Left to right: Benny wears LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S jacket and shirt. Wes wears LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S top, scarf, and hat. Conway wears LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S shirt, top, and scarf.
To say that 2020 has been a complicated year for families would be an understatement. For some, familial dynamics have been compressed by shared housing in a time of total lockdown. For others, the pandemic has wedged space between people, unable to visit or connect beyond technology. For three brothers from Buffalo, New York—Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, and Benny the Butcher—it’s been a year of reinforcement. Years ago, they combined their lyrical skills to create the powerhouse rap trio, Griselda, and along with an independent record label, honed a force greater than the sum of its parts and emerged anew, ready to elevate to the highest ranks in hip-hop.
LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S shirt, top, and scarf and talent’s own jewelry.
Previously immersed in their individual recording careers, Gunn, Conway, and Benny often found themselves in the studio producing one project after another, while simultaneously forming their own cult-like fanbases. Once they united in common purpose, some of the most-celebrated rappers found themselves publicly vouching for the Griselda guys. Now, not only do the streets know them, but the world has begun to witness their power too.
LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S jacket, shirt, scarf, and hat.
Bonded by blood, the trio worked to put each other on and outdo one another, but it wasn’t until March 17, 2012, that the trio began rapping with a purpose. Eight years ago, in the early morning, Conway was shot while driving in his own city of Buffalo. The incident left half of his face paralyzed and forever changed his approach to music. “It was over for me and my rap career,” Conway says.
LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S jacket, shirt, scarf, and hat.
OFF-WHITE C/O VIRGIL ABLOH coat, top, and hat, LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S sunglasses, and talent’s own jewelry.
By this time, Benny had begun his own career in rap. Gunn was up to similar, but he used the shooting to fuel his motivation. Throughout Conway’s physical therapy and painful surgeries, Gunn and Benny put their money where their mouth was and created music that transcended anything they had produced previously. “Once I was able and well enough to spit my shit,” Conway continues. “I was back on my feet, and that’s when me and West started the Griselda shit.”
The addition of Benny was a no-brainer, according to Conway. The three mesh uniquely to create a massive sound that resembles the best classic hip-hop. To hear Griselda is to step into a time capsule back to the origins of East Coast rap, with a modern twist. Even when they are crafting hits for other projects, the essence of Griselda lies in the trust and fluidity they’ve had together since childhood. “Because we are family and we’re so familiar with what we are capable of doing on the record, we already know the direction, or which way each other is going. We’re just super confident and we push each other to come with our best shit,” Conway says, describing the harmony that drives Griselda. “It’s also the creative dynamic; that kind of chemistry we ain’t really seen since the ‘90s. That chemistry is different. Even though all three of our styles is different, it still just goes well with each other.”
Griselda in performance, Los Angeles, March 7, 2020. Talent’s own clothing.
The Griselda crew are truth-tellers. From lyrics to conversations to in-studio critiques, as long as they have each other’s approval, no one else matters. As Conway prepares his next album _From a King to a God_, he sends his records off to Gunn and Benny before making any final decisions. “We appreciate the honesty in each other’s critiques,” he says. This practice can turn solo projects into group efforts, but they don’t get it twisted. They can handle their own weight both separately and together.
Griselda in performance, Los Angeles, March 7, 2020. Talent’s own clothing.
What they do have is poise and precision. Two years ago, Griselda signed a distribution deal with Eminem’s Shady Records and a management deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation just last year. Their network includes the likes of Wu-Tang Clan, Prodigy, Pusha T, and Tyler the Creator. Griselda Records’ roster includes Gunn, Conway, Benny, budding Detroit rapper Boldy James, and their first lady MC Armani Caesar, as well as in- house producers Daringer and Beat Butcha. As a collective, the Griselda crew has released several albums with 2109’s _WWCD_ as their latest hip-hop opus. With a certain grace, Griselda has mastered their chaotic experiences by balancing personal lives, family, studio, and appearances. “You just gotta stay calm, stay poised,” advises Conway. “Even with this corona shit, yeah, it’s chaos and bad times, but I feel like a lot is going on. It’s a lot of people detached from the bullshit, and there’s an excitement to create more. It’s a lot of shit that’s coming up that’s fire.”
OFF-WHITE C/O VIRGIL ABLOH vest and sweater.
Though we are experiencing a pandemic, the key to remaining calm for these guys is to go even deeper within and transform those chaotic thoughts into musical projects. “I use this time to think, to use my head. I don’t have a bunch of distractions no more, I just go in my basement and record,” says Conway. “I just got more time to myself to really tap into my creative side. I’m isolated. I’m working. I’m on my grind. I’m thinking. I’m creating. I’m expanding.” The keyword there: _expanding_. Griselda is set to release tons of music this year regardless of the circumstances. “We are definitely stronger together,” he says. But nothing changes when they produce solo projects. With each solo project, they prove to still be at the top. Still some of the hardest rappers out there.
Griselda in performance, Los Angeles, March 7, 2020. Talent’s own clothing.
