Westside Gunn

Alvin Lamar Worthy (born July 27, 1982), known professionally as Westside Gunn, didn't just revive East Coast boom-bap—he repackaged it as high art. As the visionary co-founder of Griselda Records, Gunn orchestrated one of the most vital movements in modern hip-hop, proving that raw, pavement-level narratives could command the same reverence as luxury fashion and fine art galleries. 

The Architect of Griselda

Emerging from the impoverished East Side of Buffalo, New York, Gunn initially operated behind the scenes, managing the career of his half-brother, Conway the Machine. Following a shooting that severely injured Conway in 2012, Gunn stepped to the microphone himself. In 2014, he officially launched Griselda Records alongside Conway and his cousin Benny the Butcher. Together, they built an independent empire on a hyper-specific aesthetic: dusty, drumless loops, cinematic mafioso storytelling, and an uncompromising authenticity that demanded the industry come to them, rather than the other way around. 

High Fashion Meets Pavement Grime

What separates Westside Gunn from traditional underground revivalists is his curatorial genius. He operates less like a conventional MC and more like an avant-garde gallery director. He possesses an unparalleled ear for A&R, frequently juxtaposing his own piercing, high-pitched delivery and flamboyant wrestling-inspired ad-libs against the dense, heavy-hitting lyricism of hip-hop's most elite wordsmiths.
His overarching vision demands that street culture be viewed through a glittering, opulent lens. By routinely referencing bespoke designers, commissioning album covers from visionaries like the late Virgil Abloh, and cementing his presence in the front row of Paris Fashion Week, Gunn successfully forced the luxury world to embrace the brilliance of the underground.