Benny the Butcher has dropped a new song featuring him rapping over the beat to Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together,” and is fundraising for victims of the Buffalo, New York mass shooting last month.
Utilizing the Alchemist-produced original track, “Welcome to the States” sees Benny directly address America’s all too prevalent racism and gun violence. “Welcome to the states, where we dying over our skin color and race,” he raps on the introspective song. “Fire arms legal when Republican states and you can’t be mad at it / ‘Cause the suits that vote on these laws don’t deal with our challenges / So them laws get passed to protect themselves from savages / White nationalists turn their views and guns on jews and Africans.”
The track also sees him reflect on how touring the world has made him see America differently than before, especially in the wake of the Buffalo shooting, which happened where Benny calls home. In fact, he also mentions that he shopped at the very supermarket where it happened. The video that accompanies the hard-hitting song features footage of police, protests, and those directly impacted by the massacre at the Tops Friendly Markets store on May 14, 2022.
To coincide with the release of the new song, Benny is raising money for the Buffalo Survivors Fund. He’s teamed up with designers Kat & Nolan Cartwright for a limited-run t-shirt that honors the ten victims, all of whom were Black. Available now for $40 via the Black Soprano Family website, 100 percent of the profits will go directly to the fund.
Watch the video for “Welcome to the States” above.
