Griselda continues to expand itself and emerge with its cinema section, producing its first movie, "Conflicted", in collaboration with Black Soprano Family, supported by an eponymous soundtrack: in addition to Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher, historical members of the group, there are also the new signatures Boldy James, Armani Caesar and YN Billy, the ex Elcamino, the rappers of BSF Heem, Rick Hyde and Jonezy, and external guests Chase Fetti, Lloyd Banks, Flee Lord, Eto, Ransom, Dave East, Smoke DZA and Wale. Production is handled by DJ Shay, Daringer, Beat Butcha, Camouflage Monk, IceRoxx, Nothing But M's, Miguel the Plug, Ghost Dave and Cee Gee.
After the intro, Chase Fetti opens the soundtrack on a dark and urgent jazzy boom bap created by IceRoxx, with frenetic piano samples and slow pounding drum; Heem and Billy V follow, nobody really convinces until the arrival of Benny the Butcher, who has a better and fluent style. The first of many solo cuts on this record follows. Production of the beatmaker Nothing but M's, a dude providing a better beat than the previous one, jazzy boom bap with samples of piano shots looped in the background, eclectic vibrating drum machine, another tense sample, Lloyd Banks lets the rhythm breathe, then delivers with rough, slow, flowing style. Between bars and flow, he brings one of the best performances of the record, aided by solid production.
The second posse of the album follows, "Ain't Hit Nobody": splendid essential beat, with a thin and distant drum in the background, annihilated by the delivery of the rappers, and samples of slightly distorted, dusty, beautiful guitar pinches. Slow smooth delivery of Flee Lord, then Eto dominates the joint with the calm style that distinguishes him, impressive, he walks with folded hands behind his back alone on this track, illuminated by the street lamps on the bank of the Seine, flow-masterpiece; it closes Westside Gunn in a noisy, almost totally unfit way with the calm mood of the track, practically shouting over the beat with a dirty and raw flow; Daringer's sublime work behind the keyboards.
"Pride" is a solo piece of Ransom: good energetic rhythm created by the rapper himself, triumphant horns and male melodic sample looped in the background, he lets the rhythm breathe, then attacks with a smoothness, clear, rapid flow, he spits hard bars with an unstoppable delivery, carving out the best cut of the record, in a Griselda record. "Welcome Home DMX" features one of the three rhythms of late DJ Shay: this sixth song is one of the most atypical in the Griselda discography, soulful sample from "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid, accessible trap rhythm on which Dave East is unleashed. Hook left to the sample, closes BSF rapper Jonezy with an orderly and regular style, before giving ample space to the sample for the outro. DJ Shay also produces the next musical carpet, jazzy boom bap with slow and light drum and triumphant horn samples combined with a piano: Elcamino returns to delivery decently in rapping, with a slow and flowing style, hook, then Rick Hyde regular and flowing, closes Smoke DZA.
"3:30 in Houston" is a solo choice by Benny on the November 2020 shooting: Beat Butcha & Daringer's frantic jazzy rhythm, slow pounding drum, circular sample, unstoppable smooth delivery of the MC that makes no distinction between verse and hook and just goes straight without looking at anyone, in a clear highlight of the whole project. "Voices" is the last posse of the middle section, because the final section is marked by several consecutive solo songs: rhythm with trap vibes made by DJ Shay, slow and tired drum machine, Heem slow hardcore delivery, Boldy James here seems half asleep and lazy, closes Chase Fetti with more energy but with a flow interspersed. The tenth pick is a solo by YN Billy, Atlanta rapper fresh from the signing with the house of Westside Gunn in 2020: trap rhythm you've surely heard yet, if you've listened to any other trap album/tape in the past twelve years, credited to Miguel the Plug, the rapper shows he has potential here, but the beat chosen doesn't adequately value his flow.
Skit, then solo by Armani Caesar, another new face joined Griselda Records in the previous year: Camouflage Monk offers a simple beat, jazzy downtempo boom bap with light slow drum and decadent jazzy samples, Armani delivers with an almost spoken slow style animated by her bars, in one of her most inspired tracks of the last period. This short track leads to the title track, fully performed by the Queens rapper Flee Lord: Ghost Dave's amazing dark and gloomy jazzy production, great samples, slow solid drum, Flee Lord's slow-flowing dope delivery, he eats the cut. The final two posse follow. Cee Gee produces "Mission Accomplished", jazzy boom bap, regular drum, good samples, nasal, slow, smooth delivery of Gunn, follows Armani, closes Benny with his immaculate flow, dope. Camouflage Monk realizes a fabulous jazzy rhythm for "The Hurt Business", slow drum, WSG fast hardcore delivery, long sung chorus, then Smoke DZA and Wale.
Westside Gunn announces that he no longer wants to retire from the game. Is this something new in hip-hop or an unexpected statement? Obviously not. Here, he looks inspired and creates a satisfying soundtrack for the movie, aided by Benny the Butcher and his BSF Records. The solo songs are reserved for Lloyd Banks, Ransom, Benny, YN Billy and Flee Lord, and there are several Griselda posse: maybe it's a coincidence, but the solo joints ("Element of Surprise", "Pride", "3:30 in Houston", "Conflicted") are also the best choices, while most of the posse tracks suffer from some wrong elements that limits or lowers them quality. Among the notes, there's the total absence of Conway. Honest record, Griselda heads will enjoy most of the content, also recommended for East Coast fans.
Highlights: "Element of Surprise", "Ain't Hit Nobody", "Pride", "3:30 in Houston", "Conflicted", "Mission Accomplished".
Rating: 7/10.
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