An underdog from the underground, Buffalo-bred rapper Westside Gunn brings the sounds of '90s hardcore rap into the 21st century alongside his brother and fellow emcee Conway. With their tales of street life, drugs, and gun violence, the pair have employed sample-heavy production in the gritty East Coast tradition of the Lox, Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, and the Wu-Tang Clan. In addition to his work with Conway and their Griselda labelmates, Westside Gunn branched out on his own with a series of Hitler Wears Hermes mixtapes issued in the 2010s, as well as solo albums such as Flygod (2016), Supreme Blientele (2018), and Pray for Paris (2020), the latter of which cracked the upper half of the Billboard 200. The lengthy, guest-heavy full-length And Then You Pray for Me appeared in 2023 and reached the Top 30 of the same chart. The EP 11 and a mixtape, Still Praying, were released almost simultaneously in 2024.

Born Alvin Lamar Worthy in Buffalo, New York, Westside Gunn started rapping at a young age. In high school, he joined with Conway (born Demond Price) and fellow rappers Benny the Butcher and Machine Gun Black as the Forerunners. They stuck together over the years and in the early 2010s, they founded Griselda Records. In addition to output as Westside Gunn & Conway, Worthy began issuing his own mixtapes, including the Hitler Wears Hermes series, which kicked off in 2012. With his strong, steady rhymes and often laid-back production, he released five installments of the Hermes series into 2017. 

His debut studio full-length, Flygod, arrived in 2016 and featured appearances by Benny, Conway, Roc Marciano, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, and more, as well as production by Statik Selektah and the Alchemist. In 2017, Griselda inked a deal with Eminem's Shady Records, which graduated Westside Gunn to the majors. That same year, he hopped onto a collaboration with MF Doom titled WestsideDoom, and a year later he issued his sophomore LP, Supreme Blientele, which featured many familiar faces from Flygod, as well as new guests Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Anderson .Paak, and producers Pete Rock and 9th Wonder. 

After Griselda hit the Top Ten of Billboard's R&B/hip-hop and rap charts with WWCD, Westside issued the solo album Pray for Paris in April 2020. DJ Premier, DJ Muggs, the Alchemist, and Tyler, The Creator were among the contributors to the set, which entered the Billboard 200 at number 67 and the R&B/hip-hop chart at 39. A second Gunn album, Who Made the Sunshine, was initially set for release that August, but it was delayed following the death of longtime Griselda Records collaborator DJ Shay from COVID-19. The album eventually appeared in October 2020 and featured appearances by Benny, Conway, Slick Rick, Black Thought, and others. Two tracks, "Julia Lang" and "TV Boy," arrived in March 2021 as the first songs released off Gunn's mixtape Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely, Adolf. Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B followed. The mixtapes Peace "Fly" God and 10 (the final installment in the Hitler Wears Hermes series) appeared in 2022. The studio album And Then You Pray for Me arrived in 2023, boasting guests like Rick Ross, DJ Drama, Denzel Curry, and Boldy James. It reached number 29 on the Billboard 200. In 2024, Gunn issued the EP 11 as well as the DJ Drama-hosted mixtape Still Praying. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

Preferring a literate style over simple hooks or radio-friendly fodder, Detroit rapper Boldy James delivers sharply focused rhymes that describe drug deals in acute detail. Some of his best-received work, including 2013's My 1st Chemistry Set and 2020's The Price of Tea in China, has been produced by the Alchemist, whose minimalist production befits Boldy's cold, unflinching narratives. 2020's Manger on McNichols, a jazzy collaboration with Sterling Toles, represented a new height in his artistry. He followed it with the Griselda-issued The Versace Tape and further Alchemist productions such as 2021's Super Tecmo Bo. A prolific 2022 included efforts with Nicholas Craven (Fair Exchange No Robbery) and Cuns (Be That as It May). The Conductor Williams-produced Across the Tracks appeared in 2024, followed by The Bricktionary and 2025's Permanent Ink.

Born in Atlanta but raised in Detroit, where his parents were originally from, James Clay Jones III established Boldy James as his stage name in tribute to his friend Boldy, who was murdered. The cousin of rapper/producer and Cool Kids member Chuck Inglish, Boldy made appearances on Cool Kids mixtapes before releasing his first tape, Trapper's Alley: Pros and Cons, in 2011. Consignment: Favor for a Favor, The Redi-Rock Mixtape followed in 2012, and the EP Grand Quarters preceded My 1st Chemistry Set, Boldy's Alchemist-produced studio debut, issued by Decon in 2013.

Boldy became one of the first signees to Nas' Mass Appeal Records in 2014. His output for the label included the 2015 mixtape Trapper's Alley 2: Risk vs. Reward, 2017 EP The Art of Rock Climbing, and 2017 mixtape House of Blues. He went independent with 2018's Live at the Roxy (Tabs & Caps), then linked back up with the Alchemist for 2019's Boldface EP and 2020's full-length The Price of Tea in China. Soon after the album was released, Buffalo-based Griselda Records announced that they had signed Boldy. Following Manger on McNichols, a jazzy and long-gestating LP made with producer Sterling Toles, Boldy released his Griselda debut, The Versace Tape. He capped off an especially prolific period with Real Bad Boldy, his fourth full-length project of 2020, self-issued by album collaborator Real Bad Man. 

Two albums with the Alchemist, Bo Jackson and Super Tecmo Bo, were released in 2021. Numerous Boldy albums appeared in 2022: Killing Nothing, a second effort with Real Bad Man, appeared in May, followed in September by Fair Exchange No Robbery, with Nicholas Craven. Mr. Ten08, with Futurewave, was released in November, and the year closed with a collaboration with Cuns titled Be That as It May. In 2023, Boldy released Indiana Jones with RichGains, followed by the EP Prisoner of Circumstance with ChanHays. Penalty of Leadership, another collaboration with Craven, appeared in early 2024. Also that January, he worked with Conductor Williams, producing the full-length Across the Tracks. He returned in November with The Bricktionary, and he kicked off 2025 with Permanent Ink, albums that underlined his knack for marrying moody grooves with indelible lyrical portraits of urban life. ~ Paul Simpson & David Jeffries, Rovi

R.I.P. MostDope25/8...

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