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.”
NEWS
There’s a high probability that Jorja Smith has new music coming this summer. The British singer revealed plans for her What Are the Odds LP on Thursday (July 2), with the album set to arrive on Aug. 21 via FAMM.
Smith reunites with producer P2J — who served as a primary collaborator on her 2023 album Falling or Flying — for the entirety of the project. J Money and P2J will continue to build on the inventive U.K. garage sound Smith has been exploring, alongside a mix of grime and house.
“This album came together really naturally. There was never a big plan; it was just me making music that felt right in the moment,” Smith tells Billboard. “Working with P2J, we started experimenting with different sounds, pulling from U.K. garage, grime and house (funky house, Afro house) and it all grew from there.”
She continues: “The music feels uplifting, but the lyrics can be a bit sad at times. They’re about growing up, love, loss, friendships and figuring things out as I go. I trusted my instincts with this one, and I think you can hear that throughout the record.”
Smith kicked off the album’s rollout in May with the self-assuring “What’s Done Is Done,” and it continues on Thursday (July 2) with a second single, “Alive,” which finds the R&B singer joining forces with Afrobeats pioneer WizKid. The duo basks in the love-drunk euphoria of the honeymoon phase of a bubbling relationship and heads to Paris for the visual.
“Making this with P2J and WizKid felt really easy,” Smith adds of the collab. “We wrote and recorded it together in London. I think we captured that feeling when you’re at the beginning of something with someone and everything feels exciting. I’ve always loved WizKid’s music and the way he’s opened so many doors for Afrobeats around the world, so it feels really special and a big honor to have a song with him.”
What Are the Odds serves as Jorja Smith’s third studio album and contains 12 tracks. Outside of WizKid, the only other feature comes from grime artist Devlin.
When the project lands on Aug. 21, Smith will hit the stage later that night at London’s All Points East, as she’ll be co-headlining the Victoria Park show with Tems. 2026 has already been a busy year for J Money, who served as a musical guest on the debut season of Saturday Night Live UK in April.
The 29-year-old also collaborated with Mobb Deep’s Havoc for a remix of her “Blue Lights” classic and lent “Price of It All” to Amazon MGM Studios’ Bait soundtrack.
Find the What Are the Odds cover art and tracklist below.
What Are the Odds tracklist:
