“Just wait for Tana Talk 4” - Benny the Butcher on Westside Gunn’s “Kool G”, 2019
Let me start by warning you that Plugs 2 is not Tana Talk 4. The brutally cold beats that fans associate with the Griselda sound, one of the main selling points of Benny’s 2018 breakout mixtape Tana Talk 3, mostly took a backseat on 2020’s Burden of Proof, his de facto major label debut even if he still isn’t officially signed. That record forceful and robust, but it’s built on a bigger-production style that, while expected for a wider release no matter what your mixtapes sound like, didn’t always highlight the power and authenticity of Benny the Butcher. The first single “Timeless” received a lukewarm reaction, so it didn’t lead with its best foot. The back-and-forth with Freddie Gibbs on “One Way Flight” is a Dipset-evolved standout, along with the Griselda-only “War Paint” that houses my favorite skit of 2020.
A mere five months later, Benny dropped The Plugs I Met 2, a sequel to 2019’s harsh and heavy-hitting The Plugs I Met -- “Dirty Harry” would feel bleak even on a Westside Gunn mixtape, and Benny handily outshines Pusha T on “18 Wheeler.” This round is all produced by Harry Fraud (“La musica de..”), whose spacey style most commonly associated with acts like Curren$y and Action Bronson feels like an unlikely choice for this record, although the two have been building and marinating on this project for four years. The opening “When Tony Met Sosa” starts to drive down the same lane of Proof, but overall it lands more in the middle ground between that and Tana Talk 3. Benny’s earlier solo work deserves to be explored on its own, leaning more traditional trap fare and stretching back to 2004, which then progressed to the more dismal, stripped-down style led by Daringer and the late DJ Shay. Plugs 2 undeniably has those rougher edges that fans thrive on, and gets a little rainier as it progresses through a surprisingly lengthy nine tracks.
“Live by It” lays down some West Coast instrumentation reminiscent of Dr. Dre, paired with a more stripped-down boom bap beat that serves as the backbone of Benny’s East Coast flair. “Plug Talk” is an infectious beat based around a crooning sample in Japanese, and 2 Chainz is satisfying even if he is a little outmatched on this feature. “Longevity” carries features from New York coke rap legends French Montana (who kind of phones it in) and Jim Jones (solid verse even if this cosign still haunts him). I often find myself circling back to “Talkin’ Back,” even if it's lamentable that Fat Joe threw in “Wuhan virus” for a pointless rhyme.
Benny deserves to be elevated to this next level of fame, and that needs to ring out. Countless outlets have already covered this release, his exposure reaching all time highs, but I was just inspired enough to put pen to paper. It’s not every day that a record cover with cocaine lines gets promoted on a Disney-run TV show, even if that’s not surprising for longtime fans of Jalen & Jacoby, so I’ll be singing Benny’s praises just as loud as I ever was. Let’s continue to treasure everything that Griselda is offering to the world -- watch Conflicted, buy Buffalo Kids gear, get tickets to the Burden of Plugs tour this fall, and don’t forget the EasterGunn Day 4 freestyle.
Released March 19th, 2021. Reviewed April 12th, 2021.
Comments