Big Ben Hillman the Professor of FUNK
With a clever mix of funk, jazz, neo-soul and hip hop, Big Ben Hillman the Professor of FUNK is back with his new band The New Royal Fam. A native of Lowell, Hillman got his start as a drummer playing with area bands. He would earn a degree in music from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, going on to perform at a wide variety of venues throughout his illustrious career, and with a long list of esteemed colleagues and associates. Some of these include: The Tsongas Arena in Lowell with Method Man, Bill’s Bar in Boston with Les Claypool (Primus,) The Revival Bar in Toronto ON with MC Brains, The North Star Bar in Philadelphia with Sam Kininger (of Soulive fame) and recently a performance on the island of St. Bart’s with Jimmy Buffett. Other artists whom Hillman has shared the stage with include The Boston Horns, Michigan Blacksnake, Biz Markee, De La Soul and Mix Master Mike (of Beastie Boys Fame.)
He would also learn to hone his own rhyming skills, having worked with some of the Boston areas top names in hip-hop. Some of these names include D Tension, Lyrical, Nabo Rawk, One Love and Krumbsnatcha.
In 2007 Hillman had an underground hit with his single “I’m Sorry” featuring Fee (One Love, X Cal) and Meyer Statham (John Scofield, Chucklehead.) The single was accompanied by a music video, which was voted the number one video on MVSpy.com and was also featured on a special program called “The List” on Comcast cable. Plans for a new single and video are in the works.
