Inspired by his first trip out of the United States, Westside Gunn capped off his journey to Paris Fashion Week with the announcement that the city would play the backdrop for a new project.
What may have begun as a hasty EP marinated into the Griselda mastermind’s latest LP, Pray For Paris.
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For detractors, the “if you’ve heard one Griselda LP you’ve heard them all” adage is harder to apply this time around. There is still the dark aesthetic found throughout their catalog, but with more pops of mainstream appeal.
While he maintains his ever-consistent brand of layered, haute-couture lyricism (dropping gems with his Griselda brethren on tried-and-true Daringer and Beat Butcha bangers ”George Bondo” and ”Allah Sent Me”), it’s the unexpected that ultimately reigns supreme.
Camouflage Monk blesses the project with two of the more exciting collaborations. The laid back, jazzy “327” connects West with Joey Bada$$ and Tyler, The Creator — who steals the show with bars that range from wearing nail polish and going to the disco with a male lover to reflecting on how far he’s come.
Tyler also produced the soulful “Party wit Pop Smoke,” a track that features a savage poem by Gunn project staple Keisha Plum.
Another departure for West is the lighthearted vibe of the Wale featured “French Toast,” where his crooning on the chorus (alongside Joyce Wrice) is as breezy as a patio table at Café Varenne.
Not to say the whole tracklist abandons the vibe one goes into a WSG affair looking for; he does provide real heads with some incredible gems to hold. Freddie Gibbs and Roc Marciano trade elite street bars with Gunn on an Alchemist beat sure to have longtime fans of the trio mashing their rewind buttons.
He also links with DJ Premier for “Shawn vs. Flair.” Here there feels to be a more loose, humorous tone — with the chorus rhetorically asking if you’ve ever eaten burgers on Wednesday or chicken on Thursday. The beat fits like a glove, but the standout is entirely too short.
The album closes with “LE Djoliba,” where he collaborates with Cartier Williams, the renowned tap dancer who opened the Off-White men’s Fall/Winter 2020-2021 runway show in Paris. If nothing else, following up a verse with a tap solo is easily one of the more innovative concepts we have seen from Gunn up to this point.
Though he stays in his lane for the most part, and listeners who find his ad-libs annoying will probably find as many reasons to complain as they have with past releases, “French Toast” and “Shawn vs. Flair” feel more digestible and oddly casual than most Griselda tracks — which is intriguing.
Whether or not we’ll ever get a project from West that fully delves into this particular aesthetic is unclear — but it’s interesting to see him explore ways to maintain his base while making things a little more fun.
Though Griselda as a squad may have carved a niche, Pray For Paris seems to show Gunn resisting being boxed-in artistically. For some critics who may have found past offerings more of an acquired taste, this is the camp’s most inviting project to date.
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This shit hard
Try eating vedgetables
It was subpar..lulu million times better.
Facts
Dope beats and dope rhymes ….every song is banger in it’s on way ….AOTY so far
An immaculate and amazing masterpiece from start to finish.
You must be gay
You must be an above average lily-livered pussy ass prick.
It’s ok…Westside Gunn is starting to sound out of touch with his core music and following on this album. Too much damn irritating singing from Gunn on this project. Is Westside Gunn running out of lyrics? 3 stars
I loved it
5/5
FIRE!!!
Not my fave WSG album as flygod is his masterpiece but it is still dope as hell. My fave tracks are 327,Flair vs. Shawn, the one with Gibbs and Roc, and the two with Benny and Conway. The rest I like but not quite as much. Keisha Plum is great as always.
The DJ Premier thang is unbelievable…
WSG sucks. I just want Stabbed & Shot 2 already.
This ain’t no Battle Truth lol – The real BT knows nothing about WSG lol
If they totally removed WG from this it would be 100% better
i couldve done without tyler the creators verse no batty boy noise we need that stand up shit but over all a good album, wale joey badass roc marc freddie gibbs and of course the machine and the butcher delivered, the beats was crazy more piano than most of his albums but definitely bangs… 3.5 out of 5
Griselda ?????
Fire ??
Wsg the illest in the game 5/5
Bumpin all day Albania reppin te qi motren
Fillin like layin off my workers listenin to this shit
Shits so hard had them niggas do the limbo
My p**ssy wet listening to this daddy
Westides voice so grimey dope. Can listen to this all day
UNSKIPPABLE!!!
Westside showing them how its done. GOLD
Eurostep crazy fam
Finna beat my wife to this shit
It aint a game no more??
A gem amongst trash.. Niggas cant even see West!!
Yeah the adlibs can be annoying, but Gunn is getting better rapidly. His flow on 327 is crazy and he always had an ear for beats, solid 4/5
What do people see in this guy? Just because he’s signed under Eminem and is a part of a group of dope spitters doesn’t make him great off the rip. He’s the Tony Yayo of the crew, the Noreaga to Griselda’s CNN, all style, hardly any substance. Back to bumpin Lulu and awaiting Benny’s next project. I’ll give it a 2 because some of the guest features were nice.
I gotta agree with you. I really don’t see the appeal of WSG, I think Benny is way better and sometimes even picks better beats. I might listen to the album again to see what his draw is, but I don’t get it.
Just read that nigga’s comment callin wsg ‘the griselda’s tony yayo” hahaha boy you must be trippin. We talkin bout quality right here , quit talkin that dumb shit. Whole albums fire BARS NIGGA!!
How is this a 4.2? This is garbage.
Another 13year old …thats a gem boy
Gunns most commercial release yet. still underground fire