In the early 2000s, with hip-hop’s popularity skyrocketing, many “gangsta” rappers wanted to get their share of the pie by offering simpler rhymes, catchy choruses – often R&B – and flows easy. Some have been more successful than others.
With the boom bap of the 1990s making a comeback, it was only a matter of time before the genre’s new stars attempted similar maneuvers to increase followers and revenue. Benny The Butcher is possibly the best example of this movement. Within the Griselda collective, the Buffalo MC has consistently demonstrated his talent as a storyteller, particularly on the formidable Tana Talk 3 (2018). Then, gradually, its characteristic cadence and its selection of beats very heavy have diversified. Burden of Proof (2020) produced entirely by Hit-Boy, who is partly responsible for Nas’ rebirth, was his first line launched into the ocean of commercial success. A good part of the public bit, but Benny still returned to his original recipe two years later on Tana Talk 4punctuated by Daringer and The Alchemist.
Everybody Can’t Go splits the pear in two, so to speak, while Hit-Boy signs 7 of the 12 tracks and Alchemist takes care of the rest. The second extract, One Foot In – with the incomparable Stove God Cooks – perfectly illustrates the irony of his approach. Through various examples, he emphasizes that he was often immersed in both the criminality of the city of Bills and in the upper echelons of American hip-hop. His conclusion, however, is that doing both is doomed to failure…
Although the 39-year-old rapper’s approach is more that of an artist with big aspirations, he opens his new offering with Jermania’s Graduationthe archetype of street stories that have made him one of our favorites. BRON is in a completely different register, but does not convince us. To continue the basketball theme of the play, Benny scores a lot of points in a losing cause. The next one, Big Dog, does better, mostly thanks to Lil Wayne, but its chorus is one of the worst in recent history. Benny wisely hands over some choruses to his guests, who include Snoop Dogg, Armani Caesar and Kyle Banks. The songs aren’t necessarily better though.
TMVTL is for us the highlight of the 40-minute work. Alchemist’s percussion could have hit harder, but the exquisite transitions are enough to forgive it. Benny offers another of his lessons in gangster life peppered with vivid images. Griselda Expressalong with its cousins Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine, doesn’t hit the target as well, mainly due to the beat redundant from Alchemist. It must be said that their past collaborations have set the bar very high.
Extract of TMVTLby Benny The Butcher
Rap
Everybody Can’t Go
Benny The Butcher
Def Jam Recordings