Westside Gunn finds it laughable his Griselda brethren Benny The Butcher and Conway The Machine aren’t among the 10 best rappers of 2022.
Veteran journalist and Complex Brackets host Brian “B.Dot” Miller sparked a heated debate among rap heads on Thursday (June 2) when he posted his list of the “Top 10 Best Rappers of 2022 (So Far).”
Ranking MCs based on “skill, performance and relevance” at the halfway point of the year, Miller put Kendrick Lamar at No. 1 thanks to his chart-topping, conversation-starting album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
Pusha T, J. Cole, Kodak Black and Boldy James rounded out Miller’s top five, while Vince Staples, Lil Durk, Lil Baby, Jack Harlow and 21 Savage also got the nod.
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It didn’t take long for the list to make it onto Westside Gunn’s radar. Less than an hour after Miller published his tweet, the outspoken Griselda goon weighed in with an unfiltered reaction to Benny The Butcher and Conway The Machine’s omission.
“This n-gga personally didn’t put up @BennyBsf & @WHOISCONWAY,” he wrote on Twitter along with several crying face emojis.
In response to a fan who was equally bemused by Miller’s picks, Gunn added, “Click bait duuuuuuuh he knows by not putting them on there will give it the attn it is just like when I just tweeted it, that’s exactly what he wants for the conversation I know for a million fuckin Fakts this is intentional ain’t that right @bdotTM.”
Aside from the obvious Buffalo bias, Benny and Conway have both put in solid showings in the first six months of 2022. Despite beefing with former collaborator Freddie Gibbs, Benny dropped the impressive Tana Talk 4 and earned his first Billboard Hot 100 hit thanks to his J. Cole-assisted “Johnny P’s Caddy.”
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Benny The Butcher Speaks On Conway The Machine Leaving Griselda
Conway, meanwhile, released his long-awaited Shady Records debut God Don’t Make Mistakes in February, laying bare his vulnerabilities next to heavyweight collaborations with Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, T.I., Beanie Sigel and Jill Scott.
The Machine echoed Westside Gunn’s sentiment as he gave a sarcastic response to Miller on Twitter. “This is a great list,” he replied along with a folded hands emoji.
One rapper who doesn’t feel aggrieved by Miller’s list, however, is Pusha T. The Virginia Beach native, whose self-proclaimed “rap album of the year” It’s Almost Dry topped the Billboard 200 in April, shared B.Dot’s rankings on his Instagram Stories while writing, “I’m not mad @bdottm… We only 6 months in, let’s fight… #ItsAlmostDry RAOTY easy…”
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Coincidentally, Conway The Machine opened for King Push at San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom on Wednesday night (June 1) as part of his It’s Almost Dry Tour.
