In 2018, the Buffalo rapper Alvin "Westside Gunn" Worthy releases his second studio album. The production is realized by Daringer, The Alchemist, SADHU Gold, Hesh, Roc Marciano, Harry Fraud, Statik Selektah, Pete Rock and 9th Wonder. The guests are Keisha Plum, Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Crimeapple, Elzhi, Roc Marciano, Anderson .Paak, and AA Rashid.
After the intro, the album is opened by "GOD$ Don't Bleed": splendid female soulful sample looped tight in the background, plaintive and dominant, it's a Spanish version of "Stupidi" by Ornella Vanoni, brilliant midtempo jazzy rhythm Daringer, excellent smooth and clear delivery of Benny, Jadakiss well with simple and sharp bars, well Westside Gunn, closes a Sean Price line borrowed from "BLVK TAR" from "Hitler Wears Hermes III". "Dean Malenko" follows, a beautiful elegant piano on Daringer's essential boom bap jazzy midtempo, one verse of Westside, excellent delivery, slow, smoothness, full of adlibs, with final skit outro. "Brutus" is an awesome jazzy midtempo production of Pete Rock, with a vicious female sample in the background from Willie Lindo's "Midnight", excellent smooth and crisp delivery of Benny, good Flygod, Conway rips the cut with an extra-verse smooth, dope flow. It follows an introduction by Westside's daughter, then a beautiful female soulful sample looped in the background from the amazing The Sequins' "What Makes Me Love You", spectacular boom bap jazzy midtempo created by Daringer, excellent delivery of the Buffalo MC, great short joint, gem.
"RVD" presents a downtempo, brilliant jazzy rhythm, the signature is again of the Griselda house producer, excellent smooth and calm delivery of Gunn, slow elegant piano in the background from "A Concerto Retitled" by Joe Zawinul, incredible gangsta verse provided by Keisha Plum, who tears the cut with a poetic delivery. "Elizabeth" follows, yet another highlight of this semi-classic: spectacular jazzy midtempo rhythm made by Alchemist (among the best producers at the moment), sample of sax looped tight in the background, dope production, excellent verse of WSG that tears the piece with a simple verse, chorus between rapping, singing and speaking, ultra-braggadocio at an unreachable level, production is an immediate classic, Westside Gunn arrives with a lethal second verse and destroys the track. Skit-outro by Mick Foley on Chris Benoit, then "MEAN Gene": female soulful sample looped tight in the background from Linda Jones' "Fugitive From Love", then unique intro towards tribute to Mean Gene Okerlund on another productive pearl of Alchemist. Nephew Hesh & Sadhugold produce "Stefflon Don", dark downtempo jazzy rhythm, dark soulful sample looped tight in the background, only great WSG verse, then skit of the deadly encounter between Sabu and Chris Benoit.
It follows a WSG tribute to Sabu: heavenly production of Sadhugold (props to him), magnificent boom bap jazzy soulful midtempo, vocal sample by Busta Rhymes from "Ill Vibe" who launches the track, the only verse of the Buffalo rapper, short sample looped in the background. "Brossface Brippler" presents an excellent boom bap jazzy midtempo of Alchemist, dope, with female soulful sample from "I Found the Way of Life" by Ladies of Song looped in the background, good delivery of WSG, Benny kills the cut, Busta sets him on fire delivering a slower verse than his usual, remaining at time with the rhythm, this made the listeners crazy, homie, that verse is cited both as one of his best verses and both as one of his worst verses ever ('TF?). "Spanish Jesus" is unjustly cited as one of the weak points of the album: excellent jazzy rockin' production by Harry Fraud, good punctual delivery of Crimeapple, honest and smooth delivery of Gunn over a sample from Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal's "Charisma". Probably suffers because it has no obvious strengths, but damn, it's an highlights in any other album of the same period. The next song is produced again by Pete Rock's musical genius: heavenly, brilliant, soulful jazzy rhythm, with dope strings in the background, sample taken from Jerry Butler's "Are You Happy", excellent initial delivery by Elzhi, smooth and technically clean, dope, second verse dope by Westside Gunn.
Roc Marciano produces "Ric Martel", an excellent boom bap jazzy midtempo, light, spectacular, female soulful sample looped strong in the background from "(I Know) Time Is Gonna Change" by Feminiques, almost completely excludes Flygod deliveries and even that by Roc Marciano himself: the choice to mix in this way the piece doesn't reward the listener and obscures both lyrics, practically indecipherable. But, I think it's specially made this way to make the joint (and the album) more rough and I don't think too much about it: if I have to listen to it well, if not amen. "WESTSIDE" follows: boom bap dark jazzy, midtempo, with amazing soulful sample looped in the background and hook with various scratched samples, great tune with two excellent flowing dope verses by the Buffalo MC on one of the best rhythms of the tape extracted by Statik Selektah. The next rhythm is provided by 9th Wonder. Anderson Paak's chorus opens "Wrestlemania 20": splendid male soulful sample looped in the background from "Thank You God" by Darondo, deep and heavenly, excellent boom bap jazzy midtempo, two other excellent verses delivered on what is hyper launched towards the album of the year. Dope track. The album is closed by a powerful outro by AA Rashad on a delicious soulful jazzy rhythm produced by Harry Fraud, sample from Wilding & Bonus' "Earth Hymn" with deep bows looped in the background, fantastic, wonderful production, with a jazzy bridge in the end, very appropriate closure for a classic album.
Two years after making an immortal classic, Westside Gunn returns to release a studio album. Matching "FLYGOD" was impossible, but it comes very close here. The artist keeps the listener at 1995/1996, New York, Arn Anderson's intro about Chris Benoit, wrestler who tragically passed away in 2007, honored here: it's one of the titles of this project, together with "God Is the Greatest". To the history, however, we're given "Supreme Blientele", a clear tribute to Ghostface Killah: it means this album will be rough, shiny, cohesive, cinematic, with a brilliantly impressive hardcore production, street, gangsta, brutal lyrics and a absolutely smooth rapping — some pezzonovante such as Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Crimeapple, Elzhi, Roc Marciano and Anderson. Paak, in addition to the Griselda family, come to support; Keisha Plum stands out offering a gangsta verse! — to create one of the best coke/ignorant rap albums of the decade and among the best records of the year.
Rating: 9.3/10.
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