May 19th, 2020

Pray For Paris

Westside Gunn - Griselda Records

If you know anything about Westside Gunn you know his high class taste will be at the forefront of everything he does and his latest solo album, Pray For Paris, was true to form. There’s been a lot of change surrounding Gunn, his label Griselda Records is one of the hottest things moving in the culture, he is part owner of a wrestling organization, and has been aggressively expanding his influence in many avenues. The question that typically arises when an artist reaches such success is will this new acclaim affect the art? The short answer would be yes, in a major way.

In Gunn’s first solo project since the beautiful Hitler Wears Hermes 7, he starts the album with audio of an art auction, a clear statement as to his intentions for this project. This album contains some of his most artistic ideas yet the song LE Djoliba even features an appearance from a tap dancer. The musical evolution of Westside Gunn over the years has been one of my favorite things about his story. Looking through his early work you could always hear his affinity with fashion, art, and culture however as the years passed and success came you could hear through his music the cultivation of that expensive taste. In many ways it feels like Pray For Paris was the culmination of that journey. From world famous mastermind behind the streetwear brand Off-White, Virgil Abloh, designing the cover to the spoken word poetry of Keisha Plum, the whole project feels like a tour through a gallery. Gunn has mastered the science of making some of the most gritty street music sound classy. While part of that formula is the signature piano loops laced throughout Griselda music, it’s the unorthodox creativity of the Buffalo rapper that sets the sound apart. Through parts of the album it almost feels like he’s showing off with his experimentation.

Possibly the thing that stood out to me the most over the course of this album was the quality of Westside Gunn. In Griselda’s recent Fire in the Booth Freestyle Gunn sounded a little annoyed giving his intro explaining “I told y’all I don’t gotta f***ing rap!” This referring to the many questions inquiring why he doesn’t rap in the cyphers Griselda has become famous for. The new comers and slightly ignorant take his lack of participation to mean that he’s not capable of rapping at a high level and it’s almost like Gunn used this album as an opportunity to address that narrative. This is the best I’ve heard Gunn rap and that’s a big statement considering he has always been a wordsmith. Songs like No Vacancy and George Bondo stand out as some of the best rapping of the year.

Closing Remarks:

It’s a privilege to be able to see Westside Gunn’s growth as an artist. Pray for Paris is a well executed highly artistic masterpiece that could only be made by an artist with the passion, vision, and taste like Gunn. He has implied that he may not be rapping for much longer but we the fans can only hope that is all talk and he keeps churning out classic projects such as this. A true model of consistency.

Favorite Song: Allah Sent Me (Ft. Conway the Machine & Benny the Butcher)

Favorite Verse: George Bondo (First Verse)

Favorite Beat: No Vacancy (DJ Muggs)

Favorite Feature: Joey Bada$$ (327)

Rating: 4.4/5