HEELS HAVE EYES 2

the take

Even though I didn't really have high expectations for the first installment of Westside Gunn's "HEELS HAVE EYES", I still thought it was pretty good. I went into this sequel, hoping it would be noticeably better. While the last few tracks are among my favorite and the most consistent of the bunch so far, this is really more of the same to me. Sonically speaking, the album starts off rather boring and uninteresting to me. It's crazy because normally, WSG has a great ear for picking his own beats, whether it's either for himself or others when he curates their project(s). Like, it's decent enough to where it fits Westside Gunn's whole aesthetic (obviously), but it failed to reach the Griselda sound how I would view it. The raps is still top tier, though, as Westside Gunn and others help elevate each track to their maximum potential. With WSG, you know what you're gonna get from him lyrically and this album is more of the same. A bit more inconsistent at times than previous projects, but he still made sure to remain top-tier the whole way through. As I briefly mentioned before, the first half isn't as strong to me as the second (save for "MANDELA", shout out to Conductor Williams). The gems are all on the second side of the album with probably the greatest four-track run to close a project, ESPECIALLY "DEMNA LEFT BALENCI". In short, how I feel about "HEELS HAVE EYES 2" is about the same way as I feel about its predecessor... which is kind of sad because the former had more tracks to work with, if you really think about it.