TANA TALK 3: 5 YEARS LATER
By: Jake Delforte
On November 23, hip-hop celebrated the five year anniversary of Benny the Butcher’s modern classic Tana Talk 3. This album is a concise body of work that cemented Benny as a major player in the underground scene and helped establish Griselda Records’ gritty soundscapes. As Griselda continues to grow in popularity and Benny prepares to release his first major label debut (Everybody Can’t Go, coming in January from Def Jam), let's turn the clock back and take a deep dive into the project that let the world know: THE BUTCHER COMIN!
Benny’s secret to success is quite simple; and that would be the perfect curation of beats and rhymes. Starting with the production, Tana Talk 3 was entirely produced by Daringer, Griselda’s in-house producer, and The Alchemist, a twenty plus year veteran whose sound has been the backbone of underground hip-hop for over a decade.
The album begins with “Intro: Babs,” produced by Daringer. A triumphant horn loop and relaxed boom-bap groove gives Benny the perfect backdrop for a victory lap around Buffalo, N.Y. Daringer continues to capture the sonic essence of cold winter nights in western New York on “Goodnight” and “Scarface vs. Sosa, Pt. 2.” We get our first Alchemist beat on track four, “Rubber Bands and Weight.” The instrumental picks up the pace and matches Benny’s building intensity on the track.
My personal favorite beat on the record, though, is from The Alchemist on “Broken Bottles.” The loop is haunting, the bass is booming, and there are so many intricate sound elements that add layers of depth to the production. Although Daringer and The Alchemist stick to the boom-bap blueprint that Griselda is known for, there is diversity in the beats across the project. Do you like piano beats? Check out “‘97 Hov.” Vocal samples? Try “Who Are You.” Rock instrumentation? “All 70.”
However, the essential pillar of Tana Talk 3 is Benny’s lyricism, specifically his multisyllabic rhyming ability. From front to back, Benny tells coherent stories while consistently rhyming three to seven syllables at a time. “Broken Bottles” is a masterclass in rhyming, where Benny raps about the positive and negative perspectives he has gained throughout his life on the streets:
Let’s take a look at “Fifty One,” which has an equally impressive pattern for its drug-heavy lyrics:
Besides the amount of technical ability that this level of rhyming takes, these complex schemes shape Benny’s flow. The cadences are dizzying and hard hitting, falling perfectly within the pockets that Daringer and The Alchemist create.
The lyrics themselves provide cinematic imagery that takes the listener to Montana Ave in Buffalo. On “‘97 Hov,” Benny raps “Duct tape for the blocks, black tape for the strap / Bently in the parking lot, ashtray full of pack.” Just this two bar sequence could be written as a movie scene: I can visualize being in a hazy car, watching the last bits of a roach burnout in an ashtray, waiting to kick the getaway vehicle into gear. To further prove my point, the first bar on the record is “I’m from a cold city / Westsides and Conways, ain’t no Biggies.” The listener is introduced to the frozen and raw world of Griselda from the instant Benny starts rapping.
After five years, Tana Talk 3 has stood the test of time as a modern day classic. Benny does not waste a second on this project. If you haven’t given this record a spin, do so! It gets better with every listen.