NEWS
Westside Gunn has officially announced his And Then You Pray For Me album, which is on the slate to arrive next month.
On Friday (September 22), the Griselda honcho revealed the project’s cover art, which is designed by Virgil Abloh, and its release date of October 13 in an Instagram post.
“AND THEN YOU PRAY FOR ME FRIDAY THE 13th ARTWORK BY VIRGIL ABLOH @virgilabloh EXECUTIVE PROD BY : WESTSIDE GUNN @griseldarecords,” he wrote.
Conway The Machine, Boldy James, Tay Keith and more hyped the record in Gunn’s comment section.
Check out the religion-themed cover below:
And Then You Pray For Me is slated to be a star-studded affair with contributions from the likes of RZA, Rick Ross, Jeezy, Conway The Machine, JID, DJ Drama, Giggs, Ty Dolla $ign, Denzel Curry, Stove God Cooks, Rome Streetz and more.
Back in July, the Buffalo native teased the upcoming collaboration with Giggs as he was posted up in the studio with the Landlord.
“When I’m London I’m with the Men$ that Run the End$!!!! Super Shoutout to the family GIGGS,” Westside Gunn wrote to Instagram.
Furthermore, he even wrote out a song title and its placement on a supposed tracklisting, writing: “8. Disgusting ft GIGGS prod by @shanarason.”
And Then You Pray For Me will serve as the follow-up to Who Made the Sunshine as Gunn also unleashed Pray For Paris months prior in 2020.
When the album arrives, don’t expect to find the featured artists listed in the song titles on streaming services as Westside Gunn took credit for starting the trend we’ve seen the likes of J. Cole and Travis Scott follow suit.
“Hiding the features for a few days like this is honestly a win-win-win for the album’s hype, the fans, + the featured artists,” Gunn tweeted over the summer. “J. Cole did it perfectly with The Off-Season and now Travis Scott’s done it with Utopia. I hope we start to see more artists doing this with their albums.”
He added that he’s been strategically keeping his album features hidden for years and that he’s “10 steps ahead” of the competition.
“I do this with every album lol,” he wrote. “I keep telling y’all I’m 10 steps ahead, I can’t wait to the day when MFs Wake up and see I’ve been doin everything y’all be claiming y’all loving yeeeears ahead.”
He added: “Why u think I’m the [goat] and we’ll respected it’s bc I’m the 1, ask ya fav artist.”
Lizzo has made it clear that she never abandoned her album Love in Real Life.
The “Juice” artist recently responded to rumors that the project had been cancelled after fans expected it to arrive last year. Rather than putting out the album at the time, Lizzo instead released the mixtape My Face Hurts From Smiling in June.
During a new conversation with Billboard, the “Truth Hurts” singer explained that the album itself was never scrapped and is still the same body of work she plans to release on June 5 under its new title, B**ch.
“I think the biggest misconception about my album is that I shelved Love in Real Life when I didn't,” she said. “(B**ch) is technically the same album. I just changed the name. The music is the same.”
Lizzo shared that the main difference between the earlier version of the project and the upcoming release was taking away the original title track, which eventually led to the album being renamed.
“When you change the name of something, it changes its destiny,” the singer explained. “Like, when I went from Melissa to Lizzo, it changed my destiny.”
“When this album went from Love in Real Life to Bch, it changed the trajectory of its past,” she continued. “I do think that I feel like I can express myself the way that I want to express myself right now through Bch. I think Love in Real Life was really sombre and a little bit more introspective, and I think B**ch is a little bit more empowered and self actualised and bold.”
Before the newly titled album arrives, Lizzo has already released the singles B**ch and Don’t Make Me Love U.
The artist had previously spoken about stepping away from Love in Real Life during an earlier interview with Vulture, saying the project “just wasn't what I was feeling right now”.
She also mentioned that much of the album had originally been written back in 2022.
“By 2025, I've changed, the world has changed so much, and so much has happened,” she said. “I was like, ‘I need to do s**t differently, and I don't know what it is, but I'm going to just start following my instincts.’”
