Who Made the Sunshine
Who Made the Sunshine is the fourth album by the American rapper Westside Gunn. It was released on October 2, 2020, by Griselda, Interscope, and Shady Records, and served as Gunn's only release under Shady Records.
Production on the album was primarily handled by Beat Butcha and Daringer, except for four tracks, which were produced by the Alchemist, Conductor Williams, and Just Blaze. It features guest appearances from Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, Slick Rick, Black Thought, Boldy James, Busta Rhymes, Smoke DZA, Jadakiss, El Camino, Armani Caesar, Estee Nack, Flee Lord, Keisha Plum, and Stove God Cooks. The album was not released on physical media.
Background
The album was originally scheduled to be released on August 28, 2020, however, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 death of Griselda's in-house record producer DJ Shay.Critical reception
Who Made the Sunshine was met with generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76 based on five reviews.Chase McMullen of Beats [Per Minute |Beats Per Minute] rated the album a 77%, saying "Who Made The Sunshine’s already underrated duality: it’s both grand introduction and complacent victory lap; both urgent and laid back, all at once, constantly". A Clash reviewer rated it a 7/10, saying "Who Made The Sunshine feels like a fresh slate for the Buffalo artist. it contains some of his best work". Jayson Buford of Consequence rated it a B, saying "when the beats sound this good and the bars are cold like ashy knuckles, there's nothing to wait on". Riley Wallace of HipHopDX rated it a 4/5, saying "Who Made the Sunshine is a solid offering, even if not Gunn’s most wholly compelling body of work". Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork rated it a 6.7/10, saying "Who Made the Sunshine falls somewhere in the middle, and doesn’t feel like it was devised to be anything more than what it is: another step toward the expansion of the Griselda Records brand".
Track listing
Personnel
- Westside Gunn – vocals
- Conway the Machine – vocals
- Benny the Butcher – vocals
- The Alchemist – production
- Just Blaze – production
- Armani Caesar – vocals
- Keisha Plum – vocals
- Jadakiss – vocals
- A.A. Rashid – vocals
- Estee Nack – vocals
- Stove God Cooks – vocals
- Smoke DZA – vocals
- Black Thought – vocals
- Boldy James – vocals
- Flee Lord – vocals
- El Camino – vocals
- Slick Rick – vocals
- Busta Rhymes – vocals
- Young Guru – mixing, mastering
- Daringer – production
- Beat Butcha – additional production
- Brandon Burton – recording
- Víctor Hugo Orozco – art direction
Charts