Rating: 4/5 stars

Buffalo native Westside Gunn (“Who Made the Sunshine”) has carved his own lane and then some over the past decade. From being the de-facto leader of the Griselda collective and label, Griselda Records, to becoming somewhat of a fashion icon in modern day hip hop, the rapper, 41, has made quite a name for himself. At this point, a formal introduction for this man feels unnecessary. However, if it had to be done, it would only be appropriate to have it carried out by someone like Howard Finkel, the iconic ring announcer for pro-wrestling during the 80s. Sadly, this review does not have any audio element to it and Finkel is no longer walking the planet. So, this will have to do.

All that being said, here we have this brand new batch of songs from Gunn, which is not only a sequel to 2020’s “Pray For Paris,” but is also billed as his fifth and final studio album. According to Westside himself, he is not quitting music altogether, but he is done with stress that comes with producing a full-length album. Rappers and musicians are not exactly the most trustworthy regarding announcements of that ilk, but if “And Then You Pray for Me” is truly the last album he is putting out, then Gunn went out with a bang. 

The first noticeable aspect of the project is its length. This thing clocks in at a whopping 1 hour and 15 minutes, which by today’s standards is the length of a feature film. A lot of these songs are well over three minutes. To be frank, there are many rappers currently in the game that would not be able to pull that off, but Westside is not one of them. His charisma, high-pitched delivery and sometimes, for lack of a better term, out-of-pocket lyrical content are enough to keep the listener engaged; case in point: the song “Chloe.” To call this raunchy would be a huge understatement. These lyrics are risky to recite in public. Despite this, it is definitely a standout. 

The slow, soulful instrumental combined with the even more soulful crooning of Ty Dolla $ign (“Or Nah”) really make this track feel like a moment. A true attention-grabber for sure. Ty Dolla $ign is just one of the many features to appear on this album, with artists such as JID (“Surround Sound”), Denzel Curry (“Clout Cobain”) and Rick Ross (“Purple Lamborghini”) each contributing at different points. JID in particular wins the award for best feature due to his performance on “Mamas PrimeTime.” 

Griselda members Conway The Machine (“Scatter Brain”) and Benny The Butcher (“Johnny P’s Caddy”) more than hold their own on “Kostas,” with Conway impressively spitting bars despite not being fully free of the effects of anesthesia following leg surgery. The absolute best track here has to be the eerie and melancholy “Kitchen Lights” with Griselda affiliate and hookmaster Stove God Cooks (“Rolls Royce Break Lights”). The strings, the choice to omit any kind of percussion from the beat and the gritty lyrics all come together for an emotional recounting of their lives before fame. 

To put a bow on this, is it a tad bloated? Yes, it is. Is it a wild ride? Yes. It is obvious that a lot of fun was had during the creation of this album and the result was a fun listen.

Image from @WESTSIDEGUNN via Twitter.com