Westside Gunn & DJ Drama - Still Praying (Album Review)
Friday, 22 November 2024
Written by Jack Butler-Terry
When Westside Gunn announced that he wouldn’t be making albums anymore, many fans probably thought he’d go quiet musically. But in fine hip hop retirement tradition, it turns out the Buffalo rapper and record exec isn’t going anywhere. His new collaborative mixtape with DJ Drama serves as a bit of a victory lap.
It’s been impossible to avoid Gunn and his Griselda label over the past few years. The stable, also starring co-founders Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher, has churned out high calibre album after high calibre album, and Gunn’s own output has been prolific.
‘Still Praying’ is the sound of a rapper giving himself his flowers and taking the opportunity to show off everything he has. It makes sense, then, that he’s paired up with DJ Drama, whose penchant for yelling adlibs over every track makes him the ultimate hype man on this tape.
Both players dispatch their parts as expected. Gunn’s flows and expression are dripping with charisma over the sort of classy beats that have become his trademark, while Drama’s scratches offer constant complementary flourishes and counterpoints.
Speedy 40 and the excellent Runway Pieces At The Last Supper give us some top-shelf Gunn verses that manage to evoke both the gritty edge of New York City and the glamorous shine of his hard-fought success.
Ultimately, though, ‘Still Praying’ is a work of excess, whether that’s in the form of braggadocious, high-roller lyrics or the lavish instrumentals and Griselda crew features that litter the back half of the tape. At times it clumsily stumbles into being too much. On Free Shots, the beat, ad-libs, scratches and performance styles collide into an ugly mess, while I Know Verdy spirals away before anything can really get going.
This is not Westside Gunn’s finest hour, but it doesn’t feel like it was intended to be. After everything he's accomplished in hip hop these past few years, who can begrudge him a moment to pat himself on the back.
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