Clarity
As a label boss and creative entrepreneur, Westside Gunn feels it’s his duty to diversify the culture before he bids farewell to the game.
Interview: Joey Echevarria
Westside Gunn is a rare breed in hip-hop’s current climate. Outside of his meme-worthy ad-libs and eccentric personality, the man is a visionary fueled by making a cross-cultural impact. As the cofounder of Griselda Records alongside Benny The Butcher and Conway the Machine, Gunn put Buffalo, N.Y., a city known primarily for football and chicken wings, on the map as a breeding ground for some of rap’s most respected lyricists of the past decade. He’s also been successfully dedicated to bridging the gap between hip-hop and other often-considered taboo art forms, and he’s not shy about it.
As a kid coming up on the East Side of New York’s Nickel City, fashion was Westside Gunn’s creative outlet. While he admits he never strived “to be the best rapper,” his skill and creativity in that lane has earned him much respect. Gunn has worked with many rappers from all corners of the game, ranging from late legends like DMX and MF Doom to current megastars like Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator. He’s handled business in major distribution deals with the likes of Jay-Z and Eminem while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the budding careers of Stove God Cooks and Armani Caesar.
A casual listen to Gunn’s extensive catalog could serve as an audio lesson in dealing with the world’s hardest drug cartels, but the 43-year-old Griselda frontman is equally equipped to school hip-hop heads on the latest runway trends at Paris Fashion Week as well as the elusive inner workings of the world of professional wrestling.
Coming off a year that included his most critically acclaimed studio album, 12, countless collabs with high-profile fashion brands such as Corteiz and Saucony, and a hard-hitting mixtape series masterfully designed to promote his hot new wrestling company, Fourth Rope, Westside Gunn is only looking to add to his undeniable legacy throughout 2026. However, through it all, he’s adamant that when the time comes to hang up the mic, the MC wants nothing more than to bow out gracefully.
As he ramps up toward his first-ever international tour to kick off the year, Westside Gunn tapped in via Zoom this past November to discuss his music, the passion he holds for his new venture into professional wrestling, a well-planned exit strategy from the rap game and more.
XXL: What type of mentality are you bringing with you into 2026?
I just have a different spirit about me lately. It just sounds like I’m extra hungry, and I’m in a great space. I think I’m just more mature. I look at life differently. I’ve been focusing on my family, health and just my legacy. Right now, I’m just pushing the art as much as I can while I have the energy.
Looking back on last year, your album titled 12 garnered universal praise. Was that a highlight for you in 2025?
It’s crazy because I was supposed to have been dropping Awesome God 3 last year, and my brother Infinite got killed, Big Dump. It was kind of like I was just not wanting to do sh*t anymore, for real, but then something just came over me. I just wanted to do a classic. A modern-day classic, which I felt 12 was. It’s phenomenal from top to bottom.
After that, most of the year was focused on the Heels Have Eyes series. What was the concept for those projects, and how do they all tie together?
Heels is just a mixtape series to me. I’m just going in there, dumping and just having fun. It’s no expectations. I have my Fourth Rope company, Black-owned, independent wrestling that’s going crazy. Our shows are called Heels Have Eyes. It was just one of those things where I wanted to co-brand with Griselda Records and Fourth Rope, putting a lot of people onto Fourth Rope that wasn’t familiar yet. I figured, let me just start a new series.
What are you most excited for fans to see from you over the next year?
It’s already a blessed year. I just got to pray to God I could wake up to just experience it. My fashion is about to go crazy in ’26, Fourth Rope is about to go crazy in ’26. I’m excited for a few things. I’m excited for Awesome God 3 to finally come out in March. It’s two projects in my mind that I know I’m going to do, and that’s Awesome God 3, and that’s Michelle Records, Me and Stove God Cooks together.
I’m about to go on my first international tour. Paris Fashion Week is the first show in Paris and then I go from there. I’ve been doing this for 13 years and never did one tour. So, I know the energy is going to be crazy. This might be the only time y’all see me. I don’t see myself rushing back. I’m not saying that because I don’t want to see them. I’m saying that because I’m also the CEO of Fourth Rope.
How did Fourth Rope come to be and why is pro-wrestling such a passion of yours?
I came up with that name because that’s just me being in the front row. I said, “It’s three ropes on the ring. I’m the fourth rope. It’s like I’m a part of it. It’s an escape for me. It’s therapy for me. It keeps the kid in me alive and everybody needs that.
I was spending six figures a year alone just to sit front row, but I was studying. I was analyzing. I was going backstage, meeting the wrestlers, and I started building real relationships. I was going to invest into House of Glory wrestling out of Queens, N.Y., me and Master P. Then COVID-19 stopped everything and put it on hold. I always had a vision and one day, I just said, “You know what? Let’s do it.” My partner is Smoke DZA.
Are you involved in the creative aspect of the company? Do you write the storylines for Fourth Rope?
Yeah, me and Smoke DZA. Once I decided to make it a promotion, I brought bro in because this is where he lives as well, and his pen is sharp. Ever since, we’ve been just knocking out home runs consistently on every show. I know with me and him [DZA] together; we could literally have the best promotion in the game.
Even if you don’t know the wrestlers—you might be coming just because you know Griselda, you know Smoke DZA—but when you leave, you’re a Fourth Rope fan for sure, 100 percent. We make sure every match is giving you something. We don’t have no fillers. I treat Fourth Rope the same as I do Griselda. It’s just giving the fans and supporters what they want. We live in a wicked world. So, if I can bring you art, if I can bring you something to smile about, have fun in life, that’s what I’m here for.
What’s on the horizon for Griselda Records?
We have an artist, Brother Tom Sos, and that’s another thing I’m looking forward to in 2026, is pushing him because he’s super dope, super talented. I’ll finish up with Awesome God 3, finish that series up. Then, it’s just Michelle Records with Stove God, and then, I can get in the studio and cook with Jay Worthy or do Liz 3 with Armani Caesar.
I want to put my art out there as much as possible because I know if I do those two [projects] this year, then after that, I might come back together with Conway [the Machine] and Benny [the Butcher]. Then, I feel like I would have nothing else to do. Nothing else to prove and shut everybody up about us never coming back together. Just shut them completely up.
Why do you think people run with the narrative that you, Conway and Benny no longer get along and that there’s beef between the three of you?
Because they just don’t see us together. You know how that goes. We all grown men. We all living life. Conway got Drumwork. He been going on tours. He working on his album. He been making his bag. He doing what he doing. He working on his album. He living his life. Benny, the same thing. He got BSF [Black Soprano Family]. He got a crew. He working on his shit. Westside Gunn, I’m on my run. I always took a step back and focused more on curation. I had to do that.
Do you feel like A&R is a lost art in the current state of the game?
F**k yeah. Nobody controlling this shit no more. It’s one of the main issues. A lot of situations right now is just the blind lead in the blind. It’s so wicked, but at least I did my part.
You mentioned having “nothing else to do” after your next couple of projects. Will that really be the case?
I honestly feel Awesome God 3 will be my last album. After that, let me focus on art. Let me focus on fashion. Let me focus on making other people better. Respectfully, I don’t want to be the 50-year-old rapper. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this because I came into the game with a mission. My vision is coming true, so it’s a blessing.
It’s been a great year for the old heads. I love that because Griselda came in already older, and I feel like I’m a part of that resurgence of the old head being cool again. Now, everybody that we respect is dropping again, which is great for hip-hop. We having our run right now. Everybody having fun, getting their check and taking care of their babies, but let’s be honest. I know this is a young guy’s sport. It’s just a different game. We got to respect it.
You’ve developed a brand for yourself that is well-respected across many artforms, specifically hip-hop. Yet, sometimes it seems like it’s never enough. Do you have a chip on your shoulder or is it a natural competitive spirit based on legacy and impact?
All of it. All of the above. I definitely feel like me having the best resume I’ve ever seen on paper, I do feel slighted. I know how many people I influence. I know how many people stole my shit. I know how many people that I give that helping hand to, and I’ve never gotten that in return.
Some of the biggest people that you could think of in this game have used me. I’m too real to be like, “Y’all do know this whole album roll out is my idea. Y’all do know that this, that on his album is because I made that happen. Y’all never know. Y’all never knew. Y’all still don’t know.” When a lot of opportunities they had to be like, “Yo, shout out to Westside Gunn.” They didn’t do it.
So, overall, do you feel vindicated in your accomplishments?
I’m blessed to already say everything I ever wanted to do, I did. When I came in this game, I never thought I’d be doing it this long. But once the fans started growing, and I’m seeing three-year-olds going, “Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.” When the merch line is around the block twice and it’s kids that got their 65-year-old grandmother out there with them. That does something for me.
What is the next art form for you to conquer?
Movies. I’m not going to say I haven’t touched into it yet because I got the Adolf movie starring Rome Streetz that I premiered at Art Basel. We got Conflicted on Tubi, but I think me tapping into film is putting my mind on paper; writing and starring in it. That’s one of the reasons why I’m getting my look together, getting healthy, too. So, all my sex scenes, I got to look super. You know when I’m going to write the movie, I’m going to have about four sex scenes in the first 30 minutes.
When it’s all said and done, what do you want hip-hop culture to say about Westside Gunn?
He changed the game. It’s no other Westside Gunn. I want to be on my Michael Jordan shit. Let me sit in the box, let me watch my team and let me just do what I do. I still got my different brands. I’m still a legend. I’m still respected.
