Less than one month ago, Benny The Butcher’s hometown of Buffalo, New York was struck by tragedy. Now, one of the city’s biggest music stars of all time is helping those who continue to suffer from what transpired on May 14 at Tops Friendly Market on the East Side. He also uses the moment to comment on the hate behind the event, and what it means about larger American society.

This week, Benny released “Welcome To The States.” The Black Soprano Family founder and Griselda Records star uses the song to donate to the 5-14 Fund. In conjunction with the loosie recorded to Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together” (as produced by The Alchemist, Emile Hayne, J.LBS, and Bekon), Benny is donating 100% of the profits from the sale of a limited edition “Pray For Buffalo” t-shirt to the Buffalo 5-14 Survivors Fund. The charity is in partnership with Top’s Supermarkets, and has reportedly raised $2.5 million to date; all of which is being paid directly to the victims and survivors of the mass shooting.

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“Welcome to the states, where we dyin’ of our skin color and race / Ideologies formed of hate, now the grocery stores ain’t safe / They shoot us unarmed but they took and paintin’ it without a scrape,” begins Benny. The song gets even more politically charged. “Firearms legal when Republican state’s in, you can’t be mad at it / ‘Cause the suits that vote on these laws don’t deal with our challenges / So them laws get passed to protect themselves from savages / White nationalists turn they views and guns on Jews and Africans / Lately, I’ve been traveling abroad as an entertainer / And frankly, it made me look at my country a little bit stranger / Mass shooting in my city, eight minutes from where my block at / Saw innocent people shot at a supermarket I shop at / Y’all using that to antagonize rappers? I never got that / Before them CNN and Fox chats, explain to me where was y’all at?” While admitting that he has been a customer at the Tops location, Benny points out the political propaganda that reverberates after 10 people died.

Benny, who has made incredible songs about firearms before, is not afraid to speak about his position. “Guess this gon’ make me a hypocrite, but considering I’m human / And also, I know the difference is from street laws and innocents / They gon’ act like they care and end up just runnin’ they mouth / And don’t no money come out of them fake GoFundMe accounts / It’s time we protect our women, ’cause our mothers don’t feel safe / My sisters leaving work late, and I ain’t supposed to have this Drac? / My man Frost lost his mama, try to put yourself in his place / Hurtin’ for him, how I’m gon’ save my own people without a cape?”

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The potent lyrics, sharp commentary, and gesture of charity follows Benny’s Tana Talk 4 album. Released on Griselda, that collection includes appearances by J. Cole, Puff Daddy, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, and Stove God Cooks. Alchemist and Daringer handle production. Following an extensive indie career, The Butcher is said to be at work on his Def Jam Records debut.

New Benny music is currently included on the official Ambrosia For Heads playlist.

#BonusBeat: A recent AFH What’s The Headline podcast about Benny The Butcher’s Tana Talk 4 album: