Benny the Butcher & 38 Spesh — Trust the Sopranos

Fourth collaboration between Benny the Butcher & 38 Spesh, third if you consider the sequel to "Cocaine Cowboys" a reissue of the first volume, second if you only consider studio albums. "Trust the Sopranos" unites the Trust Army crew founded by the Rochester artist and Benny's Black Soprano Family, to which are added some external artists such as Elcamino, Ransom and Ampichino. The mixtape is a showcase for some of the lesser-known rappers from both collectives, which is why the space set aside for Benny at the mic and 38 Spesh in production is significantly limited. The two guys take some discarded tracks from their more recent projects and put them together into an album: the result is rough and ridiculously low quality for a Griselda / Trust record.

The production falls alternately on trap and boom bap midtempo rhythms, with decent, rarely good samples: the beats are provided by 38 Spesh, Buda Grandz, Mike Kuz, Burns Beats, Corty Tez, IceRocks, Reddy Roc, DJ Shay and Rick Hyde, who produces most of the choices. The almost-caricatured semi-mafia setting sought forcibly in this messy project by Benny & Spesh doesn't fit the performance of most of the rappers, uninspired and never incisive in this half hour: to find the best moments of this record, you need to turn to the usual suspects, to the Keyser Soze of the situation, Ransom & Che Noir.

After the first five minutes dominated by Elcamino, whose downward flight seems at least to slow down here (he's not credited in "Corner"), in which the BSF Loveboat Luciano, uncredited in "Immunity", is also presented, are Ransom and Che Noir to kill the album in "Price of Fame", on one of the most successful productions of the tape, provided by 38 Spesh: boom bap, decent midtempo drum, dark loop, decent delivery of Klass Murda, Random performs with slow flowing style, so Che Noir goes in great and takes the track with a strong, hardcore, powerful, dope delivery.

Ransom confirms himself as one of the best performers of the season in "Spineless", excelling on a trap rhythm of 38 Spesh, while The Butcher sounds inspired, tight, but not at the same level. "Love Left" is another highlight: boom bap with lively drum, melodic sample soul and piano in the background, slow honest delivery by Benny, hook by Klass Murda, closing Che Noir, velvety, unstoppable. 38 Spesh offers his second performance in "Blue Money" (the previous one should be in "Tokyo Drift"), alongside Benny and Elcamino on DJ Shay's boom bap, with squeaky strings and dirty drum midtempo, then the tape is closed by an almost casual collaboration between BSF's Rick Hyde and one of Trust's newest affiliates, Chase Fetti.

Obvious tape-filler to avoid starving the most demanding fans, it's pretty disappointing except for a few tracks ("Price of Fame", "Spineless", "Love Left"). Benny the Butcher isn't completely fit in one of his rare attempts to put quantity over quality. Not recommended, 5/10.