Benny The Butcher -- Burden Of Proof: Review

Benny The Butcher -- Burden Of Proof

[Griselda / EMPIRE]

The rise of the mighty Griselda rap group in the late 2010’s has been a slow but steady incline towards stardom, especially in 2020. Despite the current circumstances, members Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, and Benny the Butcher have all managed to each release several projects just this year. Between Westside Gunn’s eclectic Pray For Paris and Who Made the Sunshine and Conway’s flaming debut From a King to a God, it’s been a prolific year to say the least.

Benny the Butcher finally arrives with his 2020 contribution to the Griselda catalog with Burden of Proof, which is more of a victory lap than a big break. His hit 2019 EP The Plugs I Met was his real big break that within under 25 minutes managed to pull his underrated presence into the mainstream.

More than anything, Burden of Proof feels like a continuation of the sounds on The Plugs I Met with only one big difference: renowned hip-hop producer Hit-Boy is behind the boards every track here. Consequently, Burden of Proof’s beats are much more thematically consistent and also pack that signature punch that Hit-Boy brings to all his work.

Starting with the colorful opener, Hit-Boy provides a triumphant beat emblematic of Jay-Z’s heyday, complete with charging drums and colliding horns. “Timeless” has this exciting celebratory vibe to it that sounds like something stripped from a Drake or Lil Wayne track (the latter of two is featured on the song!) The glittery sheen of all the beats here elevate Benny’s once underground vibe to the feel of a long established rap veteran.

Although he doesn’t really shake things up on Burden of Proof, Benny is still making moves in his songwriting. Like his old school predecessors, Benny is no stranger to challenging the ‘verse-hook-verse’ form like on “Sly Green” that is straight gold bar-for-bar entrancing in his hypnotic flows. But Benny still delivers on his solo tracks like on “Trade It All” where Benny calls out the fakers: “These n***** don't stick to codes, these hoes don't stick to rules. I live that life, but y'all only gangster on iTunes”.

The features on here are nothing to shake a stick at either. The aforementioned “Timeless” is expanded by the colorful feature verse from Lil Wayne and Big Sean. “War Paint” is the obligatory Griselda talent show that has all three members sharing a verse or two. “One Way Flight” has the best feature on the record with Freddie Gibbs who provides a badass chorus and one short verse on the back end. Although I would prefer more from Freddie, I appreciate the fiery density in his lyrics that makes its impact in just two measures.

I think the biggest landmark on Burden of Proof is “Thank God I Made It” which is a heartfelt meditation on Benny’s journey to wealth. Queen Naija provides the best chorus on the record between her catchy melody and gospel lyrics. Here Benny opens up deeper than ever, discussing his family and his turbulent come-up in New York. Specifically, Benny told Genius.com that he cried writing the part of this song about his brother, and how much it means to him that he finally brought it up in his music: “I cried writing that song. That day, I swear I felt my brother’s spirit. Writing that song, I cried in that studio with Hit.”

Burden of Proof is nothing necessarily new from Benny and he knows it. He acknowledges his intentions on the very first bar of the opener: “Yo, last year was 'bout brandin', this one about expandin'”. So, while this record is a victory lap, Benny uses it as an opportunity to expand his brand and delivers a few solid tracks while he’s at it.

RIYL: Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Freddie Gibbs, Lil Wayne

Listen To: “Thank God I Made It (feat. Queen Naija)”, “One Way Flight (feat. Freddie Gibbs)”