Westside Gunn

Emerging from Buffalo’s underground, the rapper Westside Gunn fuses 1990s hardcore rap textures with contemporary beats, frequently joining forces with his brother Conway. Their narratives of street life, narcotics, and gun violence unfold over sample-driven tracks that echo the raw East Coast lineage of the Lox, Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, and the Wu-Tang Clan. Beyond projects with Conway and other Griselda artists, Westside Gunn launched an independent catalog in the 2010s through the Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series and the solo albums Flygod (2016), Supreme Blientele (2018), and Pray for Paris (2020), the last of which reached the upper half of the Billboard 200. In 2023 the expansive, feature-laden full-length And Then You Pray for Me entered the Top 30 of that same chart, followed in 2024 by the near-simultaneous arrival of the EP 11 and the mixtape Still Praying.

Born Alvin Lamar Worthy in Buffalo, New York, Westside Gunn began rapping early. During high school he formed the Forerunners alongside Conway (born Demond Price), Benny the Butcher, and Machine Gun Black. The group endured, and in the early 2010s they established Griselda Records. While releasing material as Westside Gunn & Conway, Worthy also initiated his solo output with the Hitler Wears Hermes series, which debuted in 2012. Five editions of the series appeared through 2017, showcasing his dense, measured rhymes over characteristically restrained beats.

Flygod, his first studio album, surfaced in 2016 and included guest spots from Benny, Conway, Roc Marciano, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, and others, with beats supplied by Statik Selektah and the Alchemist. Griselda signed with Eminem’s Shady Records in 2017, elevating Westside Gunn to major-label status. That year he also teamed with MF Doom for the collaborative release WestsideDoom; the following year he delivered his second studio album, Supreme Blientele, again drawing on many of the same contributors while adding Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Anderson .Paak, Pete Rock, and 9th Wonder.

After Griselda’s WWCD reached the Top Ten of Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop and rap charts, Westside Gunn returned with the solo set Pray for Paris in April 2020. DJ Premier, DJ Muggs, the Alchemist, and Tyler, The Creator contributed, helping the project debut at number 67 on the Billboard 200 and number 39 on the R&B/hip-hop chart. A follow-up titled Who Made the Sunshine, originally slated for August, was postponed after longtime Griselda collaborator DJ Shay died from COVID-19; the album finally arrived in October 2020 and featured Benny, Conway, Slick Rick, Black Thought, and additional guests. In March 2021 the tracks “Julia Lang” and “TV Boy” introduced Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely, Adolf, which was succeeded by Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B. The 2022 releases Peace “Fly” God and 10 completed the Hitler Wears Hermes run. And Then You Pray for Me arrived in 2023 with appearances by Rick Ross, DJ Drama, Denzel Curry, and Boldy James, peaking at number 29 on the Billboard 200. Gunn closed out the following year with the EP 11 and the DJ Drama-hosted mixtape Still Praying.