Burden of Proof

Album review

Burden of Proof, the second studio album from Griselda collective member Benny the Butcher, comes almost 20 years into a fruitful and hard-fought career. The Buffalo, New York rapper began self-releasing mixtapes in the early 2000s, developing a style of coarse, storytelling rhymes centered around themes of drug dealing, hustling, and unforgiving street life. Burden of Proof finds Benny the Butcher fully formed after years of development and growth. There's even a marked upgrade in production compared to his 2018 outing Tana Talk 3, which stuck close to the East Coast hip-hop influences that had guided the majority of Benny's work before that point. The beats on Burden of Proof still utilize the distant soul samples and in-your-face drums of that style, but high-impact production from Hit-Boy gives tracks like the Freddie Gibbs-assisted "One Way Flight" a new sense of triumph and emphasis while retaining familiar, almost nostalgic East Coast elements. Benny's performances are forceful as ever, but feel more relaxed and effortless after years of grinding out mixtapes, features, and countless songs about moving drugs and doing time in jail. Tracks like "Legend" and "Thank God I Made It" sound like they're delivered from the other side of years of struggle, with economic lyrical construction and inspired, atypical instrumentals. Several collaborators lend their talents to the album, including features from Rick Ross, Dom Kennedy, and impressive verses from both Big Sean and Lil Wayne on the victorious "Timeless."

© Fred Thomas /TiVo