From Big L, to Eminem and Jedi Mind Tricks, plenty of emcees have used different variations of jarring lyrics and shocking imagery to express themselves. Often, the graphic approach and vividly detailed content that are most pertinent to Horrorcore help communicate an emcee’s motives more clearly. The tactic has been employed by the aforementioned artists, as well as many others successfully. When it works, the imagery is truly captivating.
For Jarren Benton, such an approach is one of the themes of his newest release, My Grandma’s Basement. A member of the Funk Volume record label (Hopsin, Dizzy Wright), the album is Benton’s third digital release as a rostermate. His aggressive, in-your-face style is well suited for Horrorcore fans, but he also displays true Southern roots with a handful of tracks trending towards Trap Rap. Benton can alternately be found threatening sodomy and other assorted acts of violence on “Razor Blades & Steak Knives.” He rhymes, “Hit a girl with a bowl of grits / Then shove her fuckin’ face in a bowl of shit / So inappropriate / I’m that creepy custodian / I’ll stick a mop up your ass without no petroleum…”
On the track “Cadillacs & Chevys” Benton strikes a nice balance between the two over a synth-heavy track powered by staccato snares. Benton emplys one-liners, like, “Fuck a fat bitch for her Honey Bun,” while also acknowledging, “They say I sound like Eminem.” The Marshall Mathers comparisons are unavoidable. And when Benton mimics Eminem’s verbal scratch sound effect, they’re somewhat justified. Ultimately, the combination of party-oriented beats with explicit lyrics helps Benton capture a unique style and sound.
For casual listeners, the success of this combination, is likely not frequent enough. Benton has an extraordinarily nimble flow and sense of rhythm. My Grandma’s Basement is evenly split between what the late Pimp C referre to as “Country Rap Tunes” and more contemporary Trap-styled fare, peppered with the horrorcore lyrics. While he’s skilled at both, at times, it’s as if Benton is undecided about which style he ultimately prefers. “Life In The Jungle,” “Dreams,” and “Go Off” stray from the Trap beats, and comprise a portion of the album that displays Benton speaking directly to the listener. These tracks are refreshing, especially when considering that they are antithetical to others like “Don’t Act” and “PBR & Reefer,” which are synthesizer-heavy and sing-songy at times. The Trap-ish endeavors are not a collective failure as, “My Adidas” and “My Grandma’s Basement” succeed both lyrically and musically, and should suffice for Hip Hop fans of all subgenres.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to My Grandma’s Basement is the utter vulgarity. As previously stated, Benton is a smart emcee, and his lyrics suggest this. When you hear Big Rube’s Interlude, listeners will likely wish similar content was incorporated into more of the actual songs. Benton’s liberal use of the word “faggot” and violent language are bound to upset some listeners. His track “Heart Attack” is quite dark and eerily similar to Eminem’s “Kim,” where the protagonist ends up murdering an ex-lover. Originality notwithstanding, content like this is often risky, though it is relevant to the Horrorcore inclinations.
Without question, Benton’s array of flows is very impressive, but his rhymes are oftentimes more for shock value than true creativity. For some, this will likely limit the album’s replay value. It is as if his darker motives are justified by these flashes of artistic ingenuity, and his occasional touches of humor keep the listener interested. Unfortunately, a lack of stylistic cohesion, both lyrically and musically, take away from My Grandma’s Basement as a whole.
so dope ill flow crazy lyrics on point
Fair review, I’m guessing.
Can’t wait to listen to this, i’m pretty sure it’s going to be dope!
Jarren’s finna take this game over, on the way to becoming XXL 2014 Freshmen. Watch out for this killa
Jarren killing bars and Kato killing beats
JAAAAARRREENNNNN BENNTOONNN
Great album!
This album is hot ya’ll trippin
Jarren is such a beast. This whole album is dope! #FV4LIFE! #TURNITUP!
Good Job, Jarren!
Whats good nigga!!!
jarren benton is raw and on point, fv all day!
Jarren always steppin his game up cant wait to bump this on repeat #FUNKVOLUME #TURNITUP!
of cource its going to be dope its jarren benten and funk voulme is the realest people out there they talk about funny things and real stuff at the same time this main stream bullshit needs to quit funk voulme all the way
Jarren Benton for XXL Freshman Class 2014 #FV2014
Jarren is a fuckin boss on all of his tracks
Zoot
Tooz
Jarrens a beast and never disappoints
funk volume!
beast
As usual. Always underrated. This album is dope. 3 stars is very disrespectful. Funk Volume all day! Keep making raw music Jarren we need that!
haven’t heard the album yet but this review sounds accurate from the rest of Benton’s work.
FV stans are fucking crazy, they won’t let anything be called less than perfect.
Go ahead and insult me I’ll never see it.
No one cares in the least bit, lmao, especially when you haven’t heard it.
Except you just replied to it? lmaoo
I dont know why you wanna use your time on this guys… OH FUCK I did it to…
😉
amazing
5 Stars fa sho!!
Release of the year… Great,Classic Album… it has everything, that the game’s been missing in one sitting.
http://www.youtube.com/beerdrankshawty
love fv
Dope album.
cheese
Oh my gosh. This is so amazing, I bet he filled his mind with mushroom tips to come up with something that goes this hard.
Can’t stop listening to him, definitely one of my favorite rappers!
Lmao I haven’t heard it yet but if the biggest drawback is vulgarity and the use of the word faggot I think we should be ok.
yea
Fuckin awesome, the whole album is on youtube in case anyone is missing out.
Jarren benton goes hard.
fuck the fag that reviewed this album ole sensitive ass nigga lol! This album slaps hard big ups to Jarren Benton and Funk Volume!!! Dirty South Stand Up!!!
Awesome album! On repeat!
Dope, 5/5
Excellent album. I’m expecting to see him on the XXL cover next year! Keep killin it
5/5
DX is lackin in these reviews
I like horrorcore.
Snaq! It was pretty good, not perfect. Lacked cohesion.
Yo this album is an instant classic. Jarren Benton got some serious talent and Fv seems unstoppable.
lol @ the ratings from the funk volume groupies, I liked it woulda gave it a solid 3.5 but I’m voting one just to balance out the fuckery
I’m not a big fan of Jarren, but there are a couple of good tracks on this album.. He is the weakest artist on FV. This deserves the rating of 3.0 or even 3.5.
The song featuring Vinnie Paz is a monster!
Not a bad album, but definetly not worth the cash. 2 outta 5 for the real heads.
Dope
I think I’m the only one who likes Benton over everyone on FV. Well, he’s the only one who has grabbed my attention and made me listen. With the saturation of hip hop out there, it’s rare an artist gets me to sit up and listen. Benton gets a solid 4.
If you think J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper or anybody from TDE is better than Jarren or any of the funk volume camp.. Do yourself a favor and kill yourself
You see that cliff, go jump off it, this album is garbage.
Nigga are you forreal… You must be hella young for thinkin some shock rappers are better than TDE.
this album is insane! Jarren really out did himself. I better see his ass on the XXL 2014 Freshmen cover
jarren did a great job on this album. every song is great. fuck what this website reviewed it as, it’s what the fans say and most of us love it. well done jarren. funk volume doing big things this year!
It has some great tracks and some me tracks. A solid 4 from me because Bent on really has such excellent actual rapping, but content matter and his style’s lack of cohesion with some of the beats kind of detracts from the whole experience.
Love this album…Funk Volume fa life
This album is great…crazy hip hop. SwizZz, Hopsin, and Dizzy went hard. I like Elz Jenkins as well. Needs more Justin Bieber and Kevin Bacon.
about to buy it. I will say if it is anything like freebasing with kevin bacon, I’ll love it!! I can listen to every song on that album over and over!! I love it!!
Ehh, mediocre, Jarren and SwizZz are the shitty side of FV, while Dizzy seems to be the only good rapper on the label these days considering Hop drops like 2 songs a year lol.
How the hell is this the highest fan-rated album this month? Dude is trash. FV fan here.
I used to think the same of Jarren, but this album is actually good!
I hated Jarren’s verses on ‘Funk Volume 2013’ and some of his own old songs, but this is just dope.
Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing.
it is real.
great.
wow
Jarren is cool to listen to for a minute but this shit gets old quick.
No New Friends official Video Here
http://bigblogtalk.com/videooftheday
DJ Khaled Ft. Drake, Rick Ross, and LiL Wayne
Dope album
great album
dope stuff
JARRRREN BENNNTTTTON!!!!
This album sucked dick, I’d give it -5 stars if I could.
Is it you, Joke-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?
looks like someone just got busted
Amazing Album I love it!!!!!
jarren benton is a fuckin alien beast on steroids
Fv keeps my drive alive and the music raw!!!
Fv all day keeps the drive alive
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i love the way how you spam teach me please
This reveiw blows…to much”shock value”? Comparing benton to horrorcore?Get the fuck outta here.Albums great. 5 stars
impressive benton i’ll give ya that
Only 3?!
It’s a fantastic album!
Vulgarity in a Hip-hop album??? Wtf??
garbage.
it’s a decent album, he’s not really that lyrically clever…
and everything he raps about is what hopsin is against, so I don’t see how he fits into FV
5
One of the best albums I’ve heard all year.
Hopsin and FV fans are the worst. They think everyone in that shit group is good. Hopsin is the only good one. He’s decent but corny as fuck and got famous off of dissing.
really i always thought hopsin was the worst outa the group even though he started it. never liked his retarded flow. was always a dizzy wright fan before he even joined FV
Sounds like Eminem (from the early 2000s). Legit
this is a GREAT album
this album is il so what if he offends fags this is hip hop if u want that fag shit cop the gay dude kanye
U want bars?..Look up G Mo Skee…He makes Benton sound like some justin bieber rap.Dudes fckin sick.
Yeah I got that FiLTH!!
this stuff is great, sounds like a mix between Outkast and the old Eminem
OJ, I Deserve, and Heart Attack were straight rotisserie. The rest of the album was fire. This album actually rubbed off on me, and if you chill and listen to what this fool is saying/thinking you might walk away impressed. No one in the game quite like Mr. Benton. 5/5
talent
Excellent album,raw lyrics and the production is fire too
Jaaaarreeennn beeentoooonnn!!
Jarren Benton needs to be heard over mainstream shit like Yeezus and Born Sinner…
i actually agree for once… benton got overall dope flow and delivery but he spends too much time just stringing together “offensive/shocking” lyrics that have no meaning. “i’ll fucking kill you, i’m a fuckin lunatic, do bath salts, slap your mom” it’s really not hard to flow crazy when you’re just throwing together empty bars like this. but i guess i’m a fan of lyricists who don’t just write raps to write raps.
that makes you so fucking cool.
great album keep it hip hop not like kanye
Great album dont trust review
jaaaaareeen beenton
1
Solid album. Don’t think it warrants 5 stars, but disagree with the review in regards to the ‘shock’ value. Brotha Lynch Hung has proved that there will always be a place in hip-hop for controversial lyrics.
No.
Niccceeeeeeeeee
I wish I had more hands to give this album…FOUR THUMBS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!! =D
.
Jarren Benton > Dizzy Wright & Hopsin
I wouldn’t say that. With this album, Jarren truly showed his skills. Still not as good as other FV artists.
I wish the people could review the albums, the world would be better off! 5/5.
fun fact: you can review whatever the fuck you like
best album since Hopsin RAW Funkvlume taking over!
ff
40 seconds is all it got on my speakers…I can’t stand that goofy type of non-sense–it’s disrespectful to the artistry of true hip-hop.
Then again 90% of the shit yall like is, so I’m sure this will be album of the year.
what kind of dip shit retard judges an entire album or artist after only 40 seconds and then claims they know about hip-hop?
New Jay Z Magna Carta Holy Grail go get it www. hiphopgood .com
This album was fucking dope, way better than what kanye and jay-z put out.. someone whos not afraid to make music the way they want…mad respect.. peace
nigga kills shit
5 Stars
This album >>>> shit from idiot Kane Wyest
Fucking Brilliant Nigga.
Not bad
i love hopsin to death, but he just got powned by benton
This album is top quality .. Recommended !