Westside Gunn Albums Ranked
With the recent drop of And Then You Pray For Me and even more recent release of Hall & Nash 2 with Conway & Alchemist, I found myself thinking about Griselda Records and the man who shifted the movement into first gear, Westside Gunn. Having stated that And Then You Pray For Me is the supposed last album by Gunn I went back through his discography starting at his first release. The incomparable Hitler Wears Hermes series, the Flygod series, and everything in between, I found myself comparing each album after the next. I was on the verge of it consuming my entire thought process until the album titles covered my walls like the car fresheners hung about Sloth’s apartment in the movie Se7en. The only way to get past this was to rank in order from 17-1, every album released in the over 10-year career of the most unique rappers hip-hop has seen, from one of its most unlikely places, Buffalo, NY, which brings us to this post. Having been listening for some years I decided to set the record straight for myself and put these tapes in order. For this list, I focused only on solo projects so I did not include any of the Hall & Nash tapes nor did I include the WWCD album as well. This is my personal opinion but remember, whichever one you think is the best one so do I… you just have to hit refresh.
17. HWH1
The tape that started it all starts the list as well with the first project that would set the foundation of Griselda for years to come. Released on October 26th in 2012 the first of the Hitler Wears Hermes series introduced the world to Buffalo Rap. You see flashes of what would come in a more refined and sharpened sound in every project after. Your first project introduces you to the world and without it, this list wouldn’t even be put together. It was a transition period for Hip-Hop as the greats of today were finding themselves and starting on their trajectory over 10 years now. While artists like Drake, Cole, and Kendrick were making moves in the mainstream, Westside was beginning to carve out his lane and significance in the underground scene at a time when it needed an injection of something new. The bones were in place for the house of Griselda with this tape, and it wouldn’t be standing to this day without it.
Personal Favorite Track: Messhall Talk
16. HWH3
The follow-up to a flag-in-the-ground project will never be an easy task. It is Here we find Westside Gunn after the breakout HWH2. The reason for it being this low on the list is that the overall sound of the album is slow. There are standout tracks that have life to them like “Fuck (Stan Smiths)” and “Rolacks” with Skyzoo which, no surprise, are my favorite tracks on the album. There are a lot more skits as well and just as a follow-up to a great album it falls down on this list in comparison to the rest.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Rolacks ft. Skyzoo & Fuck (Stan Smiths)
15. Peace “FLY” GOD
In what was a gift to fans to hold them over until the release of HWH10, the 2022 release finds Westside in the curator role more than perhaps any project he’s released. Most of the spotlight is transferred to frequent collaborators Stove God Cooks & Estee Nack, with Gunn only having 2 tracks with a solo performance (Open Praise & Dan Housen). In the latter half of his career, Westside Gunn is seen as being able to deliver quality projects while taking the backseat role, and Peace “FLY” God is a great illustration of this creative chapter.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Big Ass Bracelet, Derrick Boleman ft. Stove God Cooks, Horses on Sunset ft. Stove God Cooks
14. HWH10
As of now, Hitler 10 is the cap on the longest series of tapes in music and also one of the heaviest feature lists you can find, short of a DJ Khaled album. The list alone is an impressive collection of features: A$AP Rocky, Run the Jewels, Black Star, Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, solidifying the unparalleled series and name Westside Gunn has carved out for himself, in tandem with the respect of the greatest names that Hip-Hop has ever seen. That sample on God is Love is as contagious as it gets.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Peppas ft. Black Star, Shootouts in Soho ft. A$AP Rocky, Nigo Louis, & Switches on Everything ft. RTJ & Stove God Cooks
13. who made the sunshine
What could be seen as the first tape to showcase Westside Gunn in the role of “curator” the final 2020 release, and Shady Records debut has an impressive sound and aesthetic that differentiates it from the others on the list. This tape falls more in line with the more spirited sound that you can find in the second half of Westside Gunn’s career. The man got 2 Slick Rick features and a collaboration with one of the all-time greatest rhymers to ever grace a mic, Black Thought. What more can a rap fan ask for?
Personal Favorite Tracks: Ishkabibble’s ft. Black Thought, Big Basha’s, Lessie ft. Keisha Plum, Ocean Prime ft. Slick Rick & Busta Rhymes
12. flygod is an awesome god
In comparison to the second project, the runtime on some of these tracks is some of Westside’s shortest, but not for lack of content or quality. The tracks don’t overstay their welcome while Gunn delves into the storytelling of his past life in the only manner he can. Also features production credits from Daringer, Alchemist, Danny LaFlare, and the incomparable Madlib, whose collaboration on Gunnlib is one of my favorite songs to come out of the Buffalo camp. We NEED a Westside Gunn and Madlib tape before all is said and done.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Gunnlib, Lunchin, Ferragamo Funeral
11. HWH5
The halfway mark of the Hitler Wears Hermes tape does not leave much to the imagination at this part of Westside Gunn’s career. Still, in the era of the gritty and dark atmosphere, Gunn had made a name for himself at this point in his career (2017). It is one of the shortest in terms of runtime but has some of his best deep cuts in his career (See B Lunch). RIP Bobby with Conway has one of the best switches halfway that makes it difficult to stop your face from scrunching in response.
Personal Favorite Tracks: RIP Bobby ft. Conway the Machine, B Lunch, OG MA
10. flygod is an awesome god 2
In my opinion, the second of the Flygod is an Awesome God tape is all you could ask for. Ridiculous Drug bars, “You ever cooked a half a brick in the air fryer” that sound like the hardest lines ever spit, and irresistible samples to match. The use of the instrumental sample of “ Eu Amo Você” on “One More Hit” with Stove God Cooks (who steals the show on every appearance on the project) is one of my favorites of all time, resulting in constant relistens.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Jose Conseco ft Stove God Cooks, One More Hit ft. Stove God Cooks, Buffs vs. Wires ft. Benny the Butcher & Boldly James
9. HWH2
What the first Hitler Wear Hermes tape hinted at, HWH2 brings in spades. The perfect tape to show what to expect in the twilight of Gunn’s career. Featuring production credits almost entirely by in-house producer Daringer and Camoflague Monk, HWH2 brought back a sense of gritty drug rap fused with high-end fashion name drops that the genre was missing and that the rap collective would soon come to be known by.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Eggz. City sos & me. Eric B
8. hwh7
Barring HWH8, Hitler 7 is the longest of the series and easily one of the standouts. In comparison to others, 7 is more vibrant, soulful, and heavy-hitting in sound and even brings out more energy and intensity from the Buffalo emcee. Every “AYO” and “BOOM” has an extra level of ferocity injected that you can’t help but feel. The run from Undertaker vs. Goldberg to Lucha Bros is as impressive as it gets.
Personal favorite tracks: Broadway Joes, undertaker vs. Goldberg, Whoopy, Love U
7. and then you pray for me
In what may be the final album from one of rap’s greatest curators, westside’s 2023 release is a perfect cap to an unmatched discography. It captures the essence of what Griselda has brought to the table over the last decade. Trap songs, soulful sample tracks, and gritty boom-bap 90s tracks, laden with bars and enough “doot doot doot doot”s, that every type of Westside Gunn fan can find something that has kept them around for as long as they have, while not shunning away any newcomers.
Personal favorite tracks: Mamas PrimeTime ft. JID, Benny the Butcher & Conway the Machine, Kostas ft. Benny the Butcher & Conway the Machine, KITCHEN LIGHTS ft. Stove God Cooks, FLYGOD 2x, Babylon Bliss ft. Stove God Cooks, Jalen Rose ft. Boldy James
6. supreme blientele
Also known as Chris Benoit and god is the Greatest, the second album by Gunn is a standout in anyone’s discography. Leaning heavily into the wrestling influence you can find across all projects under the Griselda umbrella, with a majority of tracks named after prominent wrestling figures. Featuring production credits from Alchemist, Roc Marciano, and Pete Rock to name a few, the Ghostface Killah reference on the album title (supreme clientele) is fitting as this album is the epitome of the golden era of hip-hop from which Ghostface hails.
Personal Favorite tracks: Elizabeth, Amherst Station, The Steiners ft. eLZhi, Wrestlemania 20 ft. Anderson Paak, SaBu
5. hwhw4
In what should be no surprise to some who know, HWH4 lands in the top 5 of an extensive discography. Wrestling samples and rhymes, gritty production in tandem with high-end fashion bars covered in coke lines and bullet holes, this is what Gunn has made a name for himself with, and this tape is no exception. A tight track list that does exactly what is set out to do. The Conway the Machine verse on the cow is one of the most monumental verses in rap and easily one of the all-time verses in all of Griselda history.
Personal favorite tracks: The Cow ft. Conway the machine, Nasty, The Almighty, 5x a day ft. Stalley
4. hwhw6
One of the all-time standouts from the incredible Hitler Wears Hermes tapes has some of the most addictive and sterling samples in Westside’s discography. Songs like Niagara Cafe and Amherst station 2 have you wishing the runtimes were 5 minutes long, and Benny has one of the best verses out of the entire series on B.I.G Luther Freestyle.
Personal favorite tracks: Niagara Cafe, Amherst Station 2, Evidence Joint, B.I.G Luther Freestyle ft. Benny the Butcher
3. flygod
A landmark album in Westside’s career and for some during the late 2010s, the introduction to one of hip-hop’s most unique voices. With a sound much different than others in the discography due to the distinct lack of bass. Production is handled almost entirely by in-house producer Daringer and a feature list with the likes of Mach-Hommy, danny brown, action Bronson & Roc Marciano, not to mention Benny and Conway, flygod is not at #3 due solely to nostalgia or significance as the debut album from gunn is not to be slept on.
Personal favorite tracks: Gustavo, Mr. T, Chinese Gun, King City ft. Mach-Hommy
2. hwh8
The astounding double album that does what many of its kind can only hope to achieve. Released separately, Hitler Wears Hermes sides A + B together may be one of the most impressive double albums that hip-hop has seen since the idea’s inception with albums like All Eyez on Me. With an endless list of features lyrically and production-wise, Westside knows delivers what all his fans ask for, and then some.
Personal favorite tracks: Margiela Split Toes ft. Mach-Hommy, Draymond ft Stove God Cooks & Rome Streetz, RIGHT NOW ft. Stove God Cooks & Jadakiss, Hell on Earth, Pt. 2 ft. Benny the Butcher & Conway the Machine, Why I do em like that ft Billie Esco & Keisha Plum, The Fly who couldn’t Fly straight ft. Tyler the Creator, Big AL ft. Rome Streetz
pray for paris
Arguably the magnum opus of the entity that is Westside Gunn. Peak bars of high-end fashion, the flygod mentality over samples and instrumentals that have become synonymous with the Griselda camp, at its highest quality. Each track feels like a coke-wrapped-distinguished art piece on full display in the Louver. This is the perfectly curated Griselda album, a flag-in-the-ground moment for one of the most impressive careers rap has seen, from the unlikeliest areas of NY. Every track has an air to it that you can’t help but be immersed in. It hits the mark on everything not only Westside Gunn but that Hip-Hop has to offer. Beats that sound like coke heaven and bars that make you question reality. Every feature brings their A-game and helps to deliver an album that is a classic now and during the 90s golden age of hip-hop. A crowning achievement in music.
Personal Favorite tracks: No Vacancy, 327 ft. Tyler the Creator & Joey Bada$$, $500 Ounces ft. Freddie Gibbs & ROC Marciano, Shawn vs. Flair, Party wit Pop Smoke, LE Djoliba ft. Cartier William
17 albums later and we have reached the end. If there’s any album on this list you haven’t listened do yourself a favor and delve into the discography. Sometimes finding that right sound you like from an artist comes from the deepest cuts that can change your entire opinion. Westside has such a large amount of songs that some get lost in the waves. As a fan, nothing will ever top the soul samples with the grimiest and borderline disrespectful displays of extravagant wealth that permeate the Buffalo emcee’s career. When its all said and done, the game will be at a loss when Westside is no longer involved.