“Lock and Load” sets the pace of the LP with plenty of gun talk that sees Conway absorbing a lot of his aura from “Get Rich Or Die Tryin'” – era 50. Beanie Siegel pops up sounding weathered, but still slick with the words as ever; making the prospective collaborations between the two emcees as alluded to in various interviews promoting “GDMM” promising. Next was a pass the mic like a hot potato type of joint where Conway, Lil’ Wayne, and Rick Ross traded bars in a mission to outdo each other.
It was close, but Ross ended up taking the cake on “Tear Gas” , while Conway kept up to a close-second, leaving Lil’ Wayne eating fumes; sadly, since his bars were up to snuff, but the legend sounded completely off-beat on the soul-sampling posse cut.
Next was the promo-single “Piano Love” : Alchemist’s slowed drums and keys found it’s foothold in the track-listing while Con’s comparison of his aesthetic style with Slick Rick hit harder after listening to the Ruler’s appearances on “Who Made The Sunshine” in consecutive discographical order according to the Shady label release history. Speaking of label ties, “Drumwork” is a great showcase of Conway’s select team, though 7xve The Genius steals the show undisputedly.
I would be remiss to neglect to mention that competition is constant within the Griselda family, that said, this track alone could easily wash a full BSF title. Fight me. I found it pleasant to hear Novel on “Wild Chapters” after his work on the “WWCD” sleeper cut “The Old Groove”. T.I. had a snoozeable guest verse, but Novel is a retro breath of fresh air – like a thugged out R&B singer, no effects on the vocals and able to keep his narration raw as a slab of dope. “Guilty”, “Stressed” and “So Much More” found Conway experimenting with actual singing on the hooks, reminiscent again of – “GRODT” -era 50 , specifically album closer “Gotta Make It To Heaven”.
Easily, “Stressed” is the standout of the trifecta as Conway empathizes with listeners while imploring for sympathy from his listeners for the struggles he has suffered throughout life. And though he deserves it, he knows he wont receive it in this cold cold world. Don’t know why ‘”Chanel Pearls” was built up the way it was. from my perspective it’s a complete throwaway, while “Baba’s” is the grittiest of all the tracks on the entire record, providing an instrumental that sounds like 80’s thrash metal infused with 2000’s gangsta rap.
Just to callback to the subject matter of the title, especially after seeing “Hard Boiled” from recommendation of Hip-Hop luminary Prodigy (see :”Mac 10 Handle”), “John Woo Flick” pays homage to so many influences deriving from the culture of hyper-realistic violence popularized in Western media – a form of art that Conway has been able to master to a science. Winding down with the eponymous title track finding Alchemist throwing in an instrumental that could have been found on any of his “Good Book” collections, a track like this only makes a seasoned listener like myself realize just how much potential Kanye wasted while having Conway in the studio spit about essentially the same subject matter.
Closing with a flatline transitioning to a heartbeat, symbolizing the rise of The Machine, “God Don’t Make Mistakes” is a loose narrative of Conway’s life filled with enough gun violence to be the soundtrack that would easily raise the murder rate at a city near you. But, a deeper look shows Conway at his most vulnerable, particularly on the trifecta featuring “Stressed” , lodged in right before sure shot “John Woo Flick”. “Crying every time he looks at his face”. From being kicked in the chest as a baby, rupturing his liver to losing a baby eventually, admitting to using alcoholism as a coping mechanism for his PTSD (damning the FDA and challenging the Western social strata in the same bars) he constantly suffers from; making an excuse for the gun talk and alleged possession for being utilized as much as a protectorate. Starting with the 2017 single “Machine Gun Black” to the culmination here and now in 2022, it has been an amazing six years for the Hip-Hop culture thanks to the Griselda x Shady resurgence movement.
The Just Blaze produced tribute “Machine Gun Black” was the foreboding single leading into “WWCD”, which was a Griselda group project in the vein of “Flyest Nigga In Charge”, except now their polished sound could rival the best of the Wu. By design, since the album worked just like “36 Chambers” from the Raekwon intro forward to spawn off the remaining albums Griselda had on their Shady contract.
“Who Made The Sunshine” was storytelling and the timely juxtaposition of posh and grime while providing the space for an exhibition of a who’s-who of those who inspired the sound GxFR spearheaded and the best of those inspired by the same sound thus far; and finally … “God Don’t Make Mistakes” is the punctuation mark in the form of an elipses surrounded by a shroud of darkness. Yet, through the clouds, Con’s words are the ray of light – not only for himself, but for the culture that was on life support machines as much as Machine was before he was able to turn the bullet lodged in his grill into a marketing tool that hasn’t worked this well since 50 Cent before him. Another Shady Records alumn, yes, but the comparisons won’t stop there, and that’s not a bad thing. Con is in a class of his own and of the greats at the same time.
How can Conway ever make Reject 3 now after becoming the head of the cool table? No worries, he’ll figure it out. Besides, “God Don’t Make Mistakes”. And though this album took forever and a day to come to fruition, The Machine didn’t disappoint blending in the aesthetics of the past from Hip-Hop’s birth in the 80’s combined with a flow that is some type of futurized weaponry likened to a T-100 blaster put to task in the hunt of the head on Sarah Conner. In all the murk and grime of the primarily Daringer , Beat Butcha, and Alchemist led production; admist the competition of high-profile veteran features, Conway on his major label debut does what he’s been doing best since his first appearance on the inderground classic “Hall N’ Nash” : standout.
1. Lock Load Ft. Beanie Sigel (prod by Daringer & Beat Butcha)
2. Tear Gas Feat Lil Wayne & Rick Ross (prod by Cozmo, Vidal Garcia & G Koop)
3. Piano Love (prod by The Alchemist)
4. Drumwork Ft. 7xvethegenius & Jae Skeese (prod By Daringer)
5. Wild Chapters Ft. T.I. & Novel (prod by Hit-Boy)
6. Guilty (prod by Bink & The Beat Brothers)
7. John Woo Flick Ft. Benny The Butcher & Westside Gunn (prod by Daringer & Kill)
8. Stressed Ft. Wallo (prod by Daringer & Beat Butcha)
9. So Much More (prod by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)
10. Chanel Pearls Ft. Jill Scott (prod by Cozmo, Dylan Graham & Daniel Cruz)
11. Babas Ft. Keisha Plum (prod by Daringer & Beat Butcha)
12. God Don’t Make Mistakes ft. Annette Price (prod by The Alchemist)
Score : 4.5/5
Author Profile
Latest entries
