Fifth studio album by Westside Gunn, comes about a year after the prequel and is more a mixtape than an album. The production is created by Sadhugold, Daringer, Conductor Williams, Streetrunner, Denny LaFlare, JR Swiftz, DJ Shay, Chuck Inglish and Tarik Azzouz. The guests are Armani Caesar, Keisha Plum, Benny the Butcher, Stove God Cooks, AA Rashid, Boldy James and Rome Streetz. Here Flygod Meets Stove God.
The other guests go slightly into the background: without adding too much, Benny dominates the magnificent drumless rhythm created by Daringer, jazzy beat with distant strings enhanced by a tight looped soulful male sample from Black Ivory's "I'll Find a Way", opened by some introductory Gunn bars, Boldy James closes with a solid but almost bored flow, slow, smoothness thanks to the perfect rhythm. Keisha Plum isn't surprising here between the few vicious lines of the sexual "Drive by Love" and that sort of back and forth on the "Rebirth" chorus over a sample of "Lovers" by Pieces of a Dream, Armani Caesar provides a slow and syncopated, bewitching delivery for the sixth song, on a midtempo simple light production by JR Swiftz that uses a sample from Beat Butcha's "Sinister Shit 2", while Rome Streetz worthily offers in the final song, good deeply velvet and slow flow on a simple production with female sample hypnotic soul looped tight.
The major guest of the effort is the Syracuse, New York rapper Stove God Cooks and his presence coincides with the album's best cuts. The kid proves that it is not a coincidence, killing three tracks on three appearances and making a sensation. The first highlight of the tape is "José Canseco": wonderful deep male soulful sample from The Youngeraires' "God Is Still on the Throne", Streetrunner and Tarik Azzouz behind the keyboards, great bass line, light percussions, the beat breathes enveloped by adlibs, Westside Gunn enters with a slow, powerful, slick style, comparing himself to José Canseco and tearing the cut. Stove God Cooks kicks bars with a powerful, rough, dusty rapping, killing the track, final skit with Macho Man and Mean Gene.
The second strong moment of this album comes a few seconds later with "One More Hit", remix of Flygod freestyle that uses a sample of Tim Maia's "Eu Amo Você": splendid beat realized by Denny LaFlare, Gunn maintains the same lyrics of that freestyle over basically the same rhythm, robust bass line, wonderful, rough sounds, the same sample is rough, Flygod voice sounds rusty over this musical carpet, then Stove God pulverizes this drug rap track, moving around the kitchen while listening to "Reasonable Doubt". Starting the gas before the verse of Stove God Cooks is a touch of class that pushes this track close to the classic status.
"Buffs vs. Wires" w/ Benny and Boldy over a Daringer is another must-listen here. The last high of the record is "Bubba Chuck", another remix of a WSG freestyle. The sample is taken from "Endless Love" by Piero Piccioni, DJ Shay creates this masterpiece, splendid horns, amazing bass, Westside Gunn drops other drug bars intertwined with bravado, fashion, firearms, murders, robberies, this is one of his typical stanza. Chorus, then Stove God Cooks ignites the track and raises the bar for the whole project.
When part of the critics started giving him adequate coverage and casual fans were starting to get used to more commercial sounds, Westside Gunn decides to bring back some of his early sound. Here, he doesn't revolutionize, he plays it safe and maintains a flowing and lively delivery for the whole half hour, providing his usual mixture of braggadocio and mafia lines. In summary, it's Gunn's usual tape, a solid addition to his discography, but it will not make you jump on the sofa if you have already listened to any of his other albums or mixtapes, nevertheless, an emphasis must be placed on the production: the MC from Buffalo calls nine different beatmakers for this project, and they paint a pretty adequate soundscape for the sound that Griselda have made you appreciate in these years, light, simple jazzy, and unlike most of the works coming from the Buffalo trio, it seems without drum machine (instead, there's: it's almost imperceptible, but there's, light and distant in the background), excellent job.
Removed intro, outro, two skits and two interludes, the Buffalo artist reserves two solo cuts for himself, while the rest are occupied by Griselda affiliates, more or less: Armani Caesar, Boldy James, Rome Streetz, Keisha Plum, Benny and Cooks, who in his debut album has shown that he can carve out a space among the most promising emerging rappers of this period. Here, he's confirmed with three excellent cuts in which he pours gangsta and braggadocio bars with a technically clean, smooth and hardcore flow. Listening recommended to Griselda fans.
Highlights: "Jose Canseco", "One More Hit", "Buffs vs. Wires", "Bubba Chuck".
Rating: 7.5/10.
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