Westside Gunn

Born in Buffalo, New York, Westside Gunn emerged in the early 2010s on the American independent rap scene by founding Griselda Records and, together with Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher, cultivating a local scene with a raw, East Coast-rooted sound. In Westside Gunn’s work, boom bap and hardcore rap are conveyed through often stripped-down productions built from soul or jazz loops, a staccato flow and sharp ad-libs, with lyrics that intersect street life, luxury fashion, contemporary art and references to pro-wrestling. The Hitler Wears Hermes mixtape series occupies a central place in this trajectory, followed by a string of albums that shape his discography: Flygod (2016), Supreme Blientele (2018), Pray for Paris (2020), Who Made the Sunshine (2020), 10 (2022) and And Then You Pray for Me (2023). Westside Gunn has also forged his path through numerous collective projects and recurring collaborations with producers such as Daringer, The Alchemist and Madlib, while helping to secure Buffalo’s lasting presence on the American underground hip-hop map.