Benny The Butcher - Tana Talk 4
Genre: Hip Hop
Score: 9/10
This is the 3rd studio album from Griselda Records heavyweight champion Benny The Butcher. What to Expect: :
The hardest hip hop project of the entire year. Benny The Butcher is easily the most exciting and cold blooded rapper in Griselda. His Tana Talk mixtape series is already a legendary run of projects for a rapper in hip hop. If we are going to talk about the very best in gangsta rap, Benny The Butcher’s Tana Talk is right up there among the greatest mixtapes of all time. I am about to hear the hardest gangsta rap of the 2020s if this project lives up to its predecessors.
Overall:
Not only does this project contain some of the best bars I have heard any rapper rap this year, but also some of the best beats I have heard this year. It is Benny’s best record to date and one of the best hip hop projects of this year. Griselda is really defining a new standard of how great hip hop in the 2020s can be, while not straying too far from what has made the genre so great so far. No more Crypto Bars though.
Play by Play:
Johnny P’s Caddy (feat J Cole) - The beat is great. I love the sample chop. It’s a great intro. Butcher comes in with his mission statement. J Cole comes through with one of his best features in years. Hell yes to this song. I hear a spirited cypher turned into a well made song on this into
Back 2x - The beat sounds so menacing. “Square packages, stepped on them StairMaster Bricks, then whipped another half a square out of my rare bag of tricks”??? Good Lord Benny. I have to be careful driving to this song, otherwise my stank face will block off my vision instantly. That is one of the hardest lines I’ve heard this year, and it’s not even halfway done yet. The imagery all over this song is so vivid and cinematic. My neck is putting in work today. Stove God sounds so menacing on his feature. His vocal delivery reminds me of Schoolboy Q’s in a great way. You already know I’m running this song back back. How can I not?
Super Plug - I study the Alchemist regularly for my own music. His use of harder panning between the piano and drums is such a wild change of pace, yet works so perfectly. You never know what he ends of putting together, hence his name. Benny rides on the genius beat like Jay Z at the corner office running logistics in the Board Room. He just closed on a property deal, and he hears the streets below, feeling reflective.
Weekends in the Perry’s - I love the soulful beat. The beats all over this album are some of the best I’ve heard this year. Benny sounds really relatable in terms of how he explains his success. In a way, I’m inspired. Boldly comes in like your favorite cousin that you take walks with before Thanksgiving dinner.
Ten More Commandments (feat Diddy, because it’s Diddy) - Benny lives up to Frank White’s legacy perfectly. With the help of an incredible beat, Benny delivers a brand new list of 10 Crack Commandments, he receives the King of New York’s prophecy in the Hip Hop Avatar State and fulfills his Hip Hop Destiny, successfully restoring balance to the genre.
The 10 More Crack Commandments are as follows:
20. Count the Money - Aggregate up your personal expenses. Aggregate your sources of income. Consult a qualified certified financial advisor on a per fee basis to help evaluate your personal risk tolerance and appropriate financial asset allocations. Do not just listen to any idiot that says “This is not Financial Advice, but buy this thing I’m selling.” That is always a stupid idea.
19. Do Not Burn the Plug - Try to avoid burning professional and personal relationships. Check in on your friends as well to see how they are faring. Properly tip your server.
18. Test that Work before you Buy it - Always evaluate the safety quality of the products and services that are available to you before you purchase them. Advocate for more rigorously enforced industry safety regulations and avoid sellers who actively cut corners and compromise the quality of their products and services in order to maximize profits.
17. Take care of the people around you - Check in and financially support your family and loved ones regularly. Buy your significant other gifts and spend quality time with them. Exercise regularly so you are physically capable of taking care of the people around you.
16. Stack - Save your money and develop financial contingency plans, especially for emergencies.
15. Only Buy Shit that Can be Sold - Avoid purchasing high levels of consumable goods that are instantly expendable or depreciate in value. Consider making long term investments that appreciate over time.
14. Lead By Example - Become an active member of your community. Join a public advocacy group of any kind and run volunteer events. Attend your children’s school budget meetings. Voice your priorities for your child, and understand the priorities of your child’s school administration and its respective parent teacher community. Volunteer to assist disenfranchised people of all kinds. Advocate for guaranteed housing and medicare. Tip your servers.
13. No Social Media Posting - In order to develop focus and refine your professional skill set, resist the urge to present your personal plans in a way that attracts unnecessary attention to yourself or your professional community. Allocate an appropriate amount of time for important tasks. Be sure to properly curate your social media feeds so you are consuming healthy uplifting content that supplements your own personal development.
12. Stand for Something, Fall for Anything - Advocate for social changes that benefit yourself and the community around you. Platform disenfranchised voices, and defend those who are unable to defend themselves.
11. Get Out the Game as Soon as You Can - Increase your awareness of the status of the industry you participate in professionally, and be sure to regularly inform yourself with the latest news relevant to your community as well as your own investments and strategic interests.
Tyson Vs. Ali (feat Conway The Machine) - I love how smooth the beat is. Benny is floating over the beat. He’s clearly holding back. Conway accompanying him reminds me of some of the best that Ghostface Killah and Raekwon were delivering back in the 90s. This song was made for the whip. It’s a perfect vibe for a midnight drive on the BQE.
Uncle Bun (feat 38 Spesh) - This beat is incredibly eerie and slow. Benny socializes the means of the production of this song, trading verses with 38 Spesh like blows in a boxing ring. It’s a great song with a great catchy verse at the end. Benny’s pop sensibilities show up despite each beat and verse going so hard.
Thowry’s Revenge - Another golden Alchemist beat. Benny eats the beat up like a plate of cookies. He shouts out the roots that support him. The Spirit of Hip Hop runs alive on this track.
Billy Joe - This sample is so soulful. Benny is as poised as Putin on this track. His delivery reminds me of Ka or Roc Marciano. I love how on the hook he brags about supporting his community and the people he helped. I also love that one line where he says that he treats his city like Monopoly and he’s sitting on Park Place. Lines like that are why I love Hip Hop.
Guerrero (feat Westside Gunn) - I love how clunky and bloopy the beat is. Benny and Westside Gunn cyph in the way only Griselda ever could. The adlibs hit strong and the imagery is vivid.
Bust a Brick Nick - I love how blissful and dreamy the beat sounds. “Next time you sneak diss me, just pay me. I’ll write the hook” is the energy that I am inspired to carry from this record. But man, that crypto bar. While the bar itself isn’t wack and Benny is self aware, I hope it ages well, for all of our sakes. I do not want this song to date itself as a result of a short term speculative investment. Alas, money talks. While rappers are modern day messengers, I guess I am not always going to like the message they deliver.
Mr Chow Hall - Ok mask down. We got only 2 minutes to get in and get out. If you’re scared, say you’re scared. Alchemist cooked up another gem, and you have to stay strong. Benny just explained how it all should be done. Now let’s roll out.
Score: 9/10
Favorite Track in Bold
Just my opinion