Westside Gunn Amira Kitchen Meaning and Review

Westside Gunn’s “Amira Kitchen” off Heels Have Eyes 2 is another testament to why he continues to sit comfortably at the intersection of luxury rap, street realism, and avant-garde artistry. From the opening moments, the track establishes itself as a vibe, built on classical-tinged instrumentation that feels cinematic in scope. The elegant production creates a backdrop that allows Gunn’s gravelly voice and painterly bars to shine, elevating his vivid street imagery into something almost operatic. It is the kind of beat that feels tailor-made for him, luxurious yet tinged with menace, a perfect balance of grit and grandeur.

Westside Gunn’s Lyrical Performance

Lyrically, Gunn is on top form here, weaving together references that blur the line between fine art and street survival. Lines like “Ayo, I still wear ski masks for the dividends / On the yacht, Tom Ford gloves, eating Michelin” capture the essence of his aesthetic, high fashion and culinary excellence placed right alongside images of crime and hustling. He manages to make these juxtapositions feel natural, turning them into the foundation of his mythology. It is a verse full of quotables, where every bar carries weight and contributes to the larger-than-life persona of the FLYGOD.

Brother Tom Sos’s Contribution

Brother Tom Sos adds a soulful dimension with both the chorus and his verse, grounding the track with reflections on resilience and survival. The hook “We’ve seen rainstorms, we’ve seen sunshine / And on both days, we be alright” acts as a mantra, bringing a sense of faith and perseverance to balance Gunn’s sharper imagery. Sos’s verse, too, is no filler. He brings a cautionary, reflective energy, warning about burned bridges and the reality of keeping shooters close. Together, he and Gunn strike a powerful dynamic, gritty storytelling meeting spiritual reassurance.

Gunn’s Second Verse

Westside Gunn’s second verse keeps the momentum high, delivering more trademark luxury-drug rap bars while paying homage to Virgil Abloh and reflecting on the weight of prison time. “You shoulda seen me doing pushups in the cage / A hundred ups, a hundred dips, I’m insane” shows his ability to flip pain into strength, while the bar about only having “ten mil’ to my name” is pure Gunn, braggadocious yet tinged with understated humility. He continues to paint pictures of both opulence and hardship, never letting one overshadow the other. It is this duality that makes his storytelling resonate so deeply.

Outro and Closing Thoughts

The outro from A.A. Rashid elevates the track to something almost spiritual, with spoken word meditations on art, divinity, and authenticity. His words “If the music does not improve the quality of your thinking, then it’s not music, man” frame the track as more than just rap. It is a ritual, a performance of greatness meant to inspire. Closing with dedications to Virgil and Michelle, the outro adds emotional depth, tying the track’s themes of legacy, creativity, and survival together. Altogether, “Amira Kitchen” is a standout cut from Heels Have Eyes 2, a track that embodies Westside Gunn’s ability to merge high art with street life, creating music that is both timeless and larger than life.

Listen to Westside Gunn Amira Kitchen

Westside Gunn Amira Kitchen Lyrics Meaning Explained 

The meaning of Amira Kitchen by Westside Gunn is a vivid exploration of the intersection between luxury, street life, and spiritual reflection. The track blends cinematic instrumentation with Gunn’s signature gritty lyricism to tell a story of survival, resilience, and dominance in both the streets and the music industry. Throughout the song, he juxtaposes images of high fashion, fine dining, and global travel with the harsh realities of hustling, violence, and incarceration, creating a world that feels both larger than life and deeply personal. Brother Tom Sos’s soulful choruses add a layer of faith and perseverance, while A.A. Rashid’s outro elevates the song to a philosophical meditation on artistry, authenticity, and legacy. In essence, Amira Kitchen is not just a song about wealth or power, but a reflection on endurance, creativity, and the responsibility that comes with greatness.

Verse 1: Westside Gunn

Westside Gunn opens the first verse with “Ayo, I still wear ski masks for the dividends.” The ski mask represents his ongoing connection to the streets, suggesting that even with wealth and fame, he is still tied to crime and hustling for profits. This imagery is immediately contrasted with luxury in “On the yacht, Tom Ford gloves, eating Michelin,” where he paints a picture of high-end dining and fashion on a yacht. Gunn continues this balance of grit and grandeur in “BET Awards in my Chrome Hearts Timberlands,” signaling that even when he steps into mainstream spaces, he does so while staying true to his rugged aesthetic. The line “Rest in peace X, how my plug said, ‘It’s him again’” serves as both a tribute to DMX, who passed away in 2021 and whose posthumous album featured Griselda, and a nod to his own reemergence and recognition by those in his circle. He cements his identity with “Super FLYGOD, fiends kneeling to my feet, all,” linking his alter ego to divine imagery, with addicts symbolically worshipping at his feet. The follow-up, “All kind of 1s had 'em in a coma for a week,” references pure drugs so potent that they incapacitate users.

The violent undercurrents of the streets are reflected in “Had to buy a brick cheap, but a body much cheaper (Boom, boom, boom, boom),” where Gunn notes the low cost of taking a life compared to moving product. This is reinforced in “Gave him ten flat, boy came with the sweeper (Brrt),” a line describing a transaction that buys both protection and violence. The survivalist mentality continues in “I'm on the road, keep it on you even before parole,” warning that weapons are necessary at all times. His reflections become more personal in “I seen my YN, the devil had stole his soul,” lamenting the corruption of a younger peer, while “I only talk to my kids, I don't fuck with phones” illustrates his paranoia and avoidance of surveillance. He dismisses outsiders with “If you don't like it, get the fuck on (Get the fuck on),” and asserts his authenticity with “Nigga, check the rap sheet, I don't do rap beef (Uh-uh).” Coded references surface in “Freeze 'em in DC, pump name was Ashley (Woo),” likely alluding to violence in Washington D.C. He closes the verse with stylish menace, “I'm kicking it, sack in each ass, looking jazzy / Came out the bushes, all black with the lassie,” blending imagery of drug concealment, fashion, and ambush tactics.

Chorus: Brother Tom Sos

The chorus, performed by Brother Tom Sos, provides a counterpoint to Gunn’s gritty depictions, offering resilience and faith through lines like “We've seen rainstorms, we've seen sunshine / And on both days, we be alright.” This balance of struggle and triumph continues with “We seen runways, we seen gunfights / And on both days, we was alright,” a juxtaposition of glamour and violence that defines Gunn’s world. The refrain “Everything working 'cause God said it would” reinforces the idea that survival and success are ultimately divinely ordained, lending the track a spiritual undertone.

Verse 2: Brother Tom Sos

Sos’s verse expands on these themes, beginning with “Uh, if I'ma do it, I might as well do it right and exact,” affirming authenticity in his craft and lifestyle. He criticizes others with “You niggas ruined the movement, we came and got it intact,” positioning his crew as restorers of culture. His survival ethos is underscored by “Well in fact, I keep a shooter and he gon' do just that / Think you running off with some jewelry, gon' get shot in your cap / Like a graduation picture,” where clever wordplay links street retribution to graduation imagery. The line “Do the knowledge and you be graduating quicker” urges wisdom as a means to survive and advance. Sos plays with imagery again in “Hands in the air with champagne glasses, this a stick up,” turning a celebratory toast into a robbery scene. He ends his verse with “I'm tryna tell you that you shouldn't burn that bridge up / I come in peace,” offering both a warning and a message of reconciliation.

Verse 3: Westside Gunn

Westside Gunn’s second verse revisits themes of art, fashion, and survival. The opening, “I bet Virgil rolling in his grave (Ah),” references Virgil Abloh, suggesting he would be shocked at cultural shifts since his passing. Gunn reasserts the archetypal hustler lifestyle in “Dope boy shit, Rollie and a chain (Ah),” while “Probably had dope running in his veins (Ah)” blurs the line between hustlers and addicts. Paranoia surfaces again in “Watch for the backdoor, shit change (Mm),” cautioning against betrayal from close allies. He boasts with “I done sold ten bricks in a day (Woo),” and flashes his global lifestyle in “I done took my French bitch to Waly Fay (Woo),” referencing the Senegalese restaurant in Paris. Faith and resilience reappear in “Had God told my grandmama pray” and “You shoulda seen me doing pushups in the cage (Ah) / A hundred ups, a hundred dips, I'm insane (Ah),” vivid depictions of discipline and survival in prison. Shouting out incarcerated peers with “This for my niggas on the yard with the blade (Free my niggas),” Gunn connects his success back to those still behind bars. The verse closes with reflective humility in “I only got ten mil' to my name (Woo) / I done smiled through the pain,” balancing wealth with endurance.

Outro: A.A. Rashid

A.A. Rashid’s outro reframes the track as a spiritual and artistic statement. “Man, let the music be a spiritual soundtrack / To the ritual performance of this greatness” elevates the song to a ritual act. He vividly describes the power of instrumentation with “Can you feel how when the brass cried / The heavens adjusted their garments,” and introduces layered wordplay with “This is why goats have horns, man,” where goats literally have horns but GOATs (Greatest of All Time) are tied to horns of brass instruments in jazz and hip hop tradition. He critiques performative art in “He who performs for applause has already lost his voice” and warns against imitation in “There’s no glory being a copy of a copy of a god.” Rashid plays on language in “That's your response ability, son, not God,” reframing responsibility as using one’s ability to respond to divine inspiration. He stresses that originality is sacred in “God is not impressed by imitation / They are not moved by mimicry.” The meditation concludes with “Only goats have horns like this… A goat without horns is soon forgotten by history,” suggesting that greatness lies in distinction and innovation. The outro ends with a reminder of art’s purpose: “If the music does not improve the quality of your thinking / Then it's not music… it’s a theft of your time,” tying the song back to the idea of music as transformative rather than empty. His closing words, “Long live Virgil, long live Michelle,” serve as dedications to Virgil Abloh and Michelle, honoring their legacy.

Westside Gunn Amira Kitchen Lyrics 

[Verse 1: Westside Gunn]

Ayo, I still wear ski masks for the dividends

On the yacht, Tom Ford gloves, eating Michelin

BET Awards in my Chrome Hearts Timberlands

Rest in peace X, how my plug said, "It's him again"

Super FLYGOD, fiends kneeling to my feet, all

All kind of 1s had 'em in a coma for a week (Ah)

Had to buy a brick cheap, but a body much cheaper (Boom, boom, boom, boom)

Gave him ten flat, boy came with the sweeper (Brrt)

I'm on the road, keep it on you even before parole

I seen my YN, the devil had stole his soul

I only talk to my kids, I don't fuck with phones

If you don't like it, get the fuck on (Get the fuck on)

Nigga, check the rap sheet, I don't do rap beef (Uh-uh)

Freeze 'em in DC, pump name was Ashley (Woo)

I'm kicking it, sack in each ass, looking jazzy

Came out the bushes, all black with the lassie

[Chorus: Brother Tom Sos]

We've seen rainstorms, we've seen sunshine

And on both days, we be alright

We seen runways, we seen gunfights

And on both days, we was alright

We be alright, hmm

Everything working 'cause God said it would

We be alright, hmm

[Verse 2: Brother Tom Sos]

Uh, if I'ma do it, I might as well do it right and exact

You niggas ruined the movement, we came and got it intact

Well in fact, I keep a shooter and he gon' do just that

Think you running off with some jewelry, gon' get shot in your cap

Like a graduation picture

Do the knowledge and you be graduating quicker

Hands in the air with champagne glasses, this a stick up

I'm tryna tell you that you shouldn't burn that bridge up

I come in peace

[Verse 3: Westside Gunn]

I bet Virgil rolling in his grave (Ah)

Dope boy shit, Rollie and a chain (Ah)

Probably had dope running in his veins (Ah)

Watch for the backdoor, shit change (Mm)

I done sold ten bricks in a day (Woo)

I done took my French bitch to Waly Fay (Woo)

Had God told my grandmama pray

You shoulda seen me doing pushups in the cage (Ah)

A hundred ups, a hundred dips, I'm insane (Ah)

This for my niggas on the yard with the blade (Free my niggas)

I only got ten mil' to my name (Woo)

I done smiled through the pain

[Chorus: Brother Tom Sos]

We've seen rainstorms, we've seen sunshine

And on both days, we be alright

We seen runways, we seen gunfights

And on both days, we was alright

We be alright, hmm

Everything working 'cause God said it would

We be alright, hmm

We've seen rainstorms, we've seen sunshine

And on both days, we be alright

We seen runways, we seen gunfights

And on both days, we was alright

We be alright, hmm

Everything working 'cause God said it would

We be alright, hmm

[Outro: A.A. Rashid]

Man, let the music be a spiritual soundtrack

To the ritual performance of this greatness, man, you know?

Look around you right now, man

Can you feel how when the brass cried

The heavens adjusted their garments, you know?

This is why goats have horns, man

Can you see 'em? Can you hear 'em, huh?

The stars take new positions when these deities

Spoke this saxophone into being, man

Horns, promise you

Watch all the angels lean in to listen man, yeah

But you know us

He who performs for applause has already lost his voice, you know?

There’s no glory being a copy of a copy of a god man, you know?

Especially if it was the god who gave you breath

Not to repeat, but to respond, you know?

With your ability son, for real

That's your response ability, son, not God, so ayy

God is not impressed by imitation

They are not moved by mimicry

They do not nod at your echos, man

God inspired themselves, you know?

Now ask yourself 'have you been inspired?

For real, huh

Only, only, only goats have horns like this, man

Don't, hah, don't let that go over your head, man

A goat without horns is soon forgotten by history

Don't let this brass go over your head

Hm, yeah, yeah, so

If the music does not improve the quality of your thinking

Then it's not music, man

It's just a theft of your time

A sabotage of your spirit man, for real

Long live Virgil, long live Michelle