Westside Gunn is having an interesting year to say the least. On one hand, the Griselda rapper recently dropped off the critically acclaimed Pray For Paris, an album . On the other, Gunn found himself sidelined by the coronavirus for weeks before ultimately emerging as a fully recovered survivor. During a call with Ebro Darden, Gunn detailed his experience battling COVID-19, a fight he claims “almost took him out.”
“I’m feeling good now, these short breaths, this shit was like a tornado through my chest,” he muses. “I smoke a lot so I’m trying to build my lungs back up. I was going to go out for a walk, but even when I went outside to do that, I was like nah let me wait another week. Next week, I’ll probably try to walk for 30 minutes.” When Ebro inquires how serious things got, Westside turns the camera on a small machine he uses five times a day to help with his breathing.
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“At first I was in LA, we went out for dinner, I had signed a new artist Armani Ceaser,” he reflects. “It was my daughter’s birthday. The next day, I woke up and it’s cold in the house. But I woke up sweating. Something not right, and everybody talking about corona. And I won’t front, I was one of those dudes joking about it. Man, this the government! [laughs] We just making jokes all day about this shit.” He soon realized that the sickness was serious, and he planned on making his way back to his Atlanta home. “First I stayed in bed for two days, let them enjoy LA, they were on vacation. But that plane damn near took me out. When I made it back, I went to urgent care — I know some ladies up in there.”
After getting an inhaler and a prescription for Zipac, Westside admits he did start feeling better. “But then I started smoking,” he says. “Benny came over, he wanted to chill. We smoking back to back. The next morning, I hit my wake and bake, bro I couldn’t even get off the couch. Something just hit me. I FaceTimed my family, they didn’t pick up. I could breathe but the whole room was spinning. I couldn’t even lift my head off the couch or nothing. I got enough legs to open up the door, basically damn near collapsed. Security had to get me, carry me to the wheelchair. I was like ‘I can’t breathe!'”
For more from Westside Gunn, be sure to check out his full conversation with Ebro Darden below. Have you been enjoying Pray For Paris?