Westside Gunn's Sound is Unique, But With 2 Albums in Three Months It's Starting To Get Old Fast

The Griselda Boys have been extremely far from quiet, huh? I had never heard a full length release from any of the three artists in this prolific trio before Westide Gunn’s last LP Pray for Paris just 3 months ago. However, in just those short 3 months I have already grown tired of hearing that a new Griselda record released over and over. Between going through the collective’s older material and gearing up for the release of this record and Conway the Machine’s newest, I already want a break. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love the material I’ve heard from these dudes so far. They’ve got an unbelievably unique sound, one so awesome that Westside Gunn’s last record got an extremely high 9.2/10 score from me. The way the dude weaves together such gritty, gruesome and hard-hitting bars with such soulful lo-fi production is not quite the same as anything else I’ve ever heard in my life. Between all the fantastic, top-tier features on that record, which included two tracks with all three Griselda Boys coming together, and that unique sound it’s an LP I’ve kept on loop since it dropped. Going into this new one, I was extremely concerned that it would just pale in comparison because it just hasn’t had any time in the oven whatsoever. The best way I can say it is that those fears were both right and wrong simultaneously.

Right out the gate I want to make a point to say that this thing sounds super nice. Westside Gunn’s signature sound is brought to the table just as great as it usually is here. His wild flows and “boo-boo-boo-boom” ad-libs are just in your face and intense as always. This has that same plodding, scheming and dirty sound that keeps Griselda fans addicted and I’m sure everyone that’s super into the trio’s music will definitely find some great tracks waiting for them here. The instrumentals here are also extremely vibrant and fun, Songs like Lil Cease will have you nodding your head in the most aggressive way possible with the bouncy, yet extremely fierce energy the beat pumps into your ears. I also really fell in love with the warped, psychedelic and trippy samples on the Greatminder instrumental. The beats do a great job of keeping you on your toes when they’re at their best, though many of them feel like they don’t stick out in comparison to the rest of the Griselda catalog. The best way to sum this record up is that it really is just more of the same. I’m sure that there are plenty of people, including myself, who would usually be fine with the concept of more Westside Gunn - especially after that fantastic last LP we got from him. This is basically the culmination of everything the dude’s sound has been building into all this time, but while that seems like a good thing it’s also where the issues start to arise.

This is still enjoyable, however the issues I, and many others have with it is that it seems like it could be the beginning of something much less enjoyable. If Westside Gunn starts dropping an album every 3 months I will probably make a point to skip out on 3/4 of the records he puts out. Neither I nor anybody else has the time to keep up with an artist that drops 4 albums a year, especially since I have a million other artists to keep up with and review. I feel like 2 LP’s a year is already pushing the boundaries of being too much, and we’re already at that point with Westside Gunn in just a three month span. I can promise that I will not be reviewing any other album this guy puts out in 2020 unless it manages to be some masterpiece that everyone says I should listen to. This is a perfect example of too much of a good thing. I’m sure that’s an allegory that I don’t need to explain further, so just know that’s exactly what you’ll be in for when you turn this thing on. If you’ve heard Pray for Paris or even the last 2 Flygod records you know exactly what you’re in for here. The only difference is that this one feels a little bit less dynamic and a little bit less memorable. I’m frustrated to be saying that as Westside Gunn is an artist that I’m really cheering for in terms of his position in the Hip-Hop game. I can totally see him matching the career trajectory of a guy like Vince Staples with his listenable yet hardcore and ocasionally grisly bars. If he can manage to focus on quality over quantity from this point forward, I’ll still be just as excited as I was - however that excitement will be dropping off hard with each 3 month release he puts out.

While I enjoyed each track on here individually, I think the main reason I’m slightly upset that this project exists is because nothing on here sticks out to me anywhere near as much as Pray for Paris. The features on here are a million times less memorable, as there are no big names to look forward to, there are three Stove God features that are all indistinguishable and Conway the Machine doesn’t appear even once. I’m fully aware that an album obviously doesn’t have to be star studded to be good, and I’m a firm believer that any Hip-Hop record doesn’t need a single feature if it’s good enough. However, when you’re an artist who had incredible features last time around and you come back at your listeners with an obvious b-list just 3 months later it shows. Furthermore, the more you listen to this record and really soak it in the more forgettable it really becomes. Usually you’d think that a record should grow on you, but as I’m on my third listen through this one I find myself thinking there’s no reason for me to ever listen to it again. While there are some highlights I threw into my playlists, there isn’t a single song on here I enjoyed as much as a single song off of Pray for Paris so I just can’t ever see myself listening to this in full ever again. That’s really unfortunate, because a dude with the raw talent, style and steeze of Westside Gunn really should be taking his time to make sure that every record he puts out is memorable. What we’ve gotten here is basically a watered down, less dynamic version of what we got last time. While the sound is one that I generally tend to really enjoy, that doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to every possible iteration of it no matter the quality. I like chocolate, but I’m not going to eat cheap penny candy chocolate every time it’s in front of me solely because it’s there. That would make me start to dislike the taste of chocolate.

I really, really hope that this isn’t the start of a downfall for Westside Gunn’s career, but if he doesn’t pump the brakes and put some thought into his next release that’s what it’s going to be. I am still a huge fan of the dude, but if he becomes the kind of dude that drops music every 10 seconds I’m going to wind up being one of those fans that says I like the old stuff better. I don’t want to have to sit through a half hour of cutting room floor Griselda material every couple of months. Furthermore, I don’t want to feel like I “have to sit through” a Griselda album because I should be enjoying getting to hear a new project from this group of dudes I’m a pretty big fan of. I loved the last record I got from Westside Gunn and I’m a huge fan of the Griselda Boys, but this level of insane output that has brought us to the point where we’re getting three albums from the collective within three months is just way too far. There are some highlights on Flygod is an Awesome God 2, but they pale in comparison to those off of Pray for Paris because this record feels rushed and watered down when put up next to Gunn’s better material. It’s not bad, but if dropping an album every couple months becomes the norm the dude’s discography will wind up getting bad pretty quickly. - 5.5/10 (Best Songs - Michael Irvin, Lil Cease ft. Armani Caesar, Greatminder)