Benjamin Kheng

Swimming

Kheng was a former national youth swimmer, having trained for twelve years from six years old at the Swimfast Aquatic Club, managed by David Lim, a Singaporean swimmer,^[12] encouraged by his father,^[7] enjoying its therapeutic aspect.^[12]

After attending Singapore Sports School in 2004, his swimming career became more professional according to Corrie Tan of The Straits Times, participating in competitions in Britain and Australia.^[13] Kheng wanted to go competitive after realising that he had higher pain tolerance than others.^[7] He specialised in long-distance and individual medley (IM), which are more difficult categories according to Kheng, finding it easier to stand out and win in less competed categories.^[13]

As a child, Kheng participated in the Junior Age Group Swim Championships, obtaining some gold medals in the breaststroke and the IM categories.^[7] He also participated in and won some medals at the Australian Open Championships, Southeast Asia Age Group Championships and International Children's Games.^[7] He was once a record holder in the national youth 200m and 400m IM categories.^[7]

During his swimming career, he harboured an interest for performing arts, attending theatrical and music performances.^[13] After graduating from Republic Polytechnic in 2010, he stopped pursuing swimming, quoting the short lifespan of sporting careers where athletes peaked from 26 to 30 years old,^[13] describing the Olympics as his overambitious and unrealistic goal.^[7] Instead, Kheng opted for performing arts, supported by his father.^[13]

Music

Kheng is the keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and vocalist for The Sam Willows,^[12] a band that was active from 2012^[3] until a hiatus on May 2019.^[12] After the announcement, he pursued a solo career.^[3] Kheng described his motivator as obsession, overcoming his imposter syndrome through his experience training for sports.^[7] Kheng enjoys the aspect of performing live the most.^[15] He enjoys many genres and music styles, being spontaneous in his interests.^[6] He says that artists are suppressed in Singapore, with musicians struggling to be recognised and maintain artistic integrity.^[14]

In June 2020, Kheng released A Sea That Never Stops, his first extended play (EP).^[16] It received 2.5 million views across multiple streaming services within four months.^[16] He was nominated for the Best Southeast Asian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2020.^[16]

In December 2020,^{[‡ 2]} Kheng and Gentle Bones, a Singaporean singer, co-released Better With You, an EP with two tracks, after attending a mutual friend's wedding ceremony.^[17] The music video combined the setting of Star Trek and the storyline of Doctor Who, according to Karen Gwee of New Musical Express.^[18] The songs were written amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to cheer people up and encourage checking in on loved ones,^[17] and was inspired by the mutual admiration Kheng and Gentle Bones held for each other.^[18]

In January 2021,^{[‡ 3]} Kheng released "Fresh Feelings" with J.Sheon, a Taiwanese artist, about the uncertainty and happiness of a new love,^[19] in a timid and humble manner.^[20] According to Gwee, the song had influences from gospel and musical theatre, quoting its use of a choir and "bright" keyboard sounds.^[20]

In August 2021, Kheng released "Worlds",^[21] a short song under a minute^[22] sang with Rae, a virtual influencer.^[21] Rae's voice was generated using text-to-speech and a vocoder.^[22] Described as "melancholic" by Shanne Gan of Hear65, Kheng was inspired by the longing of a loved person after their death, similar to how Kheng and Rae were separated by a digital barrier.^[21]

In November 2021, Kheng released "Baby Mama", a romance song about recognising a mutually bad relationship but being unable to sever ties with each other.^[23]

In March 2022,^{[‡ 4]} Kheng released "Good For A Time" with Bea Lorenzo, a Filipino artist,^[6] described by Kheng as a "breakup song" spanning international borders.^[24] Kheng enjoyed the challenges of creating the song during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as music video continuity and Zoom latency during jamming.^[6]

In 2023, Kheng released Gloomy Boogie, his first album, which was released in two parts;^[25] once in August^{[‡ 5]} and once in December.^{[‡ 6]} Kheng wanted to explore the dichotomy of his introverted and extroverted selves, without being conscious of his self-image unlike previously.^[6] It was described as "confessional" by Eddino Abdul Hadi, Benson Ang, and Jan Lee, of The Straits Times, with tracks featuring "loneliness", "fatigue", and "heartbreak".^[25]

In May 2024, Kheng released "Not Alone", as the National Day Parade's 2024 theme song,^[26] co-written with Evan Low, a producer with the Music and Drama Company as an ensemble.^[27] Written about Singaporeans' historical struggles, the song promoted camaraderie in preparation for the future, inspired by his struggles in life such as isolation and loneliness,^[27] citing his mother's death.^[8] Kheng wrote the song, preferring to be honest over being patriotic.^[28] It also paid homage to previous NDP songs to create nostalgia,^[26] such as "Where I Belong" by Tanya Chua,^[29] for an intergenerational appeal.^[28]

The visuals begin simply,^[27] featuring kampong villages and getai performances,^[26] with "melancholic" lyrics according to Sushmita Kaur of Hear65.^[30] The visuals then transition to modern Singapore employing vignettes, featuring Jewel Changi Airport^[26] to illustrate the changing shared memories,^[27] with the music changing to become "uplifting" according to Kaur.^[30] Osmond Chia of The Straits Times wrote that its lyrics had a "tinge of sadness".^[27] Kong Kit Yan of Channel NewsAsia wrote that it received an "overwhelmingly positive response" online.^[26] Helmi Yusof of The Business Times wrote that the song gave him "cross-generational" and "cross-cultural" popularity.^[8]

In 2025, Kheng released "Olivia Dean" with Shazza, a Singaporean singer-songwriter, after having performed together at the NDP.^[31] The song, described as "upbeat" by Eddino, is written about first love and named after Olivia Dean, an English neo-soul singer-songwriter.^[31]

Video creation

When writing, Kheng cites Breaking Bad as an inspiration, with its nuanced storytelling and character arcs.^[40] He likens writing and directing a film to creating music and storytelling.^[6] Kheng created a video production company named Charle King with Ted Charles, a creative director.^[8]

Kheng co-created The BenZi Project, an online comedy sketch series,^[41] with Hirzi Zulkiflie, a Singaporean YouTuber, containing parodies exploring middle-class privilege and racial stereotypes.^[3] Kheng had wanted to make a social commentary in a light-hearted educational way, using comedy to make the content more palatable, citing the young Singaporeans' ignorance of societal problems that did not affect them, hoping to broaden their world view.^[3] He also wanted to challenge his reputation as a musician, trying something new in his career.^[28]

Kurt Cobain portrayal

Kheng was asked to portray Kurt Cobain, a singer from Nirvana who shot himself in 1994, being given a reference picture of Cobain "smoking a cigarette in a gun posture" during a photo shoot for Men's Folio, a magazine.^[42] According to Loh Keng Fatt of The Straits Times, the pose resembled pointing a gun at oneself, drawing anger from internet users who perceived it as being insensitive.^[42] In September 2019, Kheng apologised, saying that it was a misjudgement and that he forgot the details of his death, which was received positively by internet users.^[42]

Movies

Television

Albums

Extended plays