A key figure within the rise of Griselda, Westside Gunn’s idiosyncratic success owes much to collective endeavour. Re-tooling funky soul deep cuts to construct concrete slabs of hip-hop sound, Gunn’s catalogue is replete with daring moves, unexpected departures, and no small degree of triumph. Even within that framework, however, new album ‘Still Praying’ stands apart, a probing and often difficult but no less rewarding journey.
A follow-on in parts from 2023’s ‘And Then You Pray For Me’, the album was co-piloted by DJ Drama and the producer’s sonic stains are all over this raw, ragged endeavour. Opening one-two ‘Waly Fay’ and ‘Justin Roberts’ refuse to cowtow to expectation, offering hazy jazz horns and bleeping fog-horn electronics, respectively.
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When the album gets up to speed, few can bet against Westside Gunn. Not so much a heavyweight as a bare knuckle boxer, ‘Still Praying’ seems to perfectly replicate the psychological aura of the streets of Buffalo – the gleeful swagger of ‘Beef Bar’, the surrealist word-play of ‘I Know Verdy’ or the stomping Conway link-up ‘Free Shots’.
The vision is often cracked, or blurred, though. ‘Duran Duran’ is wonderful, the beautifully off-key piano sample but intoxicating and eerie, the uncanny sonics underpinning flows that career across the beat. ‘Underground Kind’ is practically a mini-manifesto, while closer ‘LeSalle Station’ – itself a Buffalo landmark – is a ferocious piece of psycho-geography, redolent of an album that exists both in the real world, and the imagination.
Underground hip-hop at its finest, ‘Still Praying’ signals a new chapter from a hugely individual voice. Different artists, but we’re put in mind of Ka, and his Brooklyn tales – few have conjured the specifics of a place, in both detail and emotion, like Westside Gunn.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
