Benny the Butcher Is a Cut Above at Skydeck

Benny the Butcher at Skydeck, 8/15/2024
Photo: Victor J. Reed

In conversation with poet Tiana Clark onstage at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater during his 2019 book tour for The Water Dancer, author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates retold the story of the first time he heard Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind.” The track is a highlight of Nas’ debut Illmatic, rightfully considered a work of genius a full three decades after its release. What Coates hears in the song is a lyricist elevating street culture to high art, and he said he envies the Brooklyn rapper’s ability to create a complete narrative using so few words. There’s an entire crime story that takes up only one eight-line verse, which goes in part: “Heard a few chicks scream / My arm shook, couldn't look / Gave another squeeze, heard it click / ‘Yo, my shit is stuck.’”

Nas is among a cadre of MCs who have a bulletproof track record for spinning a brilliant tale with only a beat, a microphone and three minutes of lines that rhyme. Few would dispute that the list also includes Ice Cube, Guru, Lupe Fiasco, Big Pun and Ghostface Killah. Based on his show Thursday at Skydeck on the roof of Fifth + Broad — an appearance that concluded a run of the venue’s free show series Skydeck Sessions — I think it’s time we add another: Benny the Butcher.

Born Jeremie Pennick, the Buffalo, N.Y., native goes by a handle that sounds like it belongs to a big-screen hitman with a grisly reputation. As part of the Griselda Records clique of upstate New York rappers, Benny has been on the fringes of the underground since he was still a teenager, and released his first mixtape Tana Talk more than 20 years ago. In an industry that tends to reward a fast-food pace (and mentality), he cooks slowly, steadily expanding his scope while staying rooted in the East Coast boom-bap sound. He scored big in 2022 with Tana Talk 4; it features the J. Cole collab “Johnny P.’s Caddy,” which netted Benny his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. Released in January, Everybody Can’t Go is his first album for starmakers Def Jam, featuring household names like Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss and Lil Wayne. Benny made his debut in Music City on the heels of the Aug. 9 release of Summertime Butch, a 10-track set featuring the gritty “Kitchen Table,” which keeps him close to home with help from his Black Soprano Family crew.

At Skydeck, 8/15/2024
Photo: Victor J. Reed

If you’re visiting Skydeck for the first time, you might not realize that it’s a separate venue from any of the stages in Assembly Food Hall; Skydeck is one level up, a covered space on the top floor of the building that’s open to the city on the sides. As Brooklyn’s DJ Stakz warmed up the crowd, I peered over the railing onto Broadway, half expecting a blast of noise to blow my hair back like in a cartoon. However, all the chaos was some 60 feet below us and didn’t interfere.

Tim Gent at Skydeck, 8/15/2024
Photo: Victor J. Reed

About 30 minutes later, one of Nashville’s most gifted MCs took the stage: Tim Gent, who hasn’t released heaps of new singles or albums lately but has been hard at work behind the scenes. Appropriately enough, Gent was also booked by storied promoters Lovenoise to open for Nas when he performed with the Nashville Symphony in 2021. His set was only about half an hour, but he used the time wisely and paused only to introduce his two guests, top-notch R&B singer Bryant Taylorr and fellow Nashville rapper Case Arnold. A quick scan of the giant patio showed me that the Nashville hip-hop community — including stellar rappers and engaged community organizers Mike Floss and Gee Slab — showed up to support Gent.

After a longer-than-expected intermission during which Stakz kept the beat rocking, Benny the Butcher was finally ready at about 10:30 p.m. A loop of black-and-white footage on the screen behind the stage accompanied his whole set with images that reinforced his ruthless commitment to excellence, including clips from the The Sopranos, LeBron James’ legendary block on Andre Iguodala in the 2016 NBA Finals and Steph Curry’s world-famous “Night Night” celebration.

Benny barely took a breath, perhaps having to rush the set a bit before the outdoor event had to end to comply with Metro regulations; he didn’t get to banter as much as you might hope given his knack for storytelling. While I expected a lot of material from the two albums he’s released this year, he pulled out a lot of old favorites. One that got a lot of love from the crowd was “Rubber Bands & Weight” from 2018’s Tana Talk 3. It’s a prime showcase for his lyrical ability, with an elegance similar to what Coates praised in “N.Y. State of Mind,” and it reflects a tenet of the Butcher’s philosophy: “I was young, the plug said / ‘Just be patient, I’m’a hit you / Shit slow, work with me / Just take what I can give you’ / I took that, doubled back and got greater / I continued.”

As his fame grows, Benny the Butcher has access to slicker sonic production and more marketing muscle. But he keeps proving over and over that brilliant storytelling is among the most important tools in an MC’s kit. And he keeps his sharpened to the finest edge.