Conway the Machine - From King to A GOD Review
This album is dense but almost immediately registers as an ambitious and captivating listen.
‘From King to A GOD’ is the debut studio album from Conway the Machine. This is one of many releases from Griselda, the label that seem to have a tight grip on this year’s best hip-hop albums. Conway the Machine has been in the game for over five years so it is reassuring to see him release something of such a high quality. The name of the album derives from Conway trying to be the best in whatever he does, whether that be rapping, helping the community, or supporting his fellow Griselda label mates. The album shows how much Conway has grown as an artist since his first release. Conway the Machine is a man whose ambition is overflowing.
The album opens with ‘From King’, which starts with a sample taken from “Q and A With God”: a lecture from British writer and speaker Alan Watts. The lyrical core of this track is present throughout this album. When Conway says ‘So many verses of the year that I've written, I'm feelin' jaded’ you can feel a disappointment as if Conway is only now starting to get the recognition he deserves. ‘Fear of God’ brings an incredible feature from DeJ Loaf. Lyrically, Conway speaks of the efforts him and his brother Westside Gunn have put in to get to the place they’re at now. ‘I mean, West owned the land, but I did the construction’ His brother Westside Gunn owned the label but he put the work in alongside him and Benny the Butcher.
‘Lemon (feat. Method Man)’ is where this record really starts to take form. The production here is so tight. The grime-y dark vibes and the almost David Gilmour-like guitar drones make the perfect backdrop to Conway the Machine’s thick rapping style. This track also continues the theme of growth for Conway. He raps ‘A long way from sellin' white and runnin' from the polices. You niggas know who flow nicest, raise the bar like coke prices’. You can see how far Conway has came as an artist and as a person, no longer selling drugs but instead bars and hustling in a different way. The organic nature of Conway the Machine’s work shines through here. No big major labels were involved in getting these features — just hard graft and a genuine desire to be the best.
‘Dough & Domani’ is one of the coolest tracks on the record. The way the second half of this track breaks into jaded clunky pianos is a real nice touch to the arrangement. Conway touches on covid-19 in this track but spins it as humorous saying that you should wear a mask ‘you got h to bag’. Conway the Machine makes it cool to just be free. To come full circle on this album, Conway collaborates with some of his heroes: people who he was listening to whilst in prison in the early 2000s. There’s a humble sense that comes from the grind that’s gone into this record, exacerbating that genuine hardworking sense evident in the previously discussed track. This album oozes sincerity.
A good example of this is the next track ‘Juvenile Hell’ with Lloyd Banks and Havoc of Mobb Depp fame. When speaking of the track Conway said ‘I met Havoc while I was out in Wyoming, I was working on some music with Kanye. I was out on the ranch and Havoc was out there. So we kicked it and was around each other for a couple of days. And again, exchanged numbers and we spoke back and forth. Again, I just went for it like, “Yo, I need a batch man. I need value on the album.” And he sent a beat and it was the first beat I clicked on in the email.’ There’s this sense with Conway that he’s always pushing his luck and getting away with it. It’s this pushing that’s given this record the diversity needed to accomplish the conceptual realisation of Conway’s hard work and hustling nature. This is followed by a brief interlude of dialogue. This is one of two recordings of by the late Buffalo hip-hop legend, Griselda mentor DJ Shay, who died in August 2020 due to complications from COVID-19.
‘Front Lines’ is one of the more aggressive feeling tracks on the record, aptly titled to evoke a sense of conflict. The bleak pianos that murkily blur around your ears create an atmosphere that almost encapsulates ‘the outside’ that is brought into the lyrical fray by the hook. Lyrically, this track touches on the horrific incidents that unfolded in America against and in response to George Floyd. ‘Cracker invent the laws, that's why the system is flawed’ Conway summarises; it’s an efficient critique of America’s systematic racism.
‘Anza (feat. Armani Caesar)’ is sadly one of the more disappointing tracks on the album. Something about the instrumental comes off a little boring, lacking either the intensity or majesty of previous tracks. Although, the Armani Caesar feature compensates well enough. ‘Seen Everything But Jesus (feat. Freddie Gibbs)’ is two artists coming together and pushing each other into new comfort zones. A lot of this record came from quarantine and just cooking up in the lab but it’s Conway’s work over the last decade that’s brought him to this point today. This song’s lyricism feels nostalgic, talking of the past and talking about how far the artists have come.
This is followed by the second interlude from Shay only to blast into what may be the strongest track on the record. ‘Spurs 3’ is truly outstanding. The production on this track is so twisted and ominous in its, what feels at times out of time, chiming percussion. Couple this with Conway blasting some of his best bars on this track, throw Benny the Butcher on top, who also kills it on this track, and there’s a real powerhouse of a track here. Its features amplify its quality, with each artist lending some strength. Westside Gunn has also received serious (and much-deserved) praise this year for his projects on Griselda and only confirms ‘the impact of this movement’.
Forever Droppin Tears (feat. El Camino) is the longest track on the record, clocking in at almost eight minutes. Its spotty synths are a welcome addition to the instrumental soundscape that the record lives in. Driving synthesised bass grooves around Conway and El Camino in an infectious manner. Lyrically, this track serves as a tribute to Conway’s two friends (Damani and Shay) who passed away and continues this reflection throughout the almost chronicle nature of the record. It almost feels like Conway worries about his age. As if it influences his ability to be in this industry. But with no live shows on the cards for 2020, never has there been a time where just the music is the most important part of being a rapper.
‘Jesus Khrysis’ shows us more insight into the man behind that music. Conway raps ‘Rappin' better than niggas, I can barely pronounce shit’ a reference to Conway’s Bell’s Palsy, making it hard from him to even pronounce bars. Nevertheless, Conway rises to the top with incredible flows, cadence, and hooks. The last track on the album, ‘Nothin Less’, has a classiness that summarises the record. The musical arrangement on this track is so sweet with its staccato violin strings and horns. Lyrically, Conway’s words ‘I ain't never satisfied, so I have to go harder’ hits home as a point that seems prevalent in this record — his deep desire to improve as an artist and be the best at his game. All the while reflecting on how he reached this stage and the influences and hard work that’s gone into that.
Conway successfully bares his soul on this record, showing us the hard work he has put in with his Griselda label mates and portraying the endless desire to improve and grow as an artist. Musically, there’s some incredible instrumentation and creative choices. There’s a dark grimy sound in the production that throws back to classic 90s hip-hop in a welcome way, but in a novel light. This album is dense but almost immediately registers as an ambitious and captivating listen. Conway the Machine is an artist that too many people have slept on for too long. The organic nature of his work really shows Conway as one the best Hip-Hop artists of 2020.
