A collaborative EP between Black Soprano Family members Benny the Butcher and Connecticut emcee Fuego Base, \u201cAshes In The Safe\u201d is proof that sometimes a small plate of food will suffice. Both the album\u2019s front cover visuals and title imply such extreme wealth that they can afford it if their money were to literally burn. There\u2019s also chemistry between Base and Benny since, between the two of them, they share an abundance of experience and lived street tales with vivid details in their boastful raps. What also works in their favor is their ear for beats, striking a counterbalance between polished and grimy here. In nine tracks, \u201cAshes In The Safe\u201d is a strictly B$F affair, no Griselda.<\/p>\n
The John Sparks-produced intro consists of various noises from city landscapes and bars from Benny and Base, sampled into a back-and-forth configuration. \u201cSundial\u201d is the song that truly kicks things off. Harlem Zone and Nyckles Productionz laced the beat (as well as tracks four through six) with an airy piano sample looped with bass and boom-bap snares. Base\u2019s cadence and rhyme schemes sound like a laid back Jadakiss, but without ripping from the latter. \u201cPyrex & Prayers\u201d is a solo Fuego Base track, with him rapping two verses and handling the hook over Jamar Johnson\u2019s string-based production.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike It Is\u201d has a pitched piano sample over some menacing bass and drums, with Base and Benny providing loose crime narratives with a sampled voice in the background proclaiming, \u201cThese are the real Sopranos.\u201d Base begins the first verse on the Reverend X-sampling \u201cRev X\u201d and laces his verse with standout wordplay such as \u201cThere\u2019s new dishes on my pallet, I\u2019m loving Italian \/ You never caught a charley horse while you fucking a stallion.\u201d Fellow B$F member Sule raps the second verse, and Benny encapsulates all three emcees\u2019 aim to destroy the track with this line: \u201cReal Soprano shit, me and Sule locked \/ And me and Base got a competition going \/ To see who dope can make they face lock.\u201d There\u2019s an epic orchestral sound that makes \u201cThe Fighting Irish\u201d very cinematic as Benny and Base rap about their strokes of good luck.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig Shirley\u201d, a reference to Cole\u2019s unseen girlfriend from the \u201890s sitcom \u201cMartin\u201d, is another Fuego solo track as he provides semi-autobiographical pop culture referencing raps over LT Beats\u2019 production such as \u201cShot my shot like Cartwright, I had bad form.\u201d Philly emcee OT the Real has two appearances on the album, giving his gruff flow to the album\u2019s closer \u201cCastellammarese War\u201d. He begins the raps over Nickel Plated\u2019s menacing piano-driven beat. Of all the album\u2019s productions, this one bumps the hardest because of the drums. He\u2019s also featured on the EP\u2019s single \u201cWarehouse 4\u201d, produced by High Honors. Also featuring fellow B$F member Rick Hyde, all four rappers spit like their rent money is due:<\/p>\n
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For once, I don\u2019t care about the length of an EP. With \u201cAshes In The Safe\u201d, Benny and Base brought enough filling material in this small dish without it becoming filler. Though Benny is overall consistent and has one-up on Base lyrically, it\u2019s the latter who had more shine on this outing, holding down mic duties alone on two tracks. But nonetheless, \u201cAshes In The Safe\u201d is a strong sign that listeners will receive more joint material from Benny and Base in future releases.<\/p>\n
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