Benny The Butcher has unveiled the tracklisting for a new compilation album inspired by the late DJ Shay, and he’s called in a few favors from some Hip Hop heavy-hitters.
On Thursday (August 4), the Black Soprano Family boss hopped on Instagram to share the list of tracks as well as what appears to be the cover art for the album, which is titled Long Live DJ Shay.
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In addition to Benny’s Griselda brothers Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine and Armani Caesar, the album also features Krayzie Bone, Boldy James, StoveGod Cook$, Cory Gunz and more.
On the production side of things, those that will underscore the project include DJ Premier, Alchemist, Jansport J and Rick Hyde. The late DJ Shay also has a few credits on the album.
“I played the whole album for Wes yesterday at his crib and he said this shit STELLAR TIMES IS ROUGH DROPPIN MIDNIGHT #LLDJSHAY,” Benny captioned his post.
DJ Shay was both a producer and manager for Griselda Records before passing away in August 2020 following a bout with COVID-19. He worked with the collective for a decade and was widely known as a major figure on the Buffalo Hip Hop scene.
Benny The Butcher — who released his last project Tana Talk 4in March — has been promoting the DJ Shay tribute project for much of the year. The lead single, “Times Is Rough,” produced by Preemo, is slated to drop on Friday (August 4). There’s no word yet when fans can get their hands on the full album.
The Griselda Records collective have been busy with separate endeavors this year. Conway The Machine has been building up his new label, Drumwork Music Group, while Westside Gunn is working on something titled MICHELLE RECORDS that he’s remained tight-lipped on. The Griselda Records boss also released his latest mixtape, Peace “Fly” God, last month.
Gunn’s biggest project, however, looks to be a new professional wrestling promotion called 4THROPE. The rapper shared news of his new venture on Tuesday (August 2) and revealed his first signee, former WWE NXT star Parker Boudreaux.
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“Y’all Done Fucked Up!!!!” Westside Gunn wrote in an Instagram post. “Meet @theparkerboudreaux the 1st official wrestler W/ 4THROPE.. we’re about to do something the Wrestling world has NEVER scene.”
He continued: “EVERYBODY knows I’m the biggest wrestling fan in the world but now I’m about to mix Cultures and present special talent, merch, 4THROPE radio, 4THROPE TV, and again HIGH LEVEL ART stay tuned for more 4THROPE announcements and LINK IN MY BIO we just World Premiered on AEW tonight start it at the 28min. Mark ROPE #GXFR #CULTURE #4thROPE #PARKERBOUDREAUX #FLYGOD.”