Benny the Butcher and Drake to go Bar for Bar

5.12.20

@getbenny

Benny the Butcher and Drake have both taken turns teasing a collaboration in the neat future. Each have gave shout outs to the other in past interviews, and after Drake’s Rap Radar interview where he said guys like Griselda that go bar for bar are a dying bread, Benny took it upon himself to send Drake a track to lay a verse on. Drake responded with a typewriter emoji, so we know he’s planning on sending the track back with some work on there. Can he keep up with Griselda, though?

Benny the Butcher is one of three members from the rap collective, Griselda. The other two artists whom make up the crew are brothers Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine. The three rappers from Buffalo, New York formed Griselda Records in 2014, then later in 2017 signed a deal to the Shady Records Label. The talent of the three is undeniable, but a different approach to rap music than the kids are used to today. Wherever hip-hop changed down the road, and became all auto-tuned and usually pop or even rock and roll esque, Griselda never changed their hardcore style and rhymes. Therefore, singing with Shady Records has been huge for Griselda, as they’ve been getting a lot of noise around the industry as of late.

Conway dropped an EP called ‘Lulu’ produced by Alchemist on March 23rd, and has also announced his debut Shady Records album, ‘God Don’t Make Mistakes’, which we hope to hear soon. This Friday, he has a project coming out entitled, ‘No One Mourns The Wicked,’ produced by an anonymous internet producer known as Big Ghost LTD. Westside Gunn dropped ‘Pray for Paris’ April 17th, which should be doing numbers. Benny has been putting out singles regularly, but he is about to take a step up from everyone in the rap game right now by earning a co-sign and feature from Drake. Where Griselda’s sound is such hard, old-school rap bars, fans who are familiar with both artists may wonder why the two would get together. Drake many times sounds more like a pop-star, than a hip-hop artist, let alone someone that runs alongside Griselda. After already having co-signs from Eminem and Jay-Z, Griselda is no stranger to top name artists, but Benny explains why this Drake feature is so important to him.

Drake was a rapper, who adapted his skills to what he was really good at. His singing and song-writing ability is what eventually separated him from the bunch. Benny explains in recent interviews, that he truly believes Drake’s pen game is crazy, and he wants to be on a track with one of the greatest in the industries, today. There is also some strategy here. Not only does Drake getting on this song with Benny add an additional major co-sign to his resume, but it opens a whole lot of new eyes on Griselda. There are definitely people out there that have yet to hear about Benny, or perhaps Griselda at all. However, when Drake puts out a new track, they’re going to gravitate. The same happened for Bloc Boy JB, Lil Baby and many others, after getting their big breaks with a hit single with a feature from Drake himself. Embracing the lyrical talent that these guys have, this may bring back old-school rap to our radios today. It will also be extremely interesting to see the direction Drake takes his verse. We’ve seen him try out many styles, and I do think he will go bar for bar here, per Benny’s request. Of course, I know who will out bar the other, but hey now, everyone has their specialty.