Westside Gunn - Pray For Paris [2020]

Welcome to one of my many Write-Ups, where I dive into a contextual history of a project from an artist, while also breaking down the different parts worth mentioning. Come over to my Write-Ups page for a list of all of the work I’ve done so far.

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“Ayo, I'm rockin' old Nashes / on the runway in my coke fashion / Anybody move, we toe-taggin'“

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Rap skill and maintaining relevance are temporary elements in a hip-hop artists career. You can practice flow in the mirror all day long, study your contemporaries in an attempt to catch the next wave or build clout, but at the end of the day the people that last in this business, and those that are ultimately remembered, are those with vision. Someone who, from day one, saw where they were going to be, it was just a matter of execution. Think back to people like Dr. Dre, the RZA, Kanye West, 50 Cent; none of these people are the best rappers to ever make it in the game (in fact some of them were in collectives where they were obviously outclassed on the mic), and none of them ever stopped to see what the competition was doing, seeing as they were busy creating the wave themselves. History remembers these men because of their impact on the game, drive, and how every one of these people are still eating off of their genius to this day, and some of them are still growing. Being the brains of an outfit is a position that might not get you immediate fame and recognition, but the work done for the culture from a position like this will not go unnoticed (at least not as long as people like me are around to draw attention to it). A man who’s come up has been almost two decades in the making, who’s long and winding road to success has led him and his family to more fame than any other hip-hop artist from Buffalo, NY, and who’s laser-focus on creating an immortal mark upon the genre has led to some of the most celebrated underground hip-hop… ever… is a man by the name of Westside Gunn.

Hitler Wears Hermes 7, Westside Gunn’s last solo project, felt like the end of an era for a mixtape king. Pray For Paris shows it was the beginning of a new one

Let’s do a brief review here, because Griselda, the collective that Westside Gunn founded himself with his brother, Conway the Machine, and his cousins, Benny the Butcher and Machine Gun Black (Rest in Power), is a label of many extraordinary achievements, but key among them is an unmatched volume of quality output in this past decade. While the whole group can boast dozens of must-listens in their respective catalogues, Westside Gunn needs the credit for putting Griselda on the radar of every serious hip-hop listener out there with his debut album in 2016, FLYGOD. He had a few mixtapes and EPs leading up to this album (namely the first three volumes in his Hitler Wears Hermes series), but it was FLYGOD that captivated people with an unorthodox emcee, who’s appeal lay as much in his own personal rap skill as it did in his ability to bring together the best talent underground hip-hop can offer, both on the mic and behind the boards. From here, he let the collective go insane, with drop after drop of unusually superb and consistent releases from Conway and Benny (while also dropping a few Eps and another couple Hitler Wears Hermes’ for himself), saving the best material of his career for his second album, 2018’s Supreme Blientele. Doubling down on the oddity in his rap style and beat selection, this album presented the most concise mission statement for Griselda as a record label; it was so incredible that it landed in my top five projects for that year easily. Last year, 2019, was the year when everyone in the crew reached heights that no one could have ever imagined: penning a management deal with Roc Nation and a distribution deal with Shady Records, all three members of the crew dropped some of their best work. It would have been a clear runaway for Benny, who dropped his EP The Plugs I Met early in the year, had not Westside Gunn dropped not one, but *two* albums of amazing quality: Flygod Is An Awesome God (which I thought was a step down from Supreme Blientele but still fire) and the last in Hitler Wears Hermes series, the seventh mixtape. Hitler 7 was a jewel upon the Flygod’s self-crowned (and action-proven) title of the King of New York, a tape that perfectly encapsulated what it meant to be a member of Griselda, and a promise of the unstoppable nature of the group and its executive. Truly unbelievably, less than THIRTY DAYS LATER, Griselda as a group dropped their long-awaited debut studio album, What Would Chinegun Do, bringing together West, Con, and Benny in a trifecta of gutter and utterly despondent grimey hip-hop. In that spirit, Westside Gunn left 2019 a smoking ruin, a perfect run of projects starting from the top of the year all the way to its last days, and the recognition the boys were receiving grew exponentially to levels thought unheard of for an underground emcee. They were up there with the likes of Diddy and Hov, Kanye and Lebron, DJ Premier and Raekwon, with every person worth their salt in the hip-hop game giving praise. It was inspirational to say the least that these guys through sheer strength of will made their visons come true… but this is just the beginning for Westside Gunn. Going into 2020 (a year that he says will be his last as a rapper, a dubious claim to be sure but I’d say he has the right to do whatever the fuck he wants), we’ve already been treated to an album from Conway and none other than the motherfucking Alchemist with Lulu, and the Flygod turned that into a one-two punch, having now released his fourth studio album, Pray For Paris.

The album’s title Pray For Paris it not only a nod to where the album was put together, but also the atmosphere and aura of the city, being both the capital of art and fashion around the globe. As a result, a refined sense of importance and regality drenches this project down to its bones instrumentally and in its subject matter. I mean just take the very first thing you hear on this record, an audio clip from an auction held at the famous Christie’s Auction House in London of a Da Vinci selling for 400 million dollars, as an indication of how Westside Gunn is viewing his art as something that should turn heads and break boundaries. Gunn has always had the sense of grandeur about his projects what with the wrestling samples (which this album also does not skimp on), but it seems he has taken then influence from Parisian fashion shows and art houses and taken this grandstanding to the next level. The man will still talk about cooking crack and dealing on in his neighborhood, but whenever he’s talking about his twin Lamborghinis, his unreleased Off-White collection, or getting blood on his Salvatore Mundi in a shootout, you’ll feel more that this is the man Westside Gunn is now rather than as some sort of character he’ll grow into on previous projects. In this way, Pray For Paris feels like a celebration of the life of Westside Gunn the artist and fashion icon, whereas a project like Hitler Wears Hermes 7 was a celebration of him reaching his absolute peak musically. It’s like each project is a flex of each individual aspect of his character, and the Griselda characteristics by extension. In this way I wouldn’t say that the Flygod has necessarily grown as a lyricist or as a rapper on this project, but rather that as he’s grown in his career separate from a rapper, he’s making the legends and myths more real and substantiated.

Westside Gunn (left) with Virgil Abloh (right). Virgil created the cover art for Pray For Paris, taking Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath an imposing Griselda’s version of artistry over the top (and with a fitting tribute to Machine Gun Black)

Pray For Paris is one of the most focused Griselda releases thus far from an instrumental perspective, focusing specifically on the more lighthearted and soulful elements of the groups production choices. Think tracks like 50 Inch Zenith, Elizabeth, and Amherst Station as being clear starting point to understanding where this project is coming from. The beats on here are made of up of a mix of keyboard and piano embellishments, crispy vocal samples, and freespirited boom-bap. Daringer is a no brainer, and the Wwcd-like George Bondo (produced with the Beat Butcha), as well as the angelic Allah Sent Me, are two beats from the Griselda instrumentalist that fit both the GxFR profile and this albums specific tone. Two other names, Bohemia Lynch and Camoflauge Monk, have been associated with not just the Griselda boys but with huge sections of underground hip-hop for years now, and their contribution to this project reinforce their amazing talents. Camo provides the back-to-back 327 and French Toast, both utilizing those bell-like keys and more traditional piano passages, really nailing that refined elegance that the Flygod was going for; specifically that 327, sounding like snug and candle-lit Parisian coffee house on a Sunday morning. In contrast, and in one of the only dramatic moments on the record, Lynch closes out the show with LE Djoliba, a very sharp and strained female vocal sample looped boldly behind, of all things, a live tap-dancer. But the man can still turn heads with the greats, and people like DJ Premier and The Alchemist have never given less than the best to the Griselda crew. Premo is in top form on Shawn vs. Flair, with the clarity of Gunn’s voice and immaculate record scratching drawing straight from the 90’s. But Alchemist, who has been on an absolute tear these past few years, contributes the best beat bar none on this project: $500 Ounces. The swanky brass section, pensive strings, smoky basswork, and detailed and organized vocal samples that interject themselves into the beat make this one of the most soulful and cinematic beats I’ve heard in a long-ass time. Claibourne Kick, Uncle AL’s other beat on here, is still godly with its skeletal and hand-off production choices mirroring a lot of those he made on Boldy James’ last LP The Price of Tea in China (who also features on this cut, leading me to believe this track came from those sessions). Even DJ Muggs, who has been strangely distant from the entire Griselda crew up until recently, provides an uncharacteristically chill piano beat on No Vacancy; who knew that Muggs would be setting a tone of bliss and high-class art on a Griselda project, but things like this are what set the event-like status of this release. But the names that you’ll see behind the scenes working on these beats aren’t just the most well-known, because the Flygod is a true sportsman when it comes to beat selection: he will give someone like Conductor Williams, a cat that many people had never heard of (myself included), a chance to shine if the beat is good enough. But Gunn is still looking at the aesthetics as much as substance, giving placement to none other than internet famous Jay Versace (yes, *that* Jay Versace) on the appropriately named Versace, who’s beat laced with warm soul samples is something that comes completely out of the blue for someone who has never been known to produce music before, a surprise and a treat that Westside Gunn is banking on to turn heads. Even getting someone like Tyler, The Creator to provide a beat on here, who comes with Kanye-inspired sharp vocal loop on Party wit Pop Smoke, fits the Griselda mould surprisingly well, but it’s more the idea of a collaboration like this even happening that lends to this projects sense of “anything can happen” for the collective.

One of the most incredible things about any Griselda project are the outside collaborators they manage to secure. Westside Gunn projects are special among Griselda releases in that, in most cases, the main appeal doesn’t necessarily lie in the “host”, instead on the revolving door of guests and the overwhelming ambiance. Every Gunn project comes with surprises on this front, and Pray For Paris is no different in this regard. Some of the biggest surprises come from learning that some of the rappers on here who fit the Griselda style in many ways have never been on a GxFR project before. Joey Bada$$, while not being as lyrical as he was in his youth, still hits all of the right notes on 327, containing both healthy doses of stunting and reflection. Freddie Gibbs, who unbelievably has never been on a Griselda track before now, kills his appearance on $500 Ounces, playing with his flow and cadence like a grimy street cat playing with his kill. Roc Marciano goes after Freddie on the track too, being particularly cold blooded in a wordy and slightly humorous way that only he is capable of; he also attacks the track in the complete opposite way, cramming syllables and wordplay into the longer bar structure rather than the laid-back and measured delivery of Freddie. Wale makes and impressive showing on French Toast, playing along with the positive vibes and subject matter with a souped-up corniness that would probably be wack were it not within the confines of this track. There are some lines that will probably make you shake your head, but more of in an endearing way rather than cringy. But the most surprising appearance by far comes from the Odd Future head honcho Tyler, The Creator, who (in addition to providing one of his beats) lends his genius to 327 with Joey, creating a spectacle of his presence with his cute and off-key singing and his attention-grabbing rapping that sounds better than anything he’s done in years. I’ve always been more of a fan of Tyler the rapper over the singer, so hearing him here spit this hard is incredibly satisfying. The newest Griselda signee, Boldy James, makes an appearance on Claibourne Kick, relishing in the ethereal beat by spinning street tales in his trademark aloofness. Just in case you were wondering, yes, Benny and Conway appear on this album, appearing together twice on two different tracks: George Bondo and Allah Sent Me. George Bondo sees all three of the Griselda boys dropping massive verses, each one as grimy as the last, but if I had to pick an MVP it’s gotta be Conway. The three switch up the format a bit on Allah Send Me, trading bars like the LOX and finishing up thoughts between each other like a mutated rapping monster.

The Roc Nation Brunch was an enormous moment for Westside Gunn, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with most famous individuals in this industry. The Buffalo boys done fucked up and did it

Despite knowing that there is no bad Griselda project out there, I always find myself surprised by how high-quality every release that these dudes put out end up being. Conway and Benny are ill because of the dope rhymes they spit, but Westside Gunn is ill because the man lives and breathes both the Griselda lifestyle and hip-hop. I wrote that his last tape, Hitler Wears Hermes 7, was the purest form of GxFR; while I still believe this to be true on paper, I think Pray For Paris is an incredible step forward for an artist still making moves very far into his career. It is an exercise in tonal focus, with the Flygod focusing on a few particular elements (Parisian regality, high-society, golden-age boom-bap) to make an album that is his easiest to listen from front to back. But the craziest thing about this whole album cycle, and where Westside seems to be taking his crew, is that it all seems according to plan. That is to build the fanbase with a flood of quality music, and then, once you have the respect and admiration and eyes of everyone, change their lives with these statements on who the artist is as an individual. That is the vision and foresight of the Flygod, making his plan of action come to fruition in a way that very few artists have done, and almost no artist in the underground sphere has done before. Pray For Paris is as much a statement about Griselda as it is about Westside Gunn as an artist, putting action and tangibility behind the words he’s thrown out for years now. The man is now an icon, both in fashion and in hip-hop (and probably in art too, I’m sure he’ll own a Da Vinci one day), and despite that, it doesn’t even feel like we’ve gotten started seeing where Griselda will go.

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