Westside Gunn – “FLYGOD is an Awesome God II” review

This is the 5th full-length album from Buffalo emcee/entrepreneur Westside Gunn. Breaking out in 2016 with his near-perfect debut album FLYGOD, he would go on to take over the hip hop scene with his brother Conway the Machine & their cousin Benny the Butcher as they’ve consistently dropped a slew of high quality releases both solo-wise & as a trio. However, Westside has stated on numerous occasions that 2020 will be his final year rapping & kicked it off just this spring with Pray for Paris. But with the 1 year anniversary of FLYGOD is an Awesome God approaching this weekend, Westside is celebrating with a sequel preluding his Shady Records debut Who Made the Sunshine? set to drop next month.

After the “Praise God” intro, the first song “Michael Irvin” finds Westside talking about how no one’s flyer than him referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson over a jazzy beat whereas the next track “Jose Canseco” with Stove God Cook$ sees the 2 talking charismatically boasting including a reference to WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion Curt Hennig over a soulful instrumental from STREETRUNNER. I was surprised to see the loosie “1 More Hit” appearing on here, but I’m glad it did & the new Stove God Cook$ verse added on is a nice touch to it as well.

After the first “Sadhu Interlude”, the song “Lil Cease” with Griselda Records’ newest signee Armani Caesar finds the 2 rightfully proclaiming their thrones as King & Queen of Buffalo over a creepy boom bap beat from JR Swiftz. After the “Fuck the Police” skit, the song “Buffs vs. Wires” with Benny the Butcher & Boldy James of course gets on the drug dealer tip over a classy ass loop from Daringer.

Then after the “Mr. Maino” skit, we’re treated to a remix of another old WSG loosie “Bubba Chuck” with Stove God Cook$ being added on once again & I actually like this a lot more than the “1 More Hit” remix that I discussed earlier. Including the bar about WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Champion & 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior. After the final “Sadhu Interlude”, the song “Drive By Love” is a gangsta sex tune over a savory Chuck Inglish instrumental.

The penultimate track “Rebirth” namedrops both WWE Hall of Famers & former 3-time WWE tag team champions The Road Warriors alongside former CZW World Jr. Heavyweight Champion, PWG World Champion, record-setting 3-time ROH World Champion, ROH World Television Champion, the longest reigning NXT Champion, the inaugural NXT North American Champion & NXT Tag Team Champion Adam Cole on top of the peaceful instrumental. The album then finishes with “Steve Behr”, where Westside enlists Rome Streetz to talk about pushing coke over a hypnotic sample.

It’s not as good as Pray for Paris, but I still think this is a solid album regardless. In contrast to the predecessor seeing Westside Gunn experimenting & trying new things, he pretty much takes it back to the basement on here. Beyond excited to see where he takes things on Who Made the Sunshine?.

Score: 3.5/5

Westside Gunn – “Hitler Wears Hermes VI” review

Westside Gunn is a 36 year old rapper from Buffalo, New York who started with his brother Conway the Machine in the early 2000’s. However it wouldn’t be until this decade that the 2 would see success, eventually forming their own label Griselda Records & signed with Eminem’s Interscope Records imprint Shady Records. They’ve continued to put out a number of modern classics since, including Conway’s G.O.A.T. (Grimiest Of All-Time) & even Westside’s latest album Supreme Blientele. But now to celebrate Halloween, Westside has delivering the 6th installment of his infamous Hitler Wears Hermes series.

After the “Black Hitler” intro, the first song “GiGi” sees Westside Gunn linking up with Benny the Butcher to vividly talk about drug the dealing game over an orchestral Alchemist instrumental. The track “Versace Will Never Be the Same” continues the themes of “GiGi” over an eerie boom bap beat from Daringer & while the song “Niagara Cafe” gets boastful over a soulful instrumental, it’s way too short. The track “Ready Made” talks about how he’s already been successful over a punchy Marco Polo instrumental. As for Keisha Plum’s poetry at the end, it’s just as insightful as always. The track “SLY (Slide Wit It)” talks about capping someone over a settle yet alluring beat while the “Big Luther Freestyle” with Benny sees the 2 returning to the drug dealer life over a clever Luther Vandross sample.

The track “Niggas in Puerto Rico” has some clever beat switches from The Alchemist throughout & while I do enjoy Westside Gunn’s verse as well as Benny’s, Flee Lord to me personally comes off as a Dollar Tree version of Westside Gunn. After the “Chyno Nyno Speaks” interlude, the song “Amherst Station 2” serves as a fantastically soulful sequel to one of my favorite cuts off of Supreme Blientele. The track “My First Drako” with Nick Grant sees the 2 spitting battle bars over a luscious boom bap beat while the song “Evidence Joint” is essentially Westside advising his competition not to fuck with him over a dreamy yet punchy instrumental from Evidence. The closer “John Bena” named after 16-time WWE world champion John Cena gets murderous over a dark instrumental from none other than DJ Muggs, but the Lil Eto verse at the start is kinda boring to me.

It’s obviously not superior to Supreme Blientele or even the last 2 installments of the Hitler Wears Hermes series, this was still a solid tape. Westside Gunn’s street tales are as intriguing as ever, but some of these songs could’ve been more fully fleshed out. Also, some of the production could’ve been better & the same goes to a couple of the features as well. But still if you’re a big fan of Griselda, you’re gonna enjoy a good chunk of what’s being presented on here.

Score: 3.5/5

Westside Gunn – “Supreme Blientele” review

Just a couple months after his FLYGOD is Good…All the Time EP, Buffalo MC Westside Gunn is delivering his highly anticipated sophomore album. After a spoken word intro from WWE Hall of Famer & 7-time tag team champion Arn Anderson, we go into the first song “GOD$ Don’t Bleed”. Here, the FLYGOD hooks up with Benny the Butcher & Jadakiss get confrontational towards their competition over a haunting soul sample from Daringer. The next track “Dean Malenko” named after the former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座, ECW World Television Champion, ECW World Tag Team Champion, 4-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion is about drug dealing over a boom bap beat with some beautiful piano chords while the song “Brutus” is a bloody Griselda Records posse cut over an epic Pete Rock instrumental named after former WWE Tag Team Champion Brutus Beefcake. The track “Amherst Station” vividly tells the story of the hustler life over a soulful beat while the song “RVD” named after the former 2-time WWE champion, ECW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion, the 4-time & final WWE Hardcore Champion, TNA World Champion & TNA X Division Champion Rob Van Dam gets braggadocious over a boom bap beat with some somber keys. I also like the spoken word passage from Keisha Plum during the second half.

Then we get into my favorite song on the album “Elizabeth” named after the late WWE/WCW manager Ms. Elizabeth where he talks about his street knowledge over a jazzy Alchemist beat. Then it transitions into “Mean Gene” perfectly, where he spits his signature “flyshit” paying homage to WWE Hall of Famer Gene Okerlund over a soulful beat. However, the next 2 tracks “Stefflon Don & “Sabu” are easily the weakest on the entire album. Even if the latter is named after former 2-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion, FTW Champion, ECW World Television Champion, 3-time ECW World Tag Team Champion, JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, IWGPジュニアヘビー級王座 & the longest reigning XPW World Heavyweight Champion Sabu. They’re not bad, but they definitely sounded unfinished to me. If he added another verse on both tracks, that would’ve been perfect. The song “Brossface Brippler” with Benny & Busta Rhymes sees the 3 getting murderous over an eerie soul sample from Alchemist that fits the vibe perfectly while the track “Spanish Jesus” with Crimeapple sees the 2 returning to the drug dealer themes over a rap rock beat from Harry Fraud.

“The Steiners” with eLZhi is filled with battle bars named after the 10-time WWE Tag Team Champions, 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champions & 2-time IWGPタッグ王座 The Steiner Brothers Rick & Scott over a joyous boom bap beat from Pete Rock & then “Ric Martiel” with Roc Marciano go back to the drug dealer days over a soulful Roc beat. The track “WESTSIDE” gets braggadocious once again over a sinister Statik Selektah beat & before a spoken word outro from A.A. Rashid, it ends with the epic “WrestleMania 20”. Here, Westside tells us that he’s not playing games over a 9th Wonder instrumental with a prominent acoustic guitar & a smooth Anderson .Paak hook.

As expected, this is Westside’s best work yet. There are a couple tracks that could’ve been fully fleshed out but other than that, the hardcore boom bap production & Westside’s signature street bars is a lot more refined than it was on his 2016 debut FLYGOD

Score: 4.5/5

WESTSIDEDOOM – Self-Titled review

WESTSIDEDOOM is a newly formed duo consisting of recent Shady Records signee Westside Gunn along with the renown MF DOOM. They announced a collaborative project together just a couple months ago & it’s finally here in the form of a 2-track EP. The first song “Gorilla Monsoon” named after the WWE Hall of Famer has an grimy boom bap beat from Griselda Records in-house producer Daringer & while Westside Gunn’s verse is as mobster as always, DOOM definitely outshines him on here. Especially with lines like “Overstand the past to get a grasp of the present, I make it faster than you spends it. End it”. The other track “2STINGS” sees the 2 getting hardcore & the eerie instrumental from The Alchemist fits the tone like a glove. Like many others, I am disappointed that this is wasn’t a full-length album. However, I still enjoyed this EP. The production is grimy & both MCs compliment each other very well

Score: 4/5

Westside Gunn – “FLYGOD” review

Westside Gunn is a 34 year emcee, songwriter, entrepreneur, curator from Buffalo, New York known for his controversial Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series followed by a couple EPs & founding one of the quickest rising labels I’ve seen in recent memory Griselda Records. Some of the singles building towards his official full-length debut studio album have been universally lauded by the hip hop community in the last several months, making the sky the only limit imaginable.

“Dunks” by Hall ‘N Nash samples “Omen” by Keith Mansfield thanks to Daringer so they can discuss being about that action whereas “Gustavo” references former 2-time CWA Heavyweight Champion, 2-time CWA World Tag Team Champion, 2-time SMW Heavyweight Champion & WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler. “Shower Shoe Lords” featuring Benny the Butcher flips “Baddy” by John Fiddy refusing to give a fuck like they always haven’t while “Vivian at the Art Basel” featuring Your Old Droog finds Camoflauge Monk sampling “Roberta” by Les McCann to assure the hardships of life.

Former アイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座, TNA World Tag Team Champion, WWE Hall of Famer, WCW World Television Champion, WWE United States Champion, 7-time WCW World Tag Team Champions & 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Scott Hall gets his flowers on the Roc Marciano-laced “Hall” prior to “Free Chapo” by Hall ‘N Nash displaying the back-&-forth chemistry between the duo while “Over Gold” featuring Meyhem Lauren throws in a bar referring to WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE tag team champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 4-time WCW World Television Champion Greg Valentine.

“Bodies on Fairfax” featuring Danny Brown samples “Rainbow Music” by SoLaRiS so they can address everyone who’s been asking for that fly shit from them while “Chine Gun” gives flowers to West’s late cousin who was tragically almost a decade. “King City” featuring Mach-Hommy finds the 2 talking about nobody fucking with them over a boom bap instrumental from Tha God Fahim leading into “Omar’s Coming” by Hall ‘N Nash featuring Roc Marciano uniting the trio to homage the protagonist of The Wire.

The soulful “Mr. T” produced by Apollo Brown changed my life since it was what sparked my loyalty for Griselda only needing 1 brick while “50 In. Zenith” featuring Skyzoo maintains a chipmunk soul vibe courtesy of Statik Selektah talking about a war going on outside. “Albright Knox” featuring Billie Essco returns to the boom bap & the final song excluding the outro “Dudley Boyz” featuring Action Bronson likening themselves to the former 2-time IWGPタッグ王座, NWA World Tag Team Champions, the inaugural 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champions & 18-time WWE tag team champions over an Alchemist beat.

FLYGOD marks Griselda’s official takeover & has quickly become a modern day underground hip hop landmark setting a balance between the vanity, the grimy & occasionally thoughtful. The production primarily handled by GxFR’s in-house producer Daringer except for 7 cuts tends to be either jazzy or lo-fi & themes of griminess, self reflection, wealth, flossing, who West is as a person, his own experiences, what he lives through currently, what he’s had to live through in the past & how he can floss really well.

Score: 4.5/5