Last week, Westside Gunn released his 24th studio album, 12, which combines chill instrumentals with one-of-a-kind lyrical schemes. 12 follows Westside Gunn’s 2022 album, 10, my personal favorite, thanks to its samples from Black Star and A$AP Rocky.
Westside Gunn’s approach to rap is different then most though, emphasizing a more underground feel. Rap and hip-hop itself wasn’t created on senseless flexing, it was a voice for the voiceless.
Conscious rap, though, is heavily underemphasized due to major labels valuing trends over substance. Artists like Westside Gunn who speak truth to power and challenge the system can’t get signed, so they have to rely on their roots while mainstream rap clogs Tik-Tok trends, radio stations and most importantly, top charts.
The album starts off with MICHELLE WORLD, a beautiful, 50-second introduction to the album featuring a sample from a motown artist (probably Otis Redding). The next track, BOSWELL, features artists Estee Nack and Stove God Cooks. This song, also a sample, features one of the most interesting beats I have ever heard, sounding like the climax of a 1950s cowboy movie.
The next song, ADAM PAGE, also features Cooks, but was the predecessor to a much better song called VEERT, which featured both Cooks and Nack. VEERT really shows Westside Gunn’s experimental angle, and serves as one of the highlights of this album. The next song, 055, is also a highlight also featuring Cooks. This song has a vocal instrumental sample and creates a melody unlike any other that I have heard. This kind of sample use is the secret sauce to creating a hit in the underground rap scene.
HEALTH SCIENCE, is the first song in the album to feature Brother Tom Sos, an artist I never heard of before. Sos gives off a vibe similar to BJ The Chicago Kid, who did a few songs with other conscious rap pioneers such as Chance the Rapper and Freddie Gibbs. The song, like almost every one of Westside Gunn’s, ends with a sample from a movie or TV show moment or skit.
Westside Gunn often uses samples from classic movies, wrestling promos, interviews and old crime documentaries at the end of his songs. These clips add a cinematic, storytelling feel to his music, reinforcing the themes of luxury, street life and raw authenticity.
The next song on the album is GUMBO YAYA, which also features Sos. This song brings me back to songs like 327, One Way Flight and Gang Signs. This jazz instrumental masterpiece of a song is probably my favorite from the album. EAST MIAMI and BURY ME WITH A STOVE, both featuring Estee Nack, bring a laid-back vibe. While enjoyable, they felt like an intermission in the album’s flow.
OUTLANDER, the only non-feature song on the album (excluding the intro) is amazing. It’s instrumental is similar to that of GUMBO YAYA, but features uncut Westside Gunn lyrics and ad-libs and an avante-garde style composition. DUMP WORLD finishes this killer of an album with another picturesque euphonious vocal sample. Conductor Williams really did a fantastic job producing this song and it finishes with another movie scene clip.
With 12 being as good as it is, I would venture to say that this is a contender for my personal album of the year, for rap specifically. The album has diverse, unheard of features, amazing sample-based instrumentals and Westside Gunn’s openness to experiment and take underground hip-hop to new horizons makes this album one of the best in his already solid discography.
The chemistry between Gunn, Stove God Cooks, Estee Nack and Brother Tom Sos is undeniable and the production, led by Conductor Williams, is immersive and cinematic. The combination of avant-garde sensibility, soulful boom-bap beats and raw lyricism renders this album a strong 9/10, cementing its place as one of the best hip-hop albums of the year.
