2020 Hip-Hop Power Players: Westside Gunn, Griselda Records

Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

B-B-BOOM, the adlib most associated with Westside Gunn, was exactly what himself and Griselda Records would provide for hip-hop in 2020. The steam from Griselda’s gun was still very hot & fresh coming off a breakthrough year that saw them take the Hip-Hop mainstream by storm, 2020 was there chance to solidify that hype and build on it. And boy, did they do just that.

To start off 2020 Griselda gave the game some time to catch up coming off the release of their studio album WWCD (What Would Chine Gun Do), in November 2019. As the year ended and a new one began the Griselda conglomerate remained a bit subtle. After their Rap Radar interview began circulating with snippets and clips from late December, though they weren’t releasing music they were still very much mentioned in all hip-hop conversations. If not, the conversation.

How long did it last? Not long! Conway started teasing the release of Lulu in the middle of March. Nothing formal, but Conway was creating a buzz. He released the first single on March 24th.

Now after such a momentous year and endless talk around who is better between Conway or Benny, to lead the year with a Conway x Alchemist project was merely a clever chest move on the part of Griselda.

What followed was the Griselda machine working seamlessly, Westside Gunn was gearing up for his Pray For Paris release. Being inspired enough after visiting Paris for its Fashion Autumn/Winter ‘20 collections, he decided to record while there. Executing on what was a wonderful rollout, P4P released April, 17th 2020. Featuring Heavyweights such as Tyler The Creator, Wale and more - P4P was stacked with quality and gems.

Griselda would go on to release a slew of other projects, including breakout album from the First Lady, Armani Caesar (The Liz) & a solid tape from the everso consistent, Boldy James.

Benny decided to expound on his own imprint, BSF (The Black Soprano Family). Signing a label deal with E1 and releasing a group project hosted by Gangsta Grillz. The Butcher made it very clear what his plans were and everything seemed to executed to his liking.

Benny would go on to release one of the better projects of the year, Burden of Proof with Hit-Boy, it took his own solo career to greater heights. Conway also released what many have hailed to be one of the best projects this year. Titled FKTG, From A King to A God - having many features and different sounds, Conway definitely showcased his skill level on this one. He even went very left, to the norm, from the camp and showed he fits in no box.

Westside Gunn didn’t get left out on the soio tip, he dropped two other projects, one a mixtape/ep, and the other an album on Shady. Westside Gunn has been proclaiming retirement from Rap post 2020, which seems to be ridiculous given the timing, but if retirement is on the horizon he held no punches it seems.

Now all of this is great, but with Freddie Gibbs getting a Grammy nomination after using the Griselda formula, I would say the power, influence is undeniable at the moment. Westside had a lot to say, and a lot to do. No matter what point of view you have, or your topic, if we talking hip-hop you can not mention Westside Gunn & Griselda Records. Because of that Westside Gunn and Griselda Records find themselves at No. 2 in our 2020 power players.