Westside Gunn's 'Heels 2' Heroics

Hip-hop's already semi-fluid conceptions of good and bad have hit a concrete-hard dam of reality lately. With the astoundingly ongoing, rap gossip site-fueled drama surrounding Young Thug, Gunna, Ralo, and a number of predominantly Atlanta acts, the very idea of taking sides as a fan (or otherwise) seems at least quaint if not downright absurd. Snitching used to be something so taboo that even rappers with nothing to say took to the booth to decry it with their whole chests. But now the proverbial fakery has plunged to such chaotic new lows that even a vilified clown like 6ix9ine can formally file a claim of hypocrisy in the court of public opinion. The fact that not only rap stars but even prominent rap media personalities in the podcast and video content spaces can be found anxiously equivocating on the matter suggests an ethical crisis underway.

Thank (Fly)God, then, for professional wrestling, where the villains are still the villains. As John Cena's short-lived WWE heel turn proved, one can't simply flip from reliable babyface to unrepentant rulebreaker and expect the audience to pliantly play along. The whole fun behind kayfabe, after all, lies in the fans' willful believability in the inherently far-fetched. So while plenty of gladiatorial performers throughout the theatrical sport's history flipped scripts and switched sides, sometimes with rebranded monikers and surprise stunts to boot, their moves needed to be either thematically credible, genuinely entertaining, or ideally both.

Last week, Westside Gunn took his 4th Rope wrestling promotion home to Buffalo, New York to commemorate the titular day established in his honor. Among those featured in the matches at the city's RiverWorks venue included The Hardys (fka The Hardy Boyz), Rhio and Zilla Fatu, all of whom emerged victorious in their respective bouts. To further mark the celebratory occasion, the Griselda x Fashion Rebels don dropped HEELS HAVE EYES 2, a musical brand extension of the 4th Rope ethos and the second in an apparent release series begun just this past April. (Given the unfortunate optics around his controversially dubbed Hitler Wears Hermes, a franchise so superficially incendiary that he went from abbreviation to excision after 2021's two-part eighth volume, starting fresh makes a lot of sense.) Choosing Virgil–a jobber turned "Million Dollar Man" Ted DeBiase factotum turned minor WWF star turned '90s WCW fixture–as the cover's focal point feels like a tribute to the man behind the misunderstood and mistreated character, Mike Jones, who died last year at the age of 72. Especially after DeBiase himself, still very much alive, graced the preceding installment's art.

Gunn's affinity for heels as well as heroes is well documented in his extensive discography, though he seems to revel in the former's quintessence when rapping. Perhaps that why he sounds so classically menacing and mean on "HEEL CENA" and "POWER HOUSE HOBBS," the latter also sporting a noticeably effective (certainly of late) feature from Benny The Butcher. Really, the entire album recalls the now-43 year old rapper in his hungrier days, albeit with more modern luxe namedrops to go alongside the coke chat and wrestling references. Though not as immediately gratifying as this year's 12, admittedly more of a Peace "Fly" God style showcase for Estee Nack and Stove God Cooks than a true blue solo outing, HEELS HAVE EYES 2 strongly hints at how Gunn, always vaguely threatening a potential musical retirement, might finish out his days as a rapper as he continues to evolve into a wrestling impresario.

Wave Generators, RUN AWAY WITH A WILD AND A RARE ONE

(buy it / stream it)

Rarely has hip-hop sounded as colossal as when Wave Generators create it. Following 2024's outstanding, radical debut AFTER THE END, the duo of Jason "Nosaj" Furlow (of '90s rap act New Kingdom) and Height Keech returns scarcely a year later with their provocatively enormous sophomore set. From jump, they fly their tattered freak flag at full-staff, the rollicking opener "BONJOUR" serving as overdriven entreaty for a cosmic cultural coup. The avant annihilation of their preceding LP finds even more flammable and inflammatory material on this road trip boring through America's cerebral cortex. With the gruff mantras of the title track and the paranoid gallantry of "PERFECT DOOM," listeners are in for a heavy, heady trek with these existentially uneasy riders.

Like "99 Problems" doused in gelatinous napalm goo, "HEART IS HARDWIRED DOWN" juxtaposes ontological crucifixion and state surveillance in a way that makes Jay-Z's rich guy woes seem downright adorable. On the digitally stuttering "GUYS AND GIRLS DANCING," Nosaj grumbles about being denied Canadian citizenship while Keech deftly remixes slang into a whole new argot. The stone grooves get jerkier in spots, as on "BUTCHERY" and the furious "GREEK WEIRD WAVE," a testament to their production evolution. As the generationally traumatic denouement "DARK MAGUS" slowly veers into oblivion, it's altogether possible that Wave Generators may be the best fucking band in literal existence.

CRIMEAPPLE & V Don, Bulletproof Chicken

(buy it / stream it)

So far, V Don's 2025 run has found him with Boldy James, Estee Nack, and Willie The Kid, to name but a few rappers he laced with productions this year. His latest counterpart is CRIMEAPPLE, whose own prolific streak makes their Bulletproof Chicken collab no less than his sixth in the past 12 months. As expected given the New Jersey emcee's catalog of late, he unleashes some high level coke rap metaphors on "Scrape The Pot" and refuses to let up until the soulfully mournful "Scooby Sweaters" outro. On "Railroad Avenue," he brags about expensive haircuts and threatens shit talking peers, while the piano laden "Victor Charlie" finds him fielding bricks while trying to write rhymes. The beats here vacillate between ominous ("Ocean Drive") and gorgeous ("4.99 Special"), sometimes blurring those lines ("Fluegame"). As for guests, Bruiser Wolf converts dope bags into dope brags on the deceptively low key "8 Wings," while Manteca mainstay Primo Profit grinds his way through his "Brazil" verse.

Three new tracks to snack on...

MESSIAH!, "cartier regrets"

Lord Apex, "Initial P"

Theravada, "Droste Effect"