Token (rapper)

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Token
Token in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin David Goldberg
Born	(1998-09-24) September 24, 1998 (age 23) Marblehead, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop alternative hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Never Too Different/Atlantic E1 Music
Associated acts	R.A. the Rugged Man Tech N9ne JID

Benjamin David Goldberg (born September 24, 1998), known professionally as Token, is an American rapper and songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts.

Early life[]

Ben Goldberg was born and raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He was introduced to hip-hop music at age six by his older sister.^[1][2] His mother, Leslie Goldberg, described him as having incidents of "explosive anger". In his younger years, Goldberg was often suspended from school for yelling at his teachers and fighting with other students. Goldberg was eventually diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Additionally, he had difficulty in understanding expressive language, being diagnosed with a language disability as a result. As a child, Goldberg suffered from obesity, weighing nearly 140 pounds in fourth grade. He began running on the treadmill after school and lost 50 pounds halfway through fifth grade as a result.^[1][3]

At a young age, Goldberg had a dream of becoming a rapper; a psychiatrist noted that it seemed to be the only thing on his mind. An outlet for Goldberg was writing poetry in his diary, which eventually evolved into writing rap songs at the age of 10. According to Goldberg, the three main artists he listened to were 2Pac, Eminem and Ludacris.^[3][4]

Career[]

2012–2014: Career Beginnings[]

Goldberg first began rapping under the name BDG (his initials). He began uploading his content on YouTube after a childhood friend discovered music he had recorded and encouraged him to create a channel to gain a following. His first song was a freestyle to "Drop the World" by Lil Wayne featuring Eminem. The students at his school reacted negatively toward his work, but he began building a fanbase online.^[1] In the sixth grade, Goldberg started collaborating with his friend Colin Mitchell, a local rapper known as C-Mitch. Their first project was Lethal Combination.^[1][3] While the reception from the public was generally negative as well, one of their CDs ended up in the possession of producer Jon Glass, who saw their potential and became a mentor to them.

Goldberg later adopted the stage name "Token", which came out of feeling different from other rappers as a Jewish white kid from Boston. He started uploading his music videos through YouTube when he was 14.^[1] He released his debut mixtape, The Mindstate, in February 2014.^[2]

2015–2016: No Sucka MCs, early success[]

In October 2015, Token released a video of himself rapping while walking through a Marblehead neighborhood for the "No Sucka MCs" rap contest. The video amassed over 500,000 views in just three days. It gained the attention of several celebrities, including Fred Durst, Mark Wahlberg and T-Pain.^[1][5] Soon, Token became friends with Wahlberg, who began inviting him to his house in Los Angeles.^[1] In April 2016, he appeared on the radio show Sway in the Morning, on which he performed a freestyle to the beat of Lil Wayne's "Believe Me". His performance brought co-host Tracy G to tears as a result. The video of his appearance went viral, gaining him further recognition.^[4] Token performed a free hip-hop show presented by Wahlberg in May 2016, which was filmed for Wahlberg's reality TV show Wahlburgers. Wahlberg also helped Token earn a role in the film Patriots Day, of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's college roommate.^[6] On September 23, 2016, Token released his second mixtape Eraser Shavings.^[7] The song "Exception" from the mixtape has reached millions of streams.^[8] Token also first started touring in 2016, beginning in Europe.^[1]

2017–2019: Singles, Between Somewhere[]

From January 2017 to mid-2018, Token consecutively released non-album singles and videos through YouTube, including "Doozy",^[1] "Patty Cake"^[9] and "Code Red",^[10] all three of which have amassed millions of streams and views on YouTube. In August 2018, Token released his song "Flamingo", the lead single from his third mixtape Between Somewhere, which was released on December 7, 2018. Between Somewhere features guest vocals from IDK and Bas and was rated 3.3 out of 5 stars in a HipHopDX review. Token also collaborated with Tech N9ne in a bonus track from the mixtape, "YouTube Rapper".^[11] In 2019, Token signed to eOne Music.

2020–present: Signing to Atlantic Records, Pink Is Better[]

In 2020, Goldberg founded his own label, Never Too Different, and signed a distribution deal for his label with Atlantic Records. In August 2020, he released the single "30 People", his first song under the newly founded label.^[12] His debut studio album Pink Is Better, was released on January 14, 2022.

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Mixtapes[]

Singles[]

As lead artist[]

References[]

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