Who Made the Sunshine is a major achievement for Griselda. It’s the Griselda mastermind’s third project of 2020, and his first under Eminem’s Shady Records. Gunn is a force unlike any other in hip-hop, securing an unmatched work ethic that has turned his small Buffalo label into a national juggernaut. It takes most rappers years to build a catalogue as large as Gunn’s, and it looks like he has no plans of slowing down.
Despite the success of Pray for Paris, Gunn took more of a backseat on this record, allowing his star-studded feature list to shine. He stacks Who Made the Sunshine with underground stalwarts, new Griselda signees, and hip-hop legends. Benny the Butcher, Hit-Boy, Conway the Machine, AA Rashid, Smoke DZA, Estee Nack, Armani Caesar, and Slick Rick all deliver quality verses.
The production here is a little inconsistent, but it’s still a solid showcase for the Griselda crew. Daringer and Beat Butcha provide a glamorized lo-fi backdrop for the drugged out gangster narratives on tracks like “The Butcher and the Blade.” Alchemist fuses a dark haze to the hook of "Ishkabibble's," and Just Blaze splatters the intense closing track, "98 Sabers," with horror soundtrack synths.
Who Made the Sunshine is a classic Griselda album that captures all the qualities that make the Buffalo label so special. It’s a throwback-styled mixtape that, aided by a stacked guestlist, strengthens the Griselda mastermind’s chokehold on the rap game.
