It's about that time, and what a time it is: Machine season. Coming off one of the best years of his career, Conway The Machine has opted to pick up exactly where he left off. Today, he has reunited with producer Big Ghost LTD -- with whom he worked on last year's No One Mourns The Wicked -- delivering his first album of the year in If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed.
Like its predecessor, production across the board feels ripped from psychedelic sixties rock, samples caked in a fine layer of dirt, grit, and grime. Immediately nostalgic yet not always welcoming, Big Ghost's beats tend to bring out some of The Machine's more brutal inclinations. Nowhere is that more evident than on penultimate banger "Red Beams," a simmering horror movie score that paints Conway as a true villain. "Got his paperwork back, found out that he was rattin," he spits, over a hazy guitar lick. "Send the goons to see his baby moms / He gon' walk-in, he gon' see a shooter, baby in his arms / fuck yo' bitch and your kid, n***a!"
Anyone who appreciates bars oughta make If It Bleeds a high priority -- check it out now, and brace yourself for Conway's imminent onslaught. Next up, God Don't Make Mistakes.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
I’m from the bottom, most of our mamas was drug addicts
Then we grew up and started dabblin' in drug traffic
That was the homie, now we gotta throw a slug at 'em
Got his paperwork back, found out that he was rattin'
Send the goons to see his baby moms
He gon' walk in, he gon' see a shooter, baby in his arms
