Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf

Westside Gunn has said he doesn\'t plan to rap forever, eyeing instead a more behind-the-scenes, executive-producer kind of role for his future. Thus it\'s fitting that *Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf*, the first half of a double-volume project, is as much an exercise in curation as it is a display of his own prowess. He selects some of the finest beats of his career; soulful loops abound, but there\'s also a refined, cinematic quality to them that lays a smooth path for the rapper and his features to skate on. And skate they do: With features from the likes of Mach-Hommy, Boldy James, Jadakiss, and Lil Wayne as well as his Griselda counterparts Benny the Butcher and Conway the Machine, Westside Gunn brings out the best of guests just as they do him, and they fill the album with enough one-liners and high-fashion coke raps to last a lifetime. If the second half resembles this one—and if, indeed, the Buffalo rapper is stepping back from the spotlight on wax—his parting gift will be the way he and his associates have cornered the market for brash, mafioso-style rhymes that remind of bygone eras yet are perfectly suited for a modern landscape where trap rap reigns. The Flygod does it like no other.

The confrontationally prolific Buffalo rapper cedes space to his dynamic guests on both halves of his latest project, a supremely competent data dump that is memorable only in fits.

One thing stays clear no matter what Westside Gunn touches: his curation skills are impeccable. Griselda's multi-year run looks anything but...