terry Lewis, known for being one half of the production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Monet started playing the drums at the age of three, and Mikal started playing the bass at the age of eight. Both also learned to play the guitar and the piano and Mikal to sing. They both attended the LaGuardia High School in New York, graduating in 2016. During this period, the siblings studied music and music technology. By the age of 15, Monet listened mainly to funk, soul and maudlin singers, whilst Mikal listened predominantly to hip hop and was the drummer in an indie-style guitar band with school friends.

2016: Formation
Whilst the duo were attending LaGuardia, they enjoyed studying a wide range of musical genres including classical music, especially the likes of Bach and Claude Debussy. A teenage interest in the music and production techniques of Detroit-based rapper and record producer J. Dilla led them through hip hop to attending gigs as students. The duo began studying and being primarily influenced by artists including Prince, Michael Jackson, Sade and Aaliyah.

After graduating in 2016, the siblings started deconstructing and copying the music that Monet had heard at gigs in a room above their father's auction house, and then making music in the same room in a style they refer to as "funk music with a pop structure", uploading it to SoundCloud. The duo gained a large following on social media, amassing 80,000 followers on Instagram by posting links to their music on SoundCloud and YouTube. In early 2016, Druglords were discovered by British entertainer Shell Ruin and they were signed to Syd Wolfe's Fusion record label at Ruin's recommendation. The duo spent 2016 recording their debut album.