Benny The Butcher, known for his rap stardom and major-label record deal, recently disclosed that he has not been immune to profiling by law enforcement. In an interview on The Breakfast Club on Friday (January 12), the “Everybody Can’t Go” rapper opened up about experiencing harassment by the police and dealing with federal issues.
Benny expressed feeling targeted by the police in Buffalo and revealed, “I just found out I’m on the FBI watchlist back home. They raided my studio about two months ago.” The rapper previously shared details about the studio raid in a November interview with BagFuel, showing footage of armored trucks and SUVs during the incident.
“They’re not looking for me. You don’t think them people know where I live at? Of course they do… I got a house in Buffalo. They didn’t go there… This shit is wicked,” Benny stated during the interview.
HipHopDX reached out to the FBI’s Buffalo office for comment, but as of the writing of this article, there has been no response.
During The Breakfast Club interview, Benny also acknowledged his suspicion that his social media accounts were under surveillance by authorities. “I’m pretty sure when I see who’s watching my [Instagram] Stories, the pages with no profile, I know that’s Agent Dan somewhere. I’m not a fool,” he remarked.
Benny, whose real name is Jeremie Pennick, has faced both federal and state prison time over the years. His experiences include a federal prison stay in the mid-2000s for a probation violation, during which he was incarcerated alongside JAY-Z’s longtime friend Emery Jones. Jones, referenced in Hov’s 2006 song “Do U Wanna Ride,” was serving time for a drug distribution charge.
Benny’s stint behind bars coincided with his cousin Westside Gunn’s early efforts to establish Griselda. The Buffalo rapper has been vocal about leaving the drug trade behind when he started working with Griselda, emphasizing that he distanced himself from street activities before signing a record deal.
“I wasn’t doing it around a year before I got signed. I wasn’t fucking around. I was just going back and forth to the studio rapping, and damn near 70 percent of my homeboys are locked up right now,” Benny revealed in a 2021 conversation with HipHopDX.
