BSF Takeover At The Closing Knitting Factory

The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn will be closing its doors at the end of this month. Benny The Butcher’s Black Soprano Family played one of the final shows at the venue on Aug. 15. In a statement posted to Instagram, the venue’s management wrote “it is time for the Knit to (once again) reinvent itself.” The last show will be on Aug. 21.

The Black Soprano Family (BSF) consists of Heem, Rick Hyde, El Camino, Loveboat Luciano, Fuego Base, and founder Benny The Butcher. The collective has been gaining a lot of momentum lately. Benny had released Tana Talk 4 back in March which included one of the best hip hop songs of the year, “Johnny P’s Caddy” featuring J. Cole and produced by Alchemist. On Sept. 9, Benny and the BSF crew are releasing Long Live DJ Shay, a tribute to their mentor and collaborator who died of Covid-19 in August of last year. The first single from that project is a song produced by DJ Premier called “Times is Rough.”

Their show at the packed Knitting Factory on Monday night was full of energy and emotion. Benny opened with 3 songs from his solo work including “Raw,” “97 Hov,” and “Survivor’s Remorse.” After that each BSF member had a chance to shine. Rick Hyde got into a track from his debut album called “Pandemic Flow” before he and Heem traded verses on “Da Mob” and “It’s Over” off the Respected Sopranos album. Then Rome Streetz made an appearance to perform “Poza” and “Peri Peri.”

Next Benny brought out the “first lady” of Griselda, Armani Cesar. She performed “Drill A Rama” and Mac 10s for Everybody” off her album The Liz. Armani is releasing the sequel to this album titled The Liz 2 on Sept. 2. Stove God Cooks also made a quick appearance to perform “Back 2X ” with Benny. The show ended with a few more Benny songs including “Legend” from his Burden of Proof album produced entirely by HItboy, “5 to 50” and “Johnny P’s Caddy.”

BSF Knitting Factory Setlist: Rubber Bands and Weight, 97 Hov, Survivor’s Remorse, Pandemic FLow, Da Mob, It’s Over, Poza, Peri Peri, 430, The Realest, Fell In Love With the Streets, Grams in Da Water, Lovey, Parole, Shine, Madonna, Wins & Losses, First Day Out, 9.37, Josh Allen, Money Feel Better, Drill A Rama, Mac 10’s Sunday School, Back 2X, Times is Rough, 18 Wheeler, Legend, One Way Flight, 5 to 50, Johnny P’s Caddy