Beneficence Shines On Latest Single

on 01/22/2016 at 12:10 pm

As hip hop makes the transition from counterculture movement to mainstream prominence, so too has the status of its formative figures. Hip hop luminaries like Nas, Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan and Biggie Smalls have been elevated from street poets to legends, modern day rock stars. And like their rock counterparts, hip hop’s legends have become influencers and standards to be aspired to. So much The Beatles’ catchy jingles in the 60s can still be felt in modern pop music today, the influence of hip hop’s stars of the 80s and 90s can be felt today. Beneficence, in his latest single When The Sun Comes, is a prime example of this.

Beneficence has been a fixture in hip hop’s underground since the mid-90s. As one of independent hip hop’s most active artists, Beneficence maintains his late-80s and early 90s-influenced sensibilities on When The Sun Comes. The joint, in which Masta Ace also offers a tight, scientific verse, features a classic 808 drum stylings on the beat which serves as the perfect vehicle for Beneficence’s rhymes.

If you’re new to Beneficence, his style is reminiscent of guys like Nas, Rakim and Wu-Tang. His rhyme schemes are complex and he peppers each bar with vivid layers of imagery. While it’s hard to say he is inspired by those guys because he can in some ways be considered their contemporaries, he has stayed true to the 90s era’s style they popularized. There’s a reason that time period is considered the golden era, and Beneficence has mastered the style.

On the opening verse, Beneficence spits: “When the sun comes reflect/observe the effects/better shine on the most hood blood and crip sets/the format is peaked/shine the rays on producers til they format a beat/same sun on the back of the slaves who chose to speak/today the brighter sun makes wise words unique”

These are bars from a hip hop vet ready made for hip hop heads. When The Sun Comes is the first single off of Beneficence’s fourth album, Basement Chemistry which drops January 29. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.