Griselda Grunge

Griselda Grunge 

Ahead of Westside Gunn’s last full-length album, a look at how the Buffalo, NY street-rap record label’s style made it an empire deserving of your respect 

By Dylan Barbee

Image Provided by Griselda on Tidal

In a time where the rap industry tends to fall into the trap of overdone trends, Griselda counters conformity with authenticity as their archaic style of boom-bap rap mixed with grimy context ultimately put Buffalo, New York on the map for hip-hop.

The independent record label named after the Colombian drug lord, Griselda Blanco was founded by Westside Gunn in 2012. The group consisted of Gunn, his brother Conway the Machine and their cousin, Benny The Butcher. The group would expand as the years went by, as recognition for Griselda rose in the underground hip-hop scene. Griselda would acquire names like Mach-hommy, Boldly James, Stove God Cooks, and Armani White. 

Ever since I discovered Griselda almost two years ago now, I find myself revisiting and exploring all that the label has to offer through many of its artists. One day I’ll relisten to Kiss the Ring by Rome Streetz and maybe the next day I’ll go back to Lulu which is a collaboration album from both Conway the Machine and The Alchemist. I think the reason why I find myself listening to artists signed to Griselda more than I listen to artists signed to Dreamville or even Top Dawg Entertainment is because Westside Gunn’s artists provide a unified style that seems like a breath of fresh air when it comes to their originality and artistry. These are artists that go against the norms of mainstream hip-hop today, largely drawing their inspiration from boom-bap hip-hop of the 90s and telling stories about their dangerous upbringing and lifestyles in Buffalo.

A crime induced type of lifestyle inevitably spills within Griselda’s craft considering that’s the type of life many of these rappers were raised in. However, the rap group makes it clear that the life of crime on the streets is nothing to glamorize. Griselda effectively illustrates vivid depictions of painful struggles and grieving civilians as a result of violence through their raw lyrics over luxurious and at times angelic production styles created by producers like Daringer and Conductor Williams. Griselda has mastered crossing higher class art production wise with lower class imagery within its lyricism.  

“We ain’t even healed before some more blood spilled, Moms lost two sons in a year, I don’t wanna know how that shit feels, Eastside shit real,” Westside Gunn raps on the song “Big AL” featuring Rome Streetz.

I believe that Griselda deserves more respect and recognition from casual listeners due to its ability to stay true to its roots. Griselda’s work is the closest remaining sound to hip-hop’s origins, while still largely influencing today’s rap scene. Griselda has done a great job of being the vessel for the roots of hip-hop to continue shaping the current sound of rap. Drake even tried to mimic the group’s artistic style on his latest song on For All The Dogs “8am in Charlotte,” emulating their style on a Conductor beat. When Westside Gunn isn’t showing up as a feature on albums like Utopia or publicly alongside Jay-Z, he is being co-signed by rap legends like Nas or Wu-Tang Clan.

With the end of Westside Gunn’s album run very near after the release of And Then You Pray For Me, his focus will be shifted to continuing to make short mixtapes and curating Griselda albums that his signed artists are creating. If you’re not on the bandwagon yet, it's time to reconsider. The Griselda empire is here to stay.