Westside Gunn is one of the hottest rappers out right now. Consistently dropping multiple albums every year, he has been leading the charge of Griselda’s recent success. Less than three months after his star-studded Pray for Paris, the Buffalo rapper is back with his newest LP, “Flygod Is An Awesome God 2“. Compared to his last album’s luxurious feel, Westside Gunn is taking fans back to his gritty Buffalo roots.
Westside Gunn brings his typical lyrical flair to the project. The album opens up with the “Praise God Intro” which contains a minute-long monologue from AA Rashid talking about everything Westside Gunn has done for the culture. It is followed up by the track “Micheal Irvin”, which is a definite standout as Gunn paints a vivid picture of his crime-ridden past. Unfortunately the rest of the album meshes together as Westside gives us pretty straight forward stories and bars which bring nothing new to the table. Featuring Benny The Butcher and Boldy James, the song “Buffs vs. Wires” is one of the best cuts as the trio shows off why they are some of the best spitters out there right now. While there is nothing bad about Westside Gunn or any of the featured artists’ performances, it is just not anything memorable.
Sonically, Westside Gunn goes back to the basement on this one. The raw instrumentals of “Jose Canseco” and “Lil Cease” capture the classic Griselda feel. Songs like “Bubba Chuck” even implement some classic jazz samples. One thing that felt unnecessary on Flygod was the overabundance of skits. There are way too many of them, and they feel disconnected for the most part. While the instrumental direction was an excellent return to form for Westside Gunn, there are way too many skits to make the sound of this album desirable.
In conclusion, Fly God Is An Awesome God 2 is not bad by any means, but it is the weakest tape to come out of the Griselda camp in recent memory. It is a solid collection of street raps but the album fails to differentiate itself from the rest of Westside’s acclaimed catalog. With this being said, I don’t think anyone should be worried about Westside Gunn for the future. He simply wanted to give fans something to enjoy as he prepares for his highly anticipated Shady Records debut.
Rating: 5.0/10
