Album Review: 10 by Westside Gunn

BY: ADRIAN PATTERSON

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

10 is the newest release by Westside Gunn. It is the conclusion to his series of mixtapes entitled Hitler Wears Hermes. The last two installments of this series, being Hitler Wears Hermes 8 sides A and B, are highlights in his discography; full of great production and hard hitting bars with Gunns signature BOOM BOOM BOOM adlibs. 

This new album’s production is a little scattered to my ears; the beats go from run of the mill trap beats to innovative drumless organ driven productions. The main producer on the album is Conductor Williams, who has worked with Gunn on previous projects. His boom-bap stylings compliment the hardcore inspired raps of Gunn and the other rappers involved with Griselda Records. Their hard delivery and impactful annunciation is very well suited to go on top of heavy drums and eerie samples. 

Another production highlight on the album is the 10 minute bohemian posse track “Red Death.” “The Alchemist” comes through with a heavy synth lead loop that recalls his work with Roc Marciano and Conway the Machine. The Alchemist keeps employing innovative new tactics away from an emphasis on drums. RZA and Pete Rock come through as more heavy hitters. 

The lyrical substance on the album is the usual street and rapper lingo showcased on previous Griselda projects. The flows and rhymes with Gunn alone can start to get stale, but the excellent features pick up any slack that Gunn gives them. Features include Run the Jewels, Black Star, A$ap Rocky, Benny the Butcher, Stove God Cooks, Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, Rome Streetz, Ghostface Killah and Estee Gee among others. This amount of features keeps the record feeling fresh and new. The use of rap collectives really shines on this record as well with Black Star, Run the Jewels and two members of the Wu- Tang Clan having as much chemistry as always.

This mixtape along with the others in the series are a step in the right direction. They are bringing back the creativity that comes with a network of strong rappers who show up strong on each other’s releases. The Black Soprano family is still going strong. Griselda records is  steadily growing. Conway and Gunn’s brotherhood is still yielding great connections with other rappers and producers. This gives underground rap fans something to look forward to with whisperings of multitudes of collaborations that will most likely come to fruition.