There has been a lot of talk about Westside Gunn lately as he and his brother Conway the Machine got the cosign from Eminem and signed to Shady Records for their solo albums in 2017. Now a year later and seemingly out of nowhere comes this quick strike collaboration EP between the Buffalo, New York MC and New Jersey native producer, Mr. Green – whose past production credits include Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, Lee Scratch Perry, Jedi Mind Tricks and R.A. The Rugged Man.
There is an old saying that sometimes “less is more” and with a total running time of just under 15 minutes, this doesn’t give the listener a chance to feel any type of content fatigue. “Less is more” seems to be a running theme not just with the length of the project but also with the makeup of some of the actual music. There are no fancy vocal layering’s, no intricate beat break downs and build-ups and the EP’s finale “Brazy” strips things back so much that the song doesn’t even have drums, but, it works. There is no glitz and glamour to hide behind and Westside Gunn has no problems bringing his skills to centre stage and letting them do the talking.
Lyrically, “Eight Seconds” is a stand out as Westside really hits his stride with the street braggadocio.
“The block filled with chemist, but never passed chemistry/ Now I pulled up on my chemistry teacher in the Wraith like “remember me?”
The one verse track can’t help but leave you wanting him to elaborate, showcasing the beauty in keeping things short and sharp. The vocabulary and phrase selection is at times sharp and rough, almost confronting, which definitely matches the gritty and unapologetically raw drums and sample selections.
While this release doesn’t exactly move out of any comfort zones it is apparent that the two artists involved know what they do well and are more than happy to keep doing it. It is a very solid extension to both Westside Gunn and Mr. Green’s discography, even if it is not designed to open any new doors for the duo but reinforce their already solid platforms.
