Benjamin Clementine

Benjamin Sainte-Clémentine ( sən KLEM-ən-tyne; born 7 December 1988), known as Benjamin Clementine, is a British actor, composer, and musician. Born and raised in London, Clementine later moved to Paris, where he experienced homelessness for a time. After moving back to London, he released his debut album At Least for Now, which won the 2015 Mercury Prize. In February 2019 he was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, in recognition of his contribution to the arts. Critics have described him as becoming one of the great singer-songwriters of his generation, and the future sound of London, whilst struggling to place his music in any one genre. Clementine's compositions are musically incisive and attuned to the issues of life but also poetic, mixing revolt with love and melancholy, sophisticated lyricism with slang and shouts, and rhyming verse with prose monologues. He often performs topless and barefoot onstage, dressed entirely in black or dark grey, with a long, wool trench coat.