Conway the Machine – “You Can’t Kill God with Bullets” review

Brand new LP & the 5th overall from Buffalo, New York emcee Conway the Machine. Blowing up a decade ago as part of the 3 OGs of Griselda Records alongside his brother Westside Gunn & their cousin Benny the Butcher, the trio have had hip hop on lock ever since their arrival by their constant work ethic balancing quality & quality as well as vividly detailing their lives in the streets. Con’s full-length debut From King to a God was my Album of the Year for 2020 & the Shady Records-backed sophomore effort God Don’t Make Mistakes is the most personal he’s ever been. Last we heard the Drumworm Music Group founder by himself was S.F.K. (Slant Face Killah), marking his Roc Nation Records debut with You Can’t Kill God with Bullets.

“Lightning Above the Adriatic Sea” produced by the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League after the “Gun Powder” intro talks about this being the musical equivalent to the Super Bowl whereas “B.M.G. (Black Man is God)” goes for a soulful boom bap vibe thanks to Sndtrak so he can discuss African American excellence. “Diamonds” featuring Roc Marciano references former WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 2-time WWE tag team champion Carlito over a Conductor Williams beat while “Hell Let Loose” featuring Tony Yayo admits that being called names doesn’t mean shit to them.

Timbaland’s instrumental on “Crazy Avery” was fortunately better than I had initially expected it to be due of his recent AI shenanigans talking about his mind being deeper than the deepest river just before “The Painter” reunites with Daringer breaking down all the problems others don’t need in their lives. After the “Undying” interlude, “Nu Devils” featuring G Herbo takes the trap route courtesy of both araabMUZIK & Beat Butcha spittin’ that gangsta shit together while “Otis Driftwood” talks about him getting better with time over a JR Swiftz beat.

“Mahogany Walls” continues the 2nd half promising that Drumwork will reign for all of eternity bringing Conductor’s lo-fi boom bap sound back in the fold while “Parisian Nights” takes a moment to celebrate success over an E. Jones instrumental with chopped & screwed vocals at the backend of it. The lead single “17.5” goes for a drumless direction stylistically using the pen to paint imagery of the gangsta lifestyle while “Attached” featuring Lady London talking about the future being nonexistent when you’re living in the past.

Apollo Brown chops up a soul sample throughout “Never Sleep” adding some kicks and snares into the picture, asking God to forgive him for his foul ways while “Hold Back Tears” talks about the feeing of losing someone in your life that was close to your heart. The Alchemist strips the drums 1 last time during “Organized Mess” detailing the life money has brought him for the past 10 years & the closer “Don’t Even Feel Real (Dreams)” sends it all off on the soulful boom bap tip talking about his success being surreal to him.

Conway taking more time with You Can’t Kill God with Bullets than he did Won’t He Do It & S.F.K. (Slant Face Killah) was a very smart idea in my opinion because as much as I love both it’s predecessors, I can certainly tell you that this is the most I’ve enjoyed an album from him since God Don’t Make Mistakes. He takes a relatable approach to songwriting relating to whatever many are doing in life whether be celebrating, dating, lost someone special or struggling with mental health all whilst maturing the feeling of Reject 2 & G.O.A.T. (Grimiest Of All-Time).

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Westside Gunn – “Heels Have Eyes III” review

Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & professional wrestling promoter/booker Westside Gunn celebrating Halloween with the final chapter of the Heels Have Eyes trilogy. Proving his legend status & that he’s a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. The success of the 4th Rope independent professional wrestling circuit has included 2-time RoW Heavyweight Champion Zilla Fatu becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion carrying on the legacy of his late father in former AJPW世界タッグ王座, FMWハードコアタッグチームチャンピオン and 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga as well as former 2-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion Real1 becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Flyweight Champion and even the current 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz becoming the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions, following up Heels Have Eyes II with Heels Have Eyes III instead of FLYGOD is an Awesome God III.

“Free Rolleys” featuring Benny the Butcher & produced by CG after an intro from former JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion Joshua Bishop begins with a boom bap instrumental & Benny dissing Freddie Gibbs whereas “Mankind” featuring Stove God Cook$ references WWE Hall of Famer, former 3-time WWE Champion, 11-time WWE tag team champion, the inaugural WWE Hardcore Champion, CWA World Tag Team Champion & TNA World Champion Mick Foley over a soulful Daringer beat.

We have Westside Gunn over a boom bap instrumental with strings during “Eddie Bauer” shouting out the titular outdoor recreation brand just before “Tito Santana” featuring Rome Streetz gives their flowers to the WWE Hall of Famer, former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion of the same name. The pianos Denny LaFlare works in during “Tiffany Blue” suit the Halloween timing & West lets off some insane rhyme schemes.

“R-Truth” salutes the former 2-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, 2-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, TNA World Tag Team Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion & 2-time WWE tag team champion who recently made his foray into country music this summer while “Babas” gives off a lo-fi boom bap vibe instrumentally referencing WWE Hall of Famer, 2-time WWE Champion & WWE Tag Team Champion Bob Backlund.

After the “Grey St.” interlude, the final song “Gus Smacker” featuring Brother Tom Sos provides a taste of what’s to come from the latter’s upcoming debut album in 2026 teaming up over this jazzy beat talking about how some people need to be using common sense & an outro from former JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion Joshua Bishop is what officially ends the Heels Have Eyes trilogy tying things up the way he started it only 25 & a half minutes earlier.

The insert of the Heels Have Eyes III states that FLYGOD is an Awesome God III will be released “soon” & whether that be within the next couple months or sometime the following year, Westside Gunn carries on his tradition of celebrating Halloween concluding what he started during WrestleMania XLI weekend curating 25 & a half minutes of the mafioso rap he’s become celebrated for with the production going from boom bap to jazz rap & drumless.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Westside Gunn – “Heels Have Eyes II” review

This is the 13th mixtape from Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter after forming the 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. The success of the 4th Rope promotion has included 2-time RoW Heavyweight Champion Zilla Fatu becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion carrying on the legacy of his late father in former AJPW世界タッグ王座, FMWハードコアタッグチームチャンピオン and 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga as well as former 2-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion Real1 becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Flyweight Champion and even the current 4-time TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz becoming the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions, releasing a sequel to Heels Have Eyes.

“Heel Cena” after the “Bommes des Garçon” intro references 17-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE tag team champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion John Cena’s short run as a heel over a vintage boom bap instrumental from CG whereas “Amira Kitchen” featuring Brother Tom Sos jazzily talking about everything working because God said it would. “Powerhouse Hobbs” featuring Benny the Butcher has to be one of the the grimiest moments here thanks to Denny LaFlare giving a nod to the current AEW World Trios Champion & former AEW TNT Champion alongside former 2-time AEW International Champion Will Ospreay leading into Conductor Williams sampling “Can You Lose by Following God” by Johnnie Frierson for “Mandela” & FLYGOD flowing all over it.

Stove God Cooks joins Westside Gunn on the Harry Fraud-produced “Brikolai Volkoff” referencing none other than the late WWE Hall of Famer & former WWE Tag Team Champion Nikolai Volkoff while “Aunt Gina” featuring Skyzoo dedicates itself to all type of people that they know from those in prison to brick movers. “Glowrealah” gives off a hypnotic boom bap vibe talking about possibly getting him a country chick just before “Prick” featuring Brother Tom Sos kicks the pianos back in effect talking about seeing dope fiends & broken dreams.

The song “Demna Left Balenci” begins the final leg of Heels Have Eyes II with DJ Muggs chopping up a soul sample & a bar referring to another current AEW World Trios Champion & former 2-time AEW TNT Champion Samoa Joe in addition to his reign as AEW World Champion while “Blow Hendry” featuring MIKE drumlessly references former TNA World Champion & the longest reigning TNA Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Astronomicon 8 this spring. The tape finishes with a sequel to the “Love U” interlude off Hitler Wears Hermes VII being used as an outro this time.

In no way am I trying to discredit the projects that followed Hitler Wears Hermes X because I enjoy And Then You Pray for Me for his attempt at experimenting with trap & Hitler Wears Hermes XI this past Valentine’s Day even if I still maintain that it felt more of a Peace FLYGOD sequel, but Heels Have Eyes II contains some of Westside Gunn’s greatest performances since what was originally the concluding chapter of his infamous mixtape series that continues today going back & forth between drumless & boom bap production with 5 other guests whose pen-games are individually unparalleled.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Benny the Butcher – “Summertime Butch 2” review

Here is the 18th mixtape from Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher. 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. We got Summertime Butch last August & only a couple months following Excelsior, a sequel to Summertime Butch has arrived.

“Jasmine” featuring Westside Gunn was a drumless opener immediately after the “Summer Feelin’” intro talking about the state of rap being the same since 2Pac got killed almost 3 decade ago over a Daringer beat only 4 days after West performed during the AEW World Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate’s entrance at All Out IV last Saturday during their defense against JetSpeed & former AEW World Trios Champions The Patriachy whereas “Hood on Fire” featuring Bruiser Wolf finds the 2 coolin’ down their respective streets after they started getting hot.

Benny rubs his success in the faces of all his detractors on “Told You So with a Mike WiLL Made-It instrumental backing him & after the “Where’s Butch?” skit, “Summer ‘25” orchestrally boasts that you can find him outside. G Herbo joins Benny on the cloudy trap crossover “Why Would I?” wanting to find a reason for forgiving the people who’ve switched up on them as their popularity in music continued to grow just before “77 Club” keeps giving the middle finger to naysayers calling him washed talking about the analytics never lying.

“Gold Plated Leica” featuring O.T. the Real brings the pair together to flex their dope line from Pittsburgh to Austin while “In the Wall featuring Bun B gets back on the trap vibes thanks to Cory Mo talking about having drug money for everyone. “Pandoras” featuring Duckman & Elcamino begins the last 5 minutes or so of Summertime Butch 2 with the trio bringing up the fact B$F’s been making the whole rap game play follow the leader all decade up to this point trying to save a few regardless of the Everybody Can’t Go lesson while “Lo Lo’s” sends off the tape with a Bink! heater advising to trust what you see & let your eyes be the proof.

The original Summertime Butch EP still remains the most polarizing entry in Benny’s discography over 11 months since it initially came out because a large crowd of people felt like he was on autopilot that whole time, but Summertime Butch 2 clears both the predecessor & Excelsior as a result of more consistency within the production & a tighter list of guests compared to the previous EP he gave us over a couple months ago.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Benny the Butcher – “Excelsior” review

Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher returning after 9 months for his 9th EP. 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 Everybody Can’t Go along with both Summertime Butch & Buffalo Butch back-to-back, Excelsior’s looking to refine the styles of those predecessors.

After the “Corner” intro, the first song “I’m the Program” is this symphonic boom bap opener suggesting you gotta laugh at life sometimes whereas “Sign Language” works in a vocal sample thanks to Harry Fraud living in the moment since too much going on. “$ & Power” featuring Skylar Blatt dabbles with trap courtesy of Daringer wanting those 2 things while “Duffel Bag Hottie’s Revenge” featuring Boldy James talks about the B$F artist currently behind bars. “Toxic” featuring Styles P returns to the boom bap to unite the Butcher with the Ghost until “B$F” featuring Fuego Base & Sule ends by repping their set.

With Excelsior, Benny continues to cement his place as one of the most important & vital voices in hip hop today continuing his evolution becoming reactivated in summertime mode with the streets watching & the culture listening. Some have jumped off the porch early & understood the game instantly, others took a lil time & some needed their hand held in every aspect and was only good at riding coattails. Then you have got people like him who’re The Chosen Few.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Westside Gunn – “Heels Have Eyes” review

Here we have the 7th EP from Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter after forming the 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. The success of the 4th Rope promotion has included 2-time RoW Heavyweight Champion & current HoG Crown Jewel Champion Zilla Fatu becoming the inaugural 4th Rope Heavyweight Champion carrying on the legacy of his late father in former AJPW世界タッグ王座, FMWハードコアタッグチームチャンピオン and 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga & even the current 3-time TNA World Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz becoming the inaugural 4th Rope World Tag Team Champions, putting together a joint pay-per-view with the Brett Lauderdale-owned deathmatch promotion Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) called For the Culture that will be taking place in Las Vegas tonight ahead of WrestleMania XLI live on the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal-owned streaming service peacock, surprise-releasing Heels Have Eyes to coincide with it.

After the “Fishscale Friday” intro, the first song “Einstein Kitchen” produced by CG is this piano-based boom bap opener taking y’all to the spot where the rhymes are cooked leading into the drumless “Goro” that Harry Fraud laced admitting that he had to go back inside the kitchen so he can go to SummerSlam XXXVIII in August that’ll mark the 1st to take place across 2 nights. “Davey Boy Smith” returns to the boom bap thanks to Denny LaFlare homaging the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WWE Hardcore Champion of the same name & the closer “Egypt” featuring Doechii on the remix soulfully references former ROH World Television Champion, NXT Champion & 3-time WWE tag team champion Tommaso Ciampa.

In what’s already been a huge week for professional wrestling with WrestleMania along with AEW Dynamite outliving WCW’s Monday Nitro as Discovery Global’s longest running wrestling show in spite of WWE Hall of Famer & former 3-time WCW Hardcore Champion Eric Bischoff, West drops off a quick 10-minute EP to warm everyone up ahead of 4th Rope’s biggest event yet with the east coast hip hop styles that’ve made GxFR so beloved in the past decade & one that I might like more than the EP he put out 5 months ago. The production balances boom bap, drumless, a hint of jazz rap & chipmunk soul fluidly on top of the iconic curator handling the vocal performances solely by himself in contrast to having a bunch of guests on it.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Westside Gunn – “Hitler Wears Hermes XII” review

Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter after forming the 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn continuing the Hitler Wears Hermes series with his 12th mixtape & the 12th installment overall. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. Initially set to come last month, the 12th chapter is here ahead of joint pay-per-view between 4th Rope & Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) called For the Culture taking place in Las Vegas during the same weekend as WWE’s WrestleMania XLI live on the Comcast Corporation subsidiary NBCUniversal streaming service peacock.

After the “Michelle World” intro, the first song “Boswell” featuring Estee Nack & Stove God Cook$ is this 5-minute boom bap opener dropping hardcore lyricism including a reference to the current ROH World Tag Team Champion & ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion Dustin Rhodes leading The Sons of Texas faction in AEW/ROH over a sample provided by Denny LaFlare whereas “Adam Page” featuring Stove God named after the former AEW World Champion, AEW World Tag Team Champion & 2-time ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Champion who became more over after his feud with former AEW World Champion, AEW World Tag Team Champion, CZW World Heavyweight Champion, CZW Wired TV Champion, 3-time DEFY World Champion, DEFY Tag Team Champion, Evolve Champion, MLW World Heavyweight Champion & NXT North American Champion Swerve Strickland talks about being crazy rich these days.

“Veert” by Estee Nack & Stove hops over a drumless piano instrumental from Daringer to showcase their skills the soulful “055” demands you praise West & Stove. “Health Science” featuring Brother Tom Sos that the homie CG slickly laced lets off shots to the head as if it’s personal leading into Brother Tom Sos sticking around for “Gumbo Yaya” having somewhat over a funkier vibe to the beat talking about them living it & having it for a grip. “East Miami” featuring Estee Nack strips the drums again to portray the gangsta lifestyle for 4 & a half minutes just before “Bury Me with a Stove” featuring Estee Nack gives their flowers to former 4-time WWE world champion, WWE United States Champion & CWA Heavyweight Champion Sid Eudy.

The only single “Outlander” finds Rick Hyde’s son & Benny the Butcher’s nephew Myles behind the boards interestingly hitting the backend of the 12th installment of the Hitler Wears Hermes saga referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WCW World Television Champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper showing some jazzier influences this time around prior to the drumless “Dump World” featuring Stove God Cook$ taking shots at those who failed at throwing dirt on their names.

Hitler Wears Hermes XI last Devil’s Night was a huge indication that the infamous series can carry on right when everyone initially thought Hitler Wears Hermes X would be the end of it & if anything, Hitler Wears Hermes XII feels more like a sequel to Peace FLYGOD other than both of Brother Tom Sos’ appearances primarily because of Estee Nack & Stove God Cook$ being featured all over it like they were on Peace FLYGOD in addition to the strong production during the 43 & a half minutes.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Westside Gunn – “Still Praying” review

Here we have the 8th studio LP from Buffalo, New York emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator & now professional wrestling promoter/booker with the foundation of his own 4th Rope independent circuit promotion Westside Gunn. Proving his legend status & that he’s to be a force to be reckoned with all in nearly a decade whether it be running one of the hottest hip hop labels in recent memory to his first 2 full-lengths FLYGOD & Supreme Blientele. He just put out the 11th installment of his infamous Halloween mixtape series Hitler Wears Hermes yesterday & is now following up And Then You Pray for Me with Still Praying.

After the “Waly Fay” intro & the “Justin Roberts” skit provided by the AEW Yapper Dapper who started in WWE over 2 decades ago, the first song “Beef Bar” produced by Denny LaFlare & Statik Selektah is a lavish boom bap opener welcoming everyone to the lifestyles of the rich & famous whereas “Max Caster” named after the former AEW World Tag Team Champion & AEW World Trios Champion of The Acclaimed dustily worries about the almighty dollar. “Dr. Britt Baker” featuring Brother Tom Sos named after the former AEW Women’s World Champion keeps it in the basement thanks to DJ Muggs introducing y’all to the dentist who gave them multi-million dollar smiles & “I Know Verdy” maintains a boom bap edge refusing to show pity.

“Speedy 40” hopped over this slow, morbid instrumental from long-time Griselda in-house producer Daringer talking about being too greedy while the cutthroat “Duran Duran” that JR Swiftz laced salutes Jeff Hardy of the current 3-time TNA World Team Champions The Hardy Boyz. “Runway Pieces at the Last Supper” works in a mellow backdrop mixed with kicks & snares reflecting on the war they used to have while “Free Shots” by Hall ‘N Nash or hip hop’s equivalent to former 2-time AEW World Tag Team Champions, ROH World Tag Team Champions, AAA Mundial Parejas Campeons, IWGPタッグ王座, & 5-time WWE tag team champions FTR after “Bike Air” interlude pays homage to incarcerated Drumwork Music Group artist Shots Almigh over a Conductor Williams beat.

The title track featuring Benny the Butcher, Boldy James, Conway the Machine & Stove God Cook$ pushes towards the final moments of Still Praying with this insane 7-minute Griselda posse cut while the song “Underground King” featuring Rome Streetz returns to the boom bap talking about how both of them are the greatest of all shit talkers including a reference to former 2-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2-time WCW World Television Champion, 3-time WCW World Tag Team Champion & 5-time WWE United States Champion Lex Luger. “LeSalle Station” properly finishes the album by reflecting on all the people that he’s lost back to back.

Coming off the most personal project that West has ever made Hitler Wears Hermes XI only 24 hours ago, he’s continuing the hot streak with a follow-up to And Then You Pray for Me that I think people are gonna like a lot more than the predecessor. The production is rooted in the traditional boom bap sound Griselda is known for in contrast to the trap heavy influences of last time & the guests all maintain his level on the mic.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Benny the Butcher – “Buffalo Butch” review

This is the 8th EP from Buffalo, New York emcee Benny the Butcher. 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 Buffalo Butch only a couple weeks after the previous EP Summertime Butch.

“Penny & Shaq” featuring 38 Spesh starts off the brief 3 track offering hopping over an extravagant beat comparing themselves to Orlando Magic veterans Penny Hardaway & Shaquille O’Neal whereas the For All the Dogs outtake “Buffalo” featuring Drake finds the pair linking up over a sample-driven instrumental from Boi-1da talking about the fact that it’s more when you earn it being iller than the illnesses haters be wishing on them. Lastly, the closer “Hard Way” featuring Fabolous officially rounds out Buffalo Butch on some boom bap shit letting it be known this fly shit ain’t cheap whatsoever.

We’ve only gotten 2 EPs from Benny this month & 3 projects from him in 2024 altogether if you include Everybody Can’t Go, but I still happen to prefer Summertime Butch only because it’s a little longer than Buffalo Butch although that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the 3 songs he dug up for us here. As opposed to the summer theme of the joint from 2 weeks ago, you only get 8 minutes worth of material shedding 16 minutes off the last one centering itself around Benny’s hometown mentality.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Benny the Butcher – “Summertime Butch” review

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: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!