Track-by-Track Review: Westside Gunn's "Hitler Wears Hermes VII"

Written by: Gabe Wilson

Edited by: Maddie McVey

Buffalo’s Griselda Records have been taking over the underground of hip-hop since their

foundation in 2014. At the forefront of this success has been emcee and Griselda founder,

Westside Gunn. WSG popped onto the scene with his 2012 mixtape, Hitler Wears Hermes, a title he’s returned to now for the seventh time. On each installment, WSG does what he’s always done: deliver cold-as-ice bars over stripped back, bare bones boom-bap beats.

On this project, Westside Gunn delivers a level of braggadocio that’s nearly incomparable. With lyrical topics ranging from his wealth, to his days in the drug game, to his experiences in prison, to being officially honored by Buffalo mayor Byron Brown, WSG puts together one of the most clutter free and hard-hitting rap projects of 2019.

This project released on November 1st, 2019 was easily one of my most anticipated drops

of the year. I’ve been a fan of WSG since Hitler Wears Hermes IV was released just over three years ago. He’s been blowing up; with his 2018 project Supreme Blientele receiving major critical acclaim and landing Buffalo on the map for hip-hop heads everywhere. Anyway, enough foreplay, let’s get into the review.

This album features exactly what listeners would expect from a WSG project. It opens

with “FCKNXTWK,” an intro track featuring esteemed Atlanta producer DJ Drama. WSG drops a quick verse filled with brags about his wealth as well as past hits he’s called on his supposed opposition. Drama fills the rest of the track building hype, shouting out WSG and the rest of Griselda records. Following is “Broadway Joes,” a fairly typical WSG track offering bar after bar about his time in the drug game, prison, as well as talking down his former competition. The chorus on this track is a roughly sung two-line mantra, interweaved with WSG’s signature ad-libs. The track features an outro from WSG’s daughter, Westside Pootie, calling out all of WSG’s competition and making sure they know who’s on top.

Next is “Size 42,” a quick (2:10) track filled with braggadocio about WSG’s wealth.

Within it, he reflects on his time dealing drugs and admits to feeling called back to it at times. Not much to say, it’s a fairly standard WSG track. “Connie’s Son” follows; another short (1:53) track featuring only one verse from WSG. He raps about his time trafficking cocaine on the Megabus, brags about the quality of his drugs and the things he owns, and talks about his readiness to go to war.

The next track, “Banana Yacht,” is less about WSG and more about Estee Nack, the

featured artist. This track features a lot of the same content from before, but from a new voice. Estee Nack spits two verses over one of the simplest beats of the year. He speaks about his own time gang-banging, boasts about his appeal to women, and mentions the shooters he still keeps around. WSG is only present on the chorus, offering a few simple, egotistical lines about – you guessed it – his luxury lifestyle. Following this is the shortest actual track of the album, “GONDEK,” clocking in at only one minute. It features a single verse from WSG talking about his ruthlessness and readiness to kill. Next comes “Kelly’s Korner,” honestly one of the more forgettable tracks from the project for me. WSG offers his usual braggadocio, flanked by one of the most dull and dreary choruses of the year. The Fat Joe feature offers a reflection into the famed emcees life. He talks about how all of the people he came up with in the streets are either dead or imprisoned. While Fat Joe’s verse is decent, WSG’s presence on this track is fairly forgettable.

Next up is “Undertaker vs. Goldberg,” the first track to hit on WSG’s tendency to reference professional wrestling in his music. The first half of this track offers a comparison between WSG’s current opulent lifestyle and his time in prison. He reflects on his former cellmate Machine Gun Black and the experiences they had while in prison. When the verse ends, we’re met with an audio sample from the famous WWE bout between – as you might’ve guessed – Goldberg and The Undertaker. Once this segment is over, a new beat begins but with similar content out of WSG. He talks about his time on the streets, then goes back to shouting out his homies in prison. We’re then met with a verse from Griselda member and WSG’s brother, Conway the Machine. Conway raps about his friends in prison, as well as the surgical precision with which he and his gang make hits. He reflects on one of his homies who overdosed on a bad batch of cocaine, and ends the verse with one final threat to anybody that offers to step to the Griselda crew.

The next track, “Whoopy,” is another short one-verse song. While WSG’s lyrical content

is about the average for this project, the King JVY B production is immaculate. The soul sample that runs as WSG raps is a perfect parallel to the material and delivery of WSG. “Love U” is less of a song and more of an interlude. It features another soul sample, over which WSG simply repeats, “Bitch, I love you.” While incredibly simplistic, it’s a fantastic stop in the middle of the mixtape. In a project filled with braggadocious coke rap, hearing something so simple and relatively pure is a refreshing pause.

“Kool G,” the required posse cut on any Griselda record, offers a lot of familiar content.

It’s coke rap. These three all came up in the game together. What this track offers above all else is chemistry. Conway, Benny, and WSG all build off of each other in a way that’s unmatched in current hip-hop. The menacing beat, produced by Daringer and The Alchemist, creates an ambience that lends itself to this track unapologetically. Easily one of the standout tracks from the mixtape. If you don’t want to listen to the whole thing, fine, but please listen to Kool G.

“It’s Possible” offers features from Jay Worthy and Boldy James. Jay Worthy offers a

verse talking about the life he left behind. He talks about the people he grew up with still in the streets, still shooting dice, still ducking police in the neighborhoods of “Bompton.” Boldy James follows this verse talking about his own past. He discusses attempting to remain low while trying to make money selling drugs. He reflects on one of his homies who got arrested, claiming that his refusal to snitch is part of the reason Boldy was able to make it out of the hood in the end. WSG comes in with another verse of reflection, talking again about his time in prison and his crime background. Another standout track from the mixtape for sure.

“Lucha Bros” is yet another standout track. With one of the dreamiest beats on the project

produced by The Alchemist, WSG offers another set of bars regarding his crimes. He talks about his grandma praying that he gives that life up. He talks about trafficking cocaine, because it wouldn’t be a WSG track without that. Following this verse is a feature from Curren$y, who comes through with a chilling verse that can only be described as ruthless trash talking to his opposition. He speaks on the trend of fake gangsters in hip-hop, calling out anyone claiming affiliations that they don’t really have. Benny the Butcher follows this verse up with a lot of similar lyrical content. He comes through with the patented Griselda bravado and braggadocio, placing himself far above his competition. He talks about how he’s heralded as one of the best hustlers in the game, even claiming that drug dealers bring their scales to shows to be autographed. The track also brings back up the wrestling motif that WSG is so fond of.

“WestSideGunn Day” is another track that’s less a track and more an interlude. It offers a

short verse and a repetition of a chorus filled with the bravado that we’ve come to expect. The second half of the track is audio from a news report about WSG day being signed into law in the city of Buffalo. The track is more of a sign that he’s made it, less than a song on a mixtape. “Kensington Pool” is the last full track on the album. The track serves as a capstone for all of the themes explored throughout the album. On it, WSG shouts out several people from his past, brags a little more, and dedicates the chorus to Machine Gun Black. Finally, “Outro” is exactly that. It’s not a WSG verse or song at all, but rather a spoken word performance by Keisha Plum. A cold blooded, chilling monologue that serves as a perfect end to a mixtape that can really only be described using those two adjectives.

Now, while I tried to break down each track, I feel I need to dedicate a separate closing

paragraph to say this. The lyrical content isn’t particularly varied, but this is by no means a

boring project. The bare-bones beats make sure that every lyric hits its mark. WSG has one of the most unique and cold flows in the hip-hop scene currently. While every song may be about cocaine and drugs, they all sound unique and interesting. It’s a project that lived up to the hype I had for it, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in gritty New York boom-bap hip-hop. Overall, if I had to quantify my feelings on it, I would rate it as a pretty solid 8/10 mixtape; maybe a 6 or 7 if it were an album instead.