Born and raised in California's beautiful Humboldt County, Neil Raphael (aka Blinded Beats) started music production at age 4 with a cassette tape recorder and Casio keyboard. From an early age he was exposed to daily doses of hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, and Afrobeats. His first live concerts included legends such asThe Wailers, Buju Banton, Steel Pulse, Alpha Blonde, Burning Spear, Angélique Kidjo, and Baaba Maal. Born legally blind, he could not see any of these performers, and yet the sounds inspired him and influenced his journey as a musician and producer. Blinded taught himself how to play the drums at age 16, followed by the bass guitar, keys, and turntables. Years later he taught himself how to play the ukulele on a beach in Kenya. His curiosity and love for music has been a cornerstone of his development as an artist. After playing drums and bass in several reggae and hip hop bands over the years, Blinded began producing beats for local rappers in Northern California and has continued doing so to this day. In 2013, he produced a full soundtrack for the film, Win Lose Forgive. Raphael moved to Uganda in 2018, and founded Green Hit Records in 2020 with his partner, Lucas Agaba. Since then he has worked with several African artists including Navio, Country Wizzy, King Perryy, Tarley, Selecta Jeff, Pryce Teeba, Spyda Mc, Bank Budha, Bad Sparksy Chidi Beenz, Nikki Mbishi, Kenneth Mugabi, as well as several other up and coming artists.