Instead of sticking to his loose-hand free-verse style of rapping, WSG sounds like he has something to prove on this album.
“YOU AIN’T NEVER ATE RUTH CHRIS IN A CELL” — East Buffalo rapper Westside Gunn (WSG) released his long-awaited sequel to accompany his 2020 album Pray For Paris with And Then You Pray For Me on Friday, Oct. 13. He claims this album will be his last full-length studio LP but that he’ll still be dropping music sporadically. The album is 21 songs long with a run time of 75 minutes.
The production of this album unexpectedly elevates WSG’s sound. The best parts from Pray For Paris are back, including sinister basslines, beautiful string sequences, eerie pianos, and raw boom-bap beats. However, surprisingly enough, there is a concentrated focus on trap beats and rage synths thanks to producers like Tay Keith and Miguel The Plug.
Instead of sticking to his loose-hand free-verse style of rapping, WSG sounds like he has something to prove on this album. Every verse is tight and lyrically dense, flexing all the jewelry, cars, and designer brands that, at this point, better start paying him some sort of royalty. WSG’s message on the album is clear: other rappers can’t do it like him. And after 18 years in the game, he sounds more mature and authentic to talk about it.
The feature list includes all the regular Griselda Records cast from Conway to Keisha Plum. Stove God Crooks is the standout though, with five appearances throughout the album. Outside Griselda, the album features JID, Rick Ross, Ty Dolla Sign, Giggs, Denzel Curry, EST Gee, Jeezy, Peezy, KayCyy, and Trap-A-Holics. While there isn’t a singular host on the album, DJ Drama plays that role on multiple songs.
The album has Griselda fans divided. However, WSG predicted this response in a documentary released before the album, “I know what’s gon happen […] Imma drop this album, you’re gonna have the core underground fans that only listen to boom-bap hate it cause they’re gonna say this [guy] changed. […] The new fans that even just know me from like Travis’ album, they gon be like, oh this [stuff is] hard.” WSG is referencing his appearance on Travis Scott’s recent album, UTOPIA. While the reception for And Then You Pray For Me has been mixed, it exceeds all competition in the trap genre this year.
For an album meant to be a send-off, it was a brave choice for Westside Gunn to switch up his accustomed sound. The Griselda Records founder has said that he is now more focused on creating the art he wants to create instead of pleasing fans. This conclusion should have WSG and Griselda fans excited, even if they thought the album was too “new-school.”
