In a crew that stands synonymous with quality, Benny The Butcher has remained — in the minds of many — a best-kept secret, or (more specifically) a secret weapon. They all hold their own, but with Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine having established themselves a little more, Benny had carved out his role as the guy with the fire guest verses over the past few months.
That, however, was until this past Friday when Benny dropped Tana Talk 3, which is (depending on how long you’ve been following the Buffalo MC) his official debut. Led off with the single ”Joe Peshi 38,” the project is packed with attitude and more quotable punchlines than we can print.
https://youtu.be/78hfbuQrV0o
Sitting at 14 songs, and produced entirely by Alchemist and in-house producer Daringer, the project is all the things you love about everything Griselda ever drops, but with this extra layer of sonic consistency crafted by the two upper-echelon grimy beatsmiths. They form like Voltron for one of the project’s centerpieces, the two-part “‘97 Hov.”
https://youtu.be/trrZWOnKpvM
The more you learn about the crew, the more realize that their pool of stories are miniature icebergs that go deeper than you can imagine. As far as authenticity goes in today’s industry, Benny calmly runs through snapshots of his past in a way that does little to glorify the street shit, but rather loosely frame his life as the collective experiences the led him to his current position.
One example is “Langfield, ” where Benny relives how his mother went from selling to using. “Times change, fast forward, she a smoker, ain’t adapt/To the harsh ways of the game and it’s plain as that/I don’t blame her, but that’s probably why this the way I act,” he raps.
Or there’s the schooling he gives his nephew on “Broken Bottles,” when he catches him dealing. “Just know the consequences if they catch you with it,” he rhymes, adding that he’s willing to show him how to do it properly.
As Hov himself once described Reasonable Doubt — an allusion to which Westside Gunn has made in at least two separate social posts about the album — TT3 is audibly something that took a lifetime to craft.
The concept of everything relating back to drug dealing is prevalent, but considering his past, it seems to echo a commendable sense of honesty. Tana Talk 3 is dark, powerful, and beaming with a certain energy that’s hard to fake. This isn’t a swag rapper looking for clout, a future industry fawn fest, or knockoff Top 40. This is the diary of an MC who marched the frontline and made it out to tell the tale in vivid detail. He should likely change his catchphrase to “The Butcher’s here,” at this point.
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Album is dope, gritty, authentic NY sound, production is top notch too. Benny is on his a-game as usual Alchemist & Daringer ensure the album sounds cohesive. The Griselda camp are definitely my favourite hip hop camp out right now. Fire! We just need that Conway solo album now!
He dropped a physical copy of Everbody is food last month not on digital platforms yet but on YouTube
Ummm that’s Conway
Fucking fire album. New York and just the East Coast Hip Hop scene is thriving In 2018. Love it. Great album Joe Pesci 38, Who are you?, 97 Hov and Westsides hook on Echo Long is iconic. 5/5
This shit is very hard. Benny is definitely a beast on the mic. Gritty raw and dope as hip hop right here!
Well deserved
Griselda is killing everyone
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Quality East Coast Reality Rap…Shit is DOPE
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AOTY 5/5
Shit is a masterpiece.
Album is heat!!
Heat from start to finish
Album is ? ? ?. I thought Griselda was dope but this album whole another level. Damn Benny you killed it. Hats off. 5 of 5
Addicted to this album
Benny brought the fire with this project from beginning to the end.
This is one of the hardest and raw hip-hop albums of this year. Benny delivered the gut and uppercut punch with his rugged yet potent delivery in his rhymes and giving us the glimpse of his past life in the streets of Buffalo N.Y.
Alchemist and Daringer came with the dark, grimy, raw production with the horns, drums, pianos throughout the record.
This is a album for all the hip-hop heads looking for dope rhymes dope beats and street knowlegde
Dope Artist.. Real Rap Represented..
EXCELLENT ALBUM. GRIMY, GREAT BARS AND BEATS. THIS DEFINITELY CRACKS MY TOP 10 THIS YEAR.
Back to Back Classics delivered here….Tana Talk 3 on Repeat…That Rubber bands and weight. .The Butcher out did himself with this one
I was born in ’83 and grew up in north jersey. This album right here is so east coast it’s crazy. This is like a time capsule of 90s music. A mix of nas, beanie seigel, wu tang, lox and dip set. This shit right here is no frills street talk. The ups and downs, the how’s and why’s, good and bad. And the beats fit perfectly. He got this shit off!
1/5
1
5 mics
Solid project from Benny. This is the first time I have heard anything from him, but I have heard many people include this project specifically in their 2018 AOTY lists. I was expecting some hard-hitting and grimy ass hip-hop; and that’s exactly what we got with this project. Each track just has straight bars and eerie boom bap beats. My favorite tracks are definitely Broken Bottles and Rubber Bands and Weight; which are both produced by the Alchemist. My main complaint is that I think that Alchemist’s contributions overshadow the other producer’s beats, which are produced by Daringer. Benny has clearly been influenced by mid-90s era East Coast hip hop emcees like Jay-Z (even has a song on the project called 97 Hov where he has a similar flow and presence), Raekwon, and Biggie. Although I think that the project declines in quality a little towards the end of the project, Benny has proven himself as a really great emcee. Would love a full project with him and Uncle Al.
Strong 7/10
U gay like Lil Nas X
Hardest album I’ve heard in a while
INCREDIBLE. REAL HIP HOP IS BACK. 5/5
This is Hard Man!!!!!
Hard As Fuck
One of the best albums ever made.
AOTY. Probably my favorite Griselda album, and honestly on the the most complete albums, start to finish, we’ve gotten in a while.