The two dead rappers Benny The Butcher wishes he could work with
When Benny The Butcher announced himself to the world in the late 2010s, his sound was both a flashback to street rap greats and an introduction to a new era ushered in by the Griselda crew. He was influenced by the best in the business, ranging from Jay-Z to Kool G Rap, making himself known alongside Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine.
He’s also been inspired by many figures who are no longer with us. Many of hip-hop’s biggest stars have lost their lives as a result of gun violence, bringing an abrupt end to many stories that were still flourishing before our eyes. Benny was once asked to name a dead rapper he wishes he could have collaborated with, and he had a quick answer: Biggie Smalls.
Speaking to Complex, he said, “I’m going to say Christopher Wallace. I gotta go with Big. If you would’ve gave me three, I would’ve added more names in there. Big is like—he’s one of the fathers of this shit, and a nod from a person like that means a lot. I would’ve loved to get on the record and slick talk with Big.”
Benny has worked with The LOX’s Jadakiss several times on ‘Gods Don’t Bleed’ by Westside Gunn, ‘Sunday School’ from The Plugs I Met, and ‘Pillow Talk and Slander’ from Everybody Can’t Go. He claimed that Jada, who collaborated with Biggie numerous times, told him the late rapper would have been a fan of his. “I remember kicking it with ‘Kiss, and he was like, ‘Big would’ve love y’all n*ggas,'” he recalled.
Although he never collaborated with Biggie, Benny does have a song with his longtime collaborator, Diddy, that pays homage to The Notorious B.I.G. ’10 More Commandments’ appears on Tana Talk 4, and was inspired by Biggie’s classic ’10 Crack Commandments’ from Life After Death. Diddy features on the intro and outro of Benny’s record.
Another deceased rapper on his wish list is Nipsey Hussle, who was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 2019. “God bless the dead,” he said. “I like what bro stood for. That was a tragedy. I like what he was going with. He was about his business. He was good on the mic, and it is like the way he made street commercial records. I loved it. I never got to meet bro, but I definitely would’ve loved to work with him.”
Benny has something in common with Nipsey. Producer Hit-Boy, who handled the entirety of Burden of Proof and the majority of Everybody Can’t Go, collaborated with Nipsey during his lifetime. They most famously teamed up on ‘Racks in the Middle’, which won ‘Best Rap Performance’ at the Grammy Awards in 2020.
Hit-Boy once revealed that Benny and Nipsey are the only two rappers to shed tears in the studio with him. “Only 2 artists cried in the stu while making a record with me in the last couple years,” he wrote on X. “Nipsey Hussle when he recorded the second verse on ‘Racks in the Middle’ and Benny The Butcher on ‘Thank God I Made It’. Real gangsta shit if you ask me. It’s spiritual at this point.”