Anyone familiar with Griselda is likely aware of Eastside Flip, a lovable Buffalo amputee who may or may not have a healthy appetite for crack (hey, no judgement). Flip recently appeared on the cover of Westside Gunn’s final installment of the Hitler Wears Hermes series, 10. Decked out in an orange Buffalo State sweatshirt and expensive jewelry with a lighter in hand, he’s posted up at a local convenience store looking like he’s ready to fight someone. And that could very well be the case.
Speaking to AllHipHop, Westside Gunn laughed as he recalled taking Eastside Flip to Miami for Art Basal last year and the ensuing chaos that unfolded as a result.
“That’s Eastside Flip,” he explained of the album cover. “He’s been on a lot of my projects as skits. He’s my guy. He’s just the neighborhood fiend, a bit of a crackhead, but he’s a cool dude. I took him down to Miami Art Basal last year. He got arrested and everything. He hit a cop. He’s crazy. I’m actually going to see him today. He’s crazy as f### though. We shooting a video today and he’s just a loose cannon. Everybody in my whole city knows Flip.”
When asked if Flip knew about the album cover, Gunn replied, “Of course. He love it! Flip is crazy. I’m gonna be with him in a couple hours. He gonna be in the video.”
Westside Gunn was back in Buffalo getting ready to shoot a video for “Super Kick Party,” which will evidently feature an appearance from the inimitable Flip. It follows the double dose of “Mac Don’t Stop” and “Nigos Louis,” which both arrived November 16. The Griselda powerhouse is staying busy, of course, and has another project in the works called Michelle, named after his late Aunt Chelle who passed away in November 2021.
“I’m working on Michelle and the Stove Gods Cook Project, plus me and Boldy [James] about to cook up something up,” he said. “I like to curate things. I’m ready to curate a new Boldy album. I’m ready to curate a new Jay Worthy album for the West Coast. The West Coast has always been a heavy influence as well—N.W.A, Too $hort, all of that. We came from that era. I feel Jay Worthy is one of those guys who can have that run. Us getting together, is gonna be crazy. I wanna do that for the culture. Of course, me, Benny and Conway are coming. We’re coming in 2023. That’s for sure.”