Westside Gunn, DJ Premier, & Brady Watt – “The Narcissist”
Buffalo goon-rap aesthete Westside Gunn has been busy lately. He claims that he’s going to release two new albums by the end of the year, and he’s also recently served as executive producer of Mach-Hommy’s excellent Pray For Haiti album and collaborated with people like IDK and the late DMX. Today, Gunn has come out with a new track, a collaboration with a couple of notable producers.
“Notable producer” isn’t really a sufficient descriptor for DJ Premier, the boom-bap architect who belongs on any list of the greatest rap beatmakers of all time. Premier co-produced the new track “The Narcissist” with the bassist and funk/rap producer Brady Watt. Presumably, given Gunn’s wrestling fandom, the song is named after the old Lex Luger gimmick, though it’d be interesting to see what would happen if rappers started talking about themselves as narcissists.
“The Narcissist” is a cool combination of Premier’s hard, worn-in clatter and the live-music textures that Watt brings. Gunn, who’s collaborated with Premier in the past, talks his confident shit, and it sounds lush and excellent. We also get some Premier scratches, which continue to sound great. Check it out below.