Sheldon “Shel Shok” Benjamin

Three days shy of his 40th birthday, arranger Sheldon Benjamin, fondly known as “Shel Shok,” succumbed to a type of cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma) at 2.25 pm yesterday. He had been battling the disease for a few months and died at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.

On Sunday, friends had organised a fund-raiser at Club Zen in Port-of-Spain to aid with medical expenses for the cancer-stricken music producer. Among those who had spent time with Benjamin and his parents June and Lennox in his final moments were Elizabeth Montano, mother and manager of soca artiste Machel Montano. Montano said: “We are happy most of us were able to share the last moments with him. Machel, Patrice, people from our band and Destra’s band. Destra’s manager Brian Morris was there. A lot of dancers were there. The good thing is he had people who cared for him during his last moments.”

About Shel Shok
Among those who had worked with Benjamin were General Grant, Machel, Destra Garcia and Allison Hinds. He started with Kiskadee Karavan. His talent as a producer became widespread knowledge after he produced Montano’s Big Truck—a Road March winner. He has produced other hits like Xtatic’s Come Dig It, General Grant’s Soca Billboard and Third Base’s High.

He also earned a nomination for Best Producer at T&T Music Awards earlier this year with Grant’s Dulahin. As his success soared, he worked with other artistes like LA Crew and Vision Band. He travelled extensively in the US, too. In a previous interview, Benjamin said, “To keep me truly happy, you must be able to cook a really good macaroni pie. I love that to death.”