Life is too short to listen to bad music. So…let Ambrosia For Heads sift through it for you and only supply you with that great stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, it’s better than it’s ever been. Not only can we go back and listen to all of our favorites at the click of a button, but there is also a ton of great music still being made by artists, young and veteran alike…if you know where to look. To help with that task, we’ve created a playlist with recently released music. We update it regularly, so subscribe to follow us on Spotify if you like what you hear.

The new standard for 2022 has been set, thanks to Benny The Butcher, J. Cole, and The Alchemist. At the stroke of midnight, Benny released the first look from Tana Talk 4, due later this year. To revive his acclaimed album series (that dates back over 15 years), Benny links with J. Cole for “Johnny P’s Caddy” and delivers the song with a music video. The Griselda Records track is produced by Alchemist, who divides the 2022 album duties with Daringer—the same duo responsible for TT3.

No MC Has Been Better Than Benny The Butcher The Last 2 Years

On Wednesday, Benny tweeted a cryptic warning that he was intent on making “the competition real uncomfortable again.” “Johnny P’s Caddy” does just that. In the opening verse, Benny begins, “This ain’t my story ’bout rags to riches / More ’bout how I mastered physics / In the game, I used to train like Rocky, catchin’ chickens / I was nice, but they was right when they told me that Rap a business / I had 10 bands in my stash when I passed over half a million / Come easily? No. Good, don’t be surprised I outlast these ni**as / It’s like they put out a smash thеn they gone in a flash, admit it / And then thеy made tracks and diss us like that’s gon’ add up the digits / They showin’ fake racks in pictures like that’s gon’ attract the b*tches / That was really me, ni**a, I ain’t have to act in Conflicted / Only difference is I’m livin’, and I would’ve whacked one of ’em ni**as.” Benny references last year’s film, starring Griselda. He closes out the verse with emphasis: “My ability, to turn words to imagery prolly the reason they gon’ remember me / Figure me, walk this tightrope with a feline’s agility / The streets did so much sh*t to me, I can never live civilly / I can never leave the scene without checkin’ my mirrors visually / Come with that energy ’cause some sh*t gon’ always stick with me / They wanna know what I brought to Griselda, I say, ‘validity’ / They askin’ ‘What work y’all ni*&as put in?’, I’m like, ‘What didn’t we?’ / Problems that I correct through the obstacles I progress / Illogical for them to feel they responsible for our success / Besides Con’ and West, tell me who else I gotta respect / ‘Cause I’m kinda perplexed, it’s ’bout time that I got my respect.” Benny, who was snubbed by the upcoming Grammy Awards without a nomination, clearly has something to prove.

Cole, who has been overlooked and snubbed in the past, matches that energy on some supreme-yet-subtle ALC production. “On the night I was born, the rain was pourin’, God was cryin’ / Lightnin’ struck, power outage, sparks was flyin’ / The real one’s here, the young boy that walk with lions / Around the outlines of chalk where the corpses lyin’ / Of course I’m tryin’ to revive a sport that’s dyin’ / But the guns and the drug bars that y’all relyin’ / Got these nerds thinkin’ that you ni**as hard as I am / But that just mean I ain’t as comfortable as y’all with lyin’ / Stretchin’ the truth, no, I never stress in the booth / They feel the pressure, me I feel like I just left the masseuse / Effortless, how I’m skatin’ on these records was proof / I put your favorite rapper neck in a noose, never lettin’ them loose.” Cole, who previously laced Royce 5’9, Rapsody, and 21 Savage with stunning feature verses, may have outdone himself.

Snoop Dogg Has Signed Benny The Butcher To Def Jam

Sometimes too modest, Cole pushes humility to the side in his guest shot. “Cold World, the heater blast through your speaker / He the last of Mohicans, no weaklings last in my sneakers / Ni**a want me on a song, he gon’ see the wrath of the reaper / I’m prolly gon’ go to Hell if Jesus ask for a feature / I’m higher than ni**as and don’t need a bag full of reefer / Some see the glass as empty, I see a glass full of ether / Collectin’ his bread in mass like he a Catholic preacher / Just to count a ni**a cash, you might need a calculus teacher / Eureka, Einstein on the brink of the theory of relativity / Really no MC equal, feel me? / Cole pen be lethal, crib like an old MTV show, uh / On God, the best rapper alive / Headshot, now go and ask the best rappers that died / They tell you he never lied.” After poking at the G.O.A.T conversation last year with “Heaven’s EP,” Cole crowns himself.

In the video, Benny and Cole rap in a low-lit room while cops appear at a mini-mart. During J’s part, there is a dramatic allusion to his birth. Two years ago this month, The Butcher was present during the Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 sessions. However, he did not make the final version of the Grammy-nominated compilation. The song’s artwork features Benny and his father in a 1980s Cadillac. A press release explains, “[It was] the same Caddy his Father used to transport Benny and Westside Gunn around in and listen to music together; which would prove to be very influential in shaping Benny’s musical palette.”

Why J. Cole Is The Tim Duncan Of Hip-Hop

LPs by Benny, Cole, and Alchemist (via Armand Hammer) were all included in AFH‘s Best 14 Albums Of 2021 list.

On the AFH playlist, you listeners can also hear recent Benny collaborations with Rick Ross and his Griselda crew-mates, as well as new music from Rome Streetz & Ransom, AZ, Boldy James & Alchemist, Mach-Hommy, DJ Premier & 2 Chainz, plus more.

A New Mix Blends Benny The Butcher & J Dilla To Perfection

#BonusBeat: AFH’s most recent interview with Benny The Butcher, covering The Plugs I Met: