Benny’s Tana Talk 4 Is A Bold Reminder That The Butcher Is A Cut Above The Rest

This past Friday (March 11) kicked off one of the biggest weekends for Hip-Hop in quite some time. Benny The Butcher released his highly-anticipated Tana Talk 4 album. Released the same day, Kxng Crooked and Joell Ortiz’s joint album chronicles the demise of their Slaughterhouse group, conveying frustration and laying some blame on the other half of the quartet: Joe Budden and Royce 5’9. Meanwhile, Richmond, Virginia’s Fly Anakin dropped Frank, an album with Madlib production that deserves serious attention.

In the latest episode of What’s The Headline (offered as video and audio below), the Ambrosia For Heads team offers a track-by-track review of Benny’s new release that features J. Cole, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Stovegood Cooks, Boldy James, and 38 Spesh. Alchemist, Daringer, and Beat Butcha are the musical helm for the latest update in a series that dates back to Benny’s pre-Griselda days. “With Tana Talk 4, I have a chip on my shoulder. No one thinks I can recreate that energy. I’m not trying to create the same energy, but [Tana Talk 3] was who I was then, what I was going through. The things you hear me talking about on Tana Talk 4, is me now and who I’ve become. It’s special to me, because I get to talk about things that I would never talk about on any other project. Tana Talk is the series where you get me, my deepest, darkest feelings,” The Butcher said in a press release. “I’m sure people are going to be surprised at the things I’m saying on TT4, but they are also going to get an inside look at things.”

Joe Budden, Royce 5’9 And Joell Ortiz Argue About Slaughterhouse & It Ends Badly

Many of those things are analyzed with the What’s The Headline conversation, with lots of questions and curiosities surrounding TT4‘s sequencing, song themes, and Benny’s take on making a Biggie Smalls’ sequel.

The time codes for episode #78 of the What’s The Headline podcast:

0:00 Intro
2:40 Benny The Butcher has released his Tana Talk 4 album
4:30 Was “Johnny P’s Caddy” the best way to kick off the album’s promo cycle?
6:26 What makes Benny The Butcher’s Tana Talk series different from his other music?
13:50 Reviewing Tana Talk 4 song by song
13:50 “Johnny P’s Caddy” was a surprising way to start the album
18:25 Alchemist is at the top of his game as a producer on “Johnny P’s Caddy”
21:25 “Back 2x” – Daringer and Beat Butcha are 2 of Hip-Hop’s most prolific producers
24:00 Stove God Cooks has become a strong addition to Griselda
26:30 Benny The Butcher believes he is a top 10 MC
29:22 Benny The Butcher speaks on how real he is on “Super Plug,” produced by The Alchemist
32:44 “Weekend In The Perry’s”- Benny The Butcher says he is Westside Gunn’s best investment. Is it true?
38:44 Benny The Butcher has made a sequel to Biggie’s classic with “Ten More Crack Commandments”
43:00 A list of Benny The Butcher’s 10 crack commandments
49:10 “Tyson vs. Ali” showcases Benny The Butcher and Conway The Machine as two of Hip-Hop’s best MCs
55:15 “Uncle Bun” features Benny The Butcher and 38 Spesh on a Daringer production
56:57 “Thowy’s Revenge” finds Benny The Butcher rapping as fast as we’ve ever heard him flow
1:01:34 Benny The Butcher discusses the consequences of hustling on “Billy Joe”
1:03:44 “Guerrero” features Benny The Butcher and Westside Gunn, with Benny saluting a key founder of Death Row Records
1:06:40 “Bust A Brick Nick” offers another top shelf Alchemist production, with Benny making a reference to his recent shooting
1:08:48 “Mr. Chow Hall” closes Tana Talk 4
1:10:34 How would Tana Talk 4 change if “Johnny P’s Caddy” was the album’s last song
1:12:12 How does Tana Talk 4 compare to the rest of Benny The Butcher’s catalog?
1:15:00 Is Tana Talk 4 the best album of 2022 so far?
1:16:17 Joell Ortiz and Kxng Crooked have released The Rise And Fall Of Slaughterhouse, an album that details all of their grievances with the group
1:31:41 Fly Anakin’s Frank is one of the best Rap albums of 2022 so far

Benny The Butcher Details His Shooting For The 1st Time

AFH readers can catch regular discussions about the culture on our What’s The Headline. The podcast also has interviews with Joell Ortiz, AZ, Blu & Mickey Factz, Kurupt, Evidence, Skyzoo, Pharoahe Monch, Prince Paul & Don Newkirk, Statik Selektah, Lyric Jones, The LOX, MC Eiht, Havoc, Duckwrth, photographer T. Eric Monroe, and Lord Finesse. All episodes of the show are available to view or for listening wherever you stream your pods.

Press photo by John Canon provided by Benny The Butcher.

#BonusBeat: New music from Benny The Butcher, Joell Ortiz, Kxng Crooked, and Fly Anakin is currently on the official AFH playlist: