Drake isn't getting lots of compliments these days. He lost the battle to Kendrick Lamar, and now has to contend with the fact that the number one single on the charts, "Not Like Us," is song in which he gets called a pedophile. Not a great look. The Toronto rapper will rebound (barring any legal troubles), but he recently got support from an unexpected source. Benny the Butcher, a charter member of the grimy rap collective Griselda, praised Drake for his musical contributions.
Benny discussed the rapper during an April appearance on Montreality. He believes that those who hate on Drake for making radio songs are simply envious of his pen game. "Drake is phenomenal," he opined. "N**gas that hate on Drake pen is jealous. Drake that n**ga, you know what I'm saying. He a fair n**ga, he look out for dudes, give dudes verses and sh*t." The latter point is especially interesting, given that the Toronto rapper has been accused of being a "culture vulture" and a "colonizer" by Lamar. Drake's been hit with these accusations for years, but Lamar crystallized them on record.
Benny The Butcher Claims Drake Is "Doing His Part"
Benny the Butcher does not agree with this line of thinking. He went on to commend Drake for giving features to young artists and co-signing those who are less popular. "Drake takes the responsibility of pushing the culture forward," Benny asserted. "When you have a position like he has in the game, you have to do that. He takes that responsibility head on."
The Griselda rapper went on to dismiss the idea that Drake is not giving back to the artists he's a fan of. "People ask 'Why he got a song with him or why he doing features with him.' Because he like those n**gas and that's what he like to do," Benny added. "He's pushing the culture forward. He's doing his part."
The praise runs both ways. Drake praised Benny the Butcher and the Griselda crew during a 2020 interview with Rap Radar. "I really like... Just that whole cliquing up, Griselda sh*t is just ill," he noted. When asked whether he would be willing to collaborate with Benny the Butcher, Drake said yes. "I'm down," he asserted. "Benny showed me love one time on an interview, too. I think what they're doing is great." Drake has already worked with frequent Griselda producer Conductor Williams, so hopefully we get to hear more between the different crews.