Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher putting out his 7th EP full of summer anthems. Being in the game for 2 decades already, it wouldn’t be until 2016 where he alongside his cousins Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine would take the culture by storm off projects like Tana Talk 3 & The Plugs I Met. Harry Fraud came in for a sequel to the latter following the mature Burden of Proof & finally, Tana Talk 4 took it back to the basement a couple years back. Coming off having Hit-Boy produce half of it & leaving the other half to The Alchemist produce his Def Jam Recordings debut & my album of the year so far Everybody Can’t Go, we’re now being treated to Summertime Butch.
“1 Verse Butch” starts us off with the Butcher over a piano/boom bap hybrid speaking that slick, street, intellectual drug shit whereas the soulfully dusty “The Most” talks about making it out of the hood alive & taking a lot for him for that to even happen. After the “Sundress & Sandle Season” interlude, “Knightfall” keeps the kicks & snares in tact advising not to let any static stop your business & the only single “Summer ‘24” gives off a symphonic boom bap flare instrumentally looking to shut the block down.
My favorite track here “Kitchen Table” hops over a smooth Harry Fraud beat continuing to discuss the dope game & after the “Peachtree” interlude, “The Blue Building” brings the soul vibes back in the fold mixed with hi-hats from STREETRUNNER playing more than simply a distributor role. “The Warehouse 3” featuring Elcamino, Fuego Base & Rick Hyde is this guitar-laced successor to both “Warehouse” tracks off Fuego’s debut Biggest Since Camby & “Higher” luxuriously ends the EP taking y’all to a greater level.
Everybody Can’t Go still remains my album of the year so far 8 months later & yet, Summertime Butch still stands out on its own going for a completely different vibe than the Def Jam debut did at the very beginning of 2024 telling us the biggest lesson Benny’s learned. The balance between boom bap & trap remains prevalent, he’s simply giving us 24 minutes & 8 songs for you to enjoy with only little time left of summer itself.
Score: 7/10
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