Artist: Conway The Machine

Album: WON’T HE DO IT

Release Date: 5th May 2023

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Where to listen:

[Spotify]

[Apple Music]

[TIDAL]

[Amazon Music]

[YouTube Music]

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Artist Background:

Desmond Price born 16th February 1982, professionally known as Conway The Machine hailing from the East Side of Buffalo. He is a member of the hip-hop collective known as Griselda alongside his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn, cousin Benny The Butcher with other members such as Boldy James, Rome Streetz, Mach-Hommy, Armani Casear, YN Billy, and their in-house producer Daringer.

Music became a passion for Price at a young age when a family member introduced him to the likes of N.W.A and Wu-Tang Clan. After trouble with the law and spending time in and out of jail during his 20’s he was motivated to develop his love for music. Unfortunately, in 2012, Conway suffered a near-fatal shooting where he was shot in the head, neck, and shoulder which has left him with facial paralysis on his right side leaving him with a signature slur when he raps which adds a gritty dynamic to his flows. While in hospital during his recovery his brother, Westside Gunn, and Mach-Hommy co-founded Griselda Records which proved to be another motivation for Conway to work on and hone his craft. With years of mixtapes and collaborative EPs under his belt, and after being introduced on stage by Prodigy during Mobb Deep’s tour, in 2017 Griselda Records signed a deal with Eminem’s Shady Records.

Conway’s debut album, From King to a God, wasn’t released until 11th September 2020 and was greeted with universal acclaim from music critics and music fans alike.

After which his second album, God Don’t Make Mistakes, released on the 25th February 2022, would be his final project released with both Griselda and Shady Records so he could work on his own music label, ‘DrumWork Music Group’ which he created under the Griselda umbrella. This album, like his debut album, was greeted with universal acclaim once again and has now been cited as a must-hear album or album of the year for many fans, and one of Conway’s most impressive pieces of work.

When it comes to Conway’s collaborative works, the most notable examples are Lulu with the legendary producer The Alchemist, If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed with the anonymous online personality Big Ghost Ltd, Pain Provided Profit with fellow Buffalo rapper Jae Skeese, and Speshal Machinery with rapper and producer 38 Spesh.

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Album Background:

WON’T HE DO IT is the third album released on 5th May 2023 through Conway’s own label DrumWork Music Group and distributed through Empire Distribution. For the build-up to the album release, Conway dropped four singles, the lead single “Super Bowl” with Sauce Walka featuring Juicy J, “Quarters” the first song on the album, “Brucifix” featuring Westside Gunn, and the final single “The Chosen” featuring Jae Skeese.

Before beginning work on this album, Conway noticed an abundance of followers of both his and his Griselda counterparts’ work, copying their style, flows, and beats. Observing the work ethic, hunger, and the sharp use of language by Jae Skeese, Conway was motivated to draw on his nostalgia of making music in the good old days in Daringer’s house. He spent the summer of 2022 in Denver working twelve-hour days, seven days a week creating songs and crafting this album. During this process, Conway spent downtime with his people in the surrounding mountains and the city of Denver, going on hikes and consuming shrooms while in the studio in reference to which he mentions it was a magical vibe with good people.

This album draws on his experience of getting older and becoming a businessman, spending time with like-minded greats such as Jay-Z, and going to therapy. This all helped him to create a new style for himself, moving away from his original darker and grimier sound that most critics and fans associated him with.

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Album Review:

“Quarters” – The opening track starts with a smooth sample that has been given a funky twist which immediately gives you a sense of how this album is going to be different from anything else he’s done before. He then goes on to deliver a frenzy of captivating lyrics ranging from his expectations of respect within the rapping game to the weight he bares both metaphorically and physically through his past and his current success, whilst alluding to his album with The Alchemist as being a test run in advance of unlocking his full potential. You can’t deny that this track already sets a high bar for the album, the clever lyricism, the delivery, and the production by Khrysis all work together to create a beautifully raw track.

“Monogram” – This track is dedicated to Jay-Z and is named after his marijuana line Monogram. Through this song dedication and after being seen together backstage at The Novo in LA after an emotional performance of “The Cow”, it is clear their friendship has flourished. This track opens with a rich and soulful strings-based sample with the signature crackling of a vintage vinyl creating an immersive feeling of being in a soul bar. Conway’s flow does not disappoint. Lyrics explore conversations with Jay-Z, enjoying good food in sentimental venues and how he felt his last album, God Don’t Make Mistakes, was better than albums of his contemporaries. The chorus and hook “I wanna sell cocaine forever”, whilst seemingly generic in message, is too catchy for its own good.

“The Chosen” – This track provides what I feel to be the best feature on the album. Conway uses this space to celebrate Jae Skeese and what he deems an impressive work ethic. The track opens with this sample that swells with the drums and the bass kicking in alongside the distinctive vocals of Conway and Jae leaving you with no other instinct than to bob your head. Jae comes in with such ferocity for his first verse highlighting his confidence to go toe to toe with any other rapper. This track will leave you feeling confident, even cocky, with your chest puffed up. Conway and Jae flaunt their cohesive wordplay, using various sports references to showcase their success and popularity. I feel this track creates the illusion that I am listening to a rap battle unfold, with Conway and Jae in my corner.

“Kill Judas” – The use of such a menacing and spooky sample in this interlude draws you in and signals a separation in the album moving from side A to side B. While I understand why this track is used as a really effective interlude, I feel it is such a strong sample that it could easily be transformed into a full track. For me this interlude suggests the partnership between Conway and Daringer is so rich, containing so many interesting and creative ideas, they could afford to use such a strong sample as just an interlude. However, this is not to undermine the importance of a strong interlude that so clearly defines a switch-up from one side of the album to the other. We must not overlook the hard work that goes into even the smallest of details on this album.

“WON’T HE DO IT” – The lyrics, the unexpected sample, and the feature from 7xvethegenius curates a different sound compared to what you might be expecting based on your experience of Conway’s previous pieces of work. Digging into more emotional subject matter, the track opens with Conway rapping about his constant growth and development of self-being a source of jealousy for some people around him, regardless of this he expresses a need to continue building his legacy, achievements, and fortune for his family. 7xvethegenius continues the theme of overcoming the obstacles in life, finding faith, and helping family out of the ghetto, telling the story of her life’s struggles as well as the triumphs and successes she has had by Conway’s side.

This album is another great piece of work done by Conway The Machine, it shows versatility in his lyricism, his flows, and the use of samples and beats from various producers, eras, and artists. I believe 2023 has been a fantastic year for Conway, not only as an artist but as a businessman through the founding of his own record label, and personally through his efforts to surround himself with people genuinely invested in his well-being. This development has translated brilliantly into this piece of work, with what sounds like a step change in his creative process demonstrated by the production value and composition of this album, alongside the gritty, intelligent, and at times emotional lyrics.

For me, this is one of Conway’s most accomplished and mature pieces of work. I believe this album demonstrates an acknowledgement of his personal growth as well as celebrating his own successes in both his personal life and work signalling a coming-of-age moment. His recent trajectory over the last few years would suggest many great things to come from this unbelievably talented and ambitious artist. Highly recommend.

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Favourite Lyrics:

Quarters:

“Ayo, put some respect on my name (Huh?)

Or the coroner be scrapin’ up what’s left of your brain (Hahaha)

And coughin’, smokin’ on this pressure, I’m just testin’ my strain (Uh-huh)

It’s definitely pain in the back of my neck from these chains, look (This shit heavy though)”

Monogram:

“I got pictures with the homie I never posted

Personal convos with him I never told it

Like, peace, God, I just wanna see you filthy rich (Peace, kid)

And them words were ringin’ louder in my head every since (I promise)”

Crucifix:

“It’s still hard to fathom what I’ve done

Got multis from lettin’ my imagination run

What’s mind-blowin’ to me is the fact I’ve just begun, uh (Just begun)”

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Questions:

What did you think of WON’T HE DO IT? Did you enjoy it after the first listen, or did it take a few listens?

How would you compare this album to Conway’s other solo albums?

Do you believe that Conway is underappreciated? Should he be considered among one of hip-hop’s great lyricists?