Benny the Butcher – “The Plugs I Met” (EP Review)

Benny is a 34 year old MC from Buffalo, New York who came up as the leader of the Black Soprano Family as well as a signee to Westside Gunn & Conway‘s label Griselda Records. His first official release on the label was his Butcher on Steroids mixtape that dropped on his birthday in 2017, but it wouldn’t be until last November that he made his full-length debut on the label with Tana Talk 3. However, he’s coming back with his 4th EP inspired by a line on his last album.

After the intro skit, we dive into the first song “Crowns for Kings”. Where the Butcher teams up with Black Thought get motivational over an orchestral DJ Shay beat. The song “Sunday School” with Jadakiss & .38 Spesh get confrontational over a piano-inflicted boom bap beat from Daringer while the track “Dirty Harry” with Conway & RJ Payne is filled with battle bars over an eerie instrumental. The song “Took the Money to the Plug House” of course talks about hustling over a gloomy Alchemist beat while the penultimate track “18 Wheeler” with Pusha T gets mafioso over a godly boom bap beat & then the EP finishes off with “5 to 50”, where the Butcher reflects on his past over an atmospheric Alchemist beat.

This is neck & neck with Tana Talk 3 for his magnum opus. The production’s just as raw & the Butcher’s street tales are a lot grimier. Yet another example of Griselda being one of the hardest camps in hip hop at the current moment.

Score: 9/10