Eminem, JAY-Z, and Kanye West have inspired many rappers throughout the course of their careers, and Westside Gunn has recently revealed himself to be among them.
That’s the revelation the “George Bondo” rapper made on SiriusXM‘s “Hip Hop Nation” radio show on Saturday (October 21), during an interview with Torae. Despite his impressive resume, the Buffalo, NY native (real name Alvin Lamar Worthy) didn’t realize how dope he was on the mic until he started spending time with those legends.
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“Not to sound crazy — I learned how ill I am,” he said in the interview, when asked what he’d picked up from his relationships with the top-tier MCs. “You heard the names that you just named. They don’t get no bigger.
“And these is guys that’s my friends, my family. I could call them and ask them for anything. […] So, that’s how you have Virgil [Abloh] on the cover [of Gunn’s albums Pray for Paris and And Then You Pray for Me]. The ‘Steve & Jony’ record that’s on the album? That idea came from Hov. […] He called me and him that. […] We was just talking about this album, and he was like, ‘Yo, you should name one of them songs that.'” Check out the clip below.
But Westside Gunn isn’t only hanging around the likes of JAY-Z and Eminem.
During an interview on The Complex Sneakers Show that went live on Friday (October 20), the Buffalo MC announced that he will once again team up with brother Conway The Machine and cousin Benny The Butcher for a sequel to their 2019 release What Would Chine Gun Do (WWCD).
“’24 is gonna be probably one of the biggest years for Griselda,” he said. “For the last couple years, Conway been doing his thing and he has a label, Drum Work, that he’s pushing, he’s the boss of; and Benny has BSF and he’s the the boss of his label. But we are family.
“There’s nothing stronger than us three together. We gotta come together and give people What Would Chine Gun Do 2 — we have to for the culture.”
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Earlier this week, Shawn Setaro caught up with the 41-year-old rapper for an interview published on Grammy.com. When asked about reuniting with his brother and cousin, Gunn made it clear that a joint album is on the way.
“That’s coming in ’24,” he said. “You don’t even you got to ask twice. That’s already done, my brother.”
