The cover for Benny the Butcher’s EP, ‘Buffalo Butch Vol.1,’ containing “Buffalo Freestyle” with Drake.
In the expansive extended family of Griselda, there are few artists who haven’t stepped into the ring for at least a song or two. Lil Wayne, Jadakiss, J. Cole—essentially the only ones who Benny the Butcher, Conway or Westside Gunn don’t share a track with—by this point, are at unattainable levels in general, usually making up the upper crust of GOAT conversations. Though he chalked off one of those individuals with “Johnny P’s Caddy,” Benny the Butcher added another piece of the puzzle in 2020 with “Buffalo Freestyle,” a long-awaited collaboration with Drake. But there’s one major hang-up: the song never dropped.
It remained a hot topic in the Butcher’s interviews all the way up to this past Friday, when the song finally hit DSPs before expeditiously disappearing from them in a matter of hours. What’s going on with “Buffalo Freestyle,” Benny the Butcher & Drake? Why is it not on streaming? Here’s a rundown of what we know so far.
Benny the Butcher & Drake’s “Buffalo Freestyle” Totally Vanishes
Typically sample clearances are to blame for this sort of situation, but as of writing, it doesn’t appear that “Buffalo Freestyle” owes much, if any, of its construction to outside sources. Even more curiously, the song received a pretty concerted personal push from Benny, along with the rest of the Buffalo Butch Vol. 1 EP, also vanishing from official channels.
Were this just a simple takedown request from one of the artists involved, remnants of the track would remain on peripheral sites (not your Apple Musics, but probably your YouTubes or SoundClouds). It’s much the opposite though. For those familiar with seeking out leaked tracks, this is the highest level of “streaming service scrub” you’ve ever come across; the “top result is a clickbait video with an underground rapper promoting his song” sort of affair.
The music itself, if you’re able to get your hands on it, doesn’t appear to be the answer. (A podcast episode on Spotify listed under the song’s title is the closest this writer could get to a full, studio-quality version). That is to say, either artist is in peak form, and a regrettable verse likely isn’t the cause. Benny the Butcher turns a trademark quality performance: “Despite the well wishes from y’all, I held distance / They praying my success stories turn into failed missions.” Drake, for his part, leans into his “Churchill Downs”-esque persona, spinning quotable barbs about women from the past and enemies in the present. “I keep my circle small so the blunt gets back quicker” emerged as a hot topic on social media in the brief time the song was up.
Long-Awaited Status Only Adds To The Confusion
Benny the Butcher is famously candid in interviews, a transparency that led to tension between him and Freddie Gibbs in the past, so he addressed the song’s previous four-year absence in a few choice availabilities. Often in those comments, he sympathized with fans wanting to hear the music after so much build-up. Barring a sudden change of heart, it likely rules out the Buffalo MC. Drake, on the other hand, was the one who posted the song in the first place, continuing his string of “loosies” releases that started with his “100gigs” dump a few weeks back. Lest Universal went over the head of the biggest artist in the world (read: they didn’t), it runs out the Toronto rapper as well.
While it’s not a satisfying nor conclusive answer by any means, we simply don’t know why “Buffalo Freestyle,” vaunted as it may be for both Benny the Butcher & Drake fans, is not on streaming services. It’s sadly a “wait and see” for the time being, but if you’re interested in hearing the song, it’s there if you look hard enough.
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