''Pray for Paris'' is the third studio album by American rapper

Westside Gunn Alvin Lamar Worthy (born July 27, 1982), known professionally as Westside Gunn, is an American rapper. He is a co-founder of independent hip-hop label Griselda Records. He is the brother of rapper Conway The Machine and cousin of rapper Benny the ...

. It was released on April 17, 2020 through Griselda Records with distribution by

Empire Distribution EMPIRE Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (marketed as EMPIRE) is an American distribution company and record label founded in by Ghazi Shami with offices in New York City, London, Nashville, and Atlanta. It has released albums in vari ...

. The album was produced by

Daringer A derringer is a small handgun that is neither a revolver nor a semi/ fully automatic pistol. It is not to be confused with mini-revolvers or pocket pistols, although some later derringers were manufactured with the pepperbox configuration. ...

, Beat Butcha,

the Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

DJ Muggs Lawrence Muggerud (born January 28, 1968), professionally known by his stage name DJ Muggs, is an American DJ, audio engineer and record producer. He is a member of Cypress Hill, a member of the trip hop band Cross My Heart Hope To Die and the l ...

, and

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

. It features guest appearances from

Benny the Butcher Jeremie Damon Pennick (born November 27, 1984), known professionally as Benny the Butcher or simply Benny, is an American rapper. He is part of the hip hop collective Griselda with frequent collaborators and first-cousins Westside Gunn and Co ...

Conway the Machine Demond Price (born February 16, 1982), known professionally as Conway the Machine (or simply Conway), is an American rapper. Alongside his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn and cousin Benny the Butcher, Conway was a member of Griselda Record ...

Joey Badass Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pr ...

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

Boldy James James Clay Jones III (born August 9, 1982), better known by his stage name Boldy James, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. A member of the Griselda collective, his debut album, '' My 1st Chemistry Set'', was released on October 15, 2 ...

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. After initially being signed to Interscope Records in 2006, Gibbs recorded his debut studio album under the label ...

Roc Marciano Rahkeim Calief Meyer (born February 11, 1978), better known by his stage name Roc Marciano, is an American rapper, songwriter, and producer. Career Roc Marciano started his career in 1999 when he joined Busta Rhymes' collective the Flipmode ...

, Wale, Joyce Wrice, Billie Essco, Keisha Plum, and Cartier Williams. The album debuted at number 67 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Background and development

Westside Gunn announced he was recording a project called ''Pray for Paris'' after having attended Virgil Abloh's Off-White Paris fashion show on January 18, 2020. He revealed the album's artwork on April 3, 2020. The cover was created by

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilitie ...

using Caravaggio's '' David with the Head of Goliath''. During the album's recording Westside learned he had contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and recounted having to do promotion for the album while suffering symptoms from the virus. Before the album's release, Westside Gunn and Virgil Abloh live-streamed the entire project on Twitch.

Critical reception

''Pray for Paris'' received critical acclaim from critics. At Album of the Year, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 77 based on six reviews. Gregory Castel of ''

Earmilk ''EARMILK'', sometimes stylized in all caps, is a North American online music publication. Launched in the late 2000s by Montrey Whittaker, Blake Edwards and Eric DeFazio, ''Earmilk'' publishes on a variety of music genres, often covering hip h ...

'' stated "Pray for Paris is a soulful yet, grimey masterpiece. This album is a handpicked selection of high-level artists, in lyricism, soulful production, and visual artwork". Riley Wallace of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' said, "Pray For Paris seems to show Gunn resisting being boxed-in artistically. For some critics who may have found past offerings more of an acquired taste, this is the camp’s most inviting project to date". Alphonse Pierre of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' stated "The Buffalo rapper continues his unlikely ascent into hip-hop stardom with an album of feverish excess and the best raps of his career". In his

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...

-published "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau said that "this album enjoys old-fashioned hip-hop materialism with dauntless esprit". '' Exclaim!'' reviewer A. Harmony said "Though Gunn's vintage sound might not work for everyone, ''Pray for Paris'' is a total delight for those who want to reminisce without feeling stuck in the past". In another positive review, Dylan Green of DJ Booth stated "In the age of streaming and playlists, Pray For Paris further solidifies Westside Gunn as an album artist. He knows how to craft experiences from start to finish, what beats sound best next to each other, which features will yield the wildest results". Ryan Middleton of Magnetic Magazine said, "Despite this album having the sheen of opulence and examining fuck you money at the outset, it remains grounded with an ear to the streets."

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by DJ Muggs Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by Beat Butcha Albums produced by Tyler, the Creator Albums produced by Daringer (producer) Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Griselda Records albums