Benny the Butcher, who recently inked a deal with Def Jam, could be on the brink of going mainstream. But he's always been major. If a big label budget and the trappings that come with it — R&B hooks, radio-ready singles, more crossover cameos — are around the corner, the Butcher's final indie hurrah is a wonderful parting gift to his diehard fans.
There is nothing out of pocket about Tana Talk 4, sticky with tales and testaments from Benny's drug-dealing past. Also, there is not one song worth skipping. Twelve tightly packaged joints, 40 minutes of crunchy beats produced exclusively by the Alchemist and long-serving Griselda beatmaker Daringer, and bars upon bars. If you're looking for something experimental, glance elsewhere. If you're satisfied with straight-up good rap music, the search is over.
In a statement, Benny said he had "a chip on his shoulder" creating this project, which revives a mixtape series he began in 2004. It was 2018's Tana Talk 3 that jolted the Buffalo bard's trajectory, stirring up enough buzz for him to branch outside his posse and record with Harry Fraud and Hit-Boy, and reap collaborations with the likes of Black Thought, Jadakiss, 2 Chainz and Pusha-T. "On a shoestring budget, I showed them what I could do," Benny reminds on this go-round.
Tana Talk 4's level of quality starts sky high with "Johnny P's Caddy," a reference to the Cadillac that Benny's father drove him and Westside Gunn around in as kids, fostering his son's love of music through the car speakers. Alchemist whips up a soul platter for Benny and J. Cole to puff their chests and put their pens to the test.
Smart, forceful writing continues throughout as Benny's deliberate delivery slices through the horns of "Throwy's Revenge" and the frenetic synths of "Guerrero." Usual suspects Boldy James, Conway the Machine, 38 Spesh and Westside Gunn drop by, adding welcome vocal texture to Benny's predictably clear and metronome-like cadence. "Back 2x," featuring the underrated Stove God Cooks, hits you in the chest with a double barrel of punchlines and arrogance. It's precisely the type of song born out of a harsh winter in Upstate New York.
The greatest curveball is Diddy showing up to lend ad-libs to the well-executed concept track "10 More Commandments," a sequel to the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 favourite "Ten Crack Commandments." Daringer whips up some trippy snares and a nervous keyboard line for Benny to school aspiring street pharmacists. Lesson 17: "Take care of the people around you / They only appreciate how you value loyalty when they eatin' beside you."
If you weren't a fan of Benny prior, Tana Talk 4 likely won't win you over. But if you were, the latest fuel for Griselda's hot streak will keep your Caddy bumping until the next blast outta Buffalo.
(Griselda/EMPIRE)There is nothing out of pocket about Tana Talk 4, sticky with tales and testaments from Benny's drug-dealing past. Also, there is not one song worth skipping. Twelve tightly packaged joints, 40 minutes of crunchy beats produced exclusively by the Alchemist and long-serving Griselda beatmaker Daringer, and bars upon bars. If you're looking for something experimental, glance elsewhere. If you're satisfied with straight-up good rap music, the search is over.
In a statement, Benny said he had "a chip on his shoulder" creating this project, which revives a mixtape series he began in 2004. It was 2018's Tana Talk 3 that jolted the Buffalo bard's trajectory, stirring up enough buzz for him to branch outside his posse and record with Harry Fraud and Hit-Boy, and reap collaborations with the likes of Black Thought, Jadakiss, 2 Chainz and Pusha-T. "On a shoestring budget, I showed them what I could do," Benny reminds on this go-round.
Tana Talk 4's level of quality starts sky high with "Johnny P's Caddy," a reference to the Cadillac that Benny's father drove him and Westside Gunn around in as kids, fostering his son's love of music through the car speakers. Alchemist whips up a soul platter for Benny and J. Cole to puff their chests and put their pens to the test.
Smart, forceful writing continues throughout as Benny's deliberate delivery slices through the horns of "Throwy's Revenge" and the frenetic synths of "Guerrero." Usual suspects Boldy James, Conway the Machine, 38 Spesh and Westside Gunn drop by, adding welcome vocal texture to Benny's predictably clear and metronome-like cadence. "Back 2x," featuring the underrated Stove God Cooks, hits you in the chest with a double barrel of punchlines and arrogance. It's precisely the type of song born out of a harsh winter in Upstate New York.
The greatest curveball is Diddy showing up to lend ad-libs to the well-executed concept track "10 More Commandments," a sequel to the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 favourite "Ten Crack Commandments." Daringer whips up some trippy snares and a nervous keyboard line for Benny to school aspiring street pharmacists. Lesson 17: "Take care of the people around you / They only appreciate how you value loyalty when they eatin' beside you."
If you weren't a fan of Benny prior, Tana Talk 4 likely won't win you over. But if you were, the latest fuel for Griselda's hot streak will keep your Caddy bumping until the next blast outta Buffalo.