Conway the Machine — WON’T HE DO IT — Album Review
Hip-Hop | Rap
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
There’s no denying that Conway the Machine (the musical alias of Buffalo rapper Demond Price) is one of Hip-Hop’s true living greats, thanks to the sheer realism that is brought forward by a large chunk of his discography.
I started listening to Conway properly through his debut studio album From King to a God, though before this album was released, he already had quite the abundant amount of mixtapes under his belt. With the exciting plethora of producers sharing the load in regards to the creation of that album’s beats, From King to a God wound up being a very enjoyable and versatile project.
And while I was pretty late to the party with listening to his sophomore studio album God Don’t Make Mistakes, an album released in August of last year (with me only listening to it when the time came along to do my Last Minute Reviews article), I would still argue that it is the strongest of Conway’s albums, by virtue of how raw, gritty, and real the project was.
Evidently, Conway the Machine is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down in 2023. The release of Conway’s teaser track “Quarters” heralded the arrival of his third studio album. And by how unique and engaging that track sounded, I was very excited to get into WON’T HE DO IT, upon its release.
That time had finally come, this Friday just gone. And fittingly, the album kicks off with the aforementioned “Quarters”. The tracks that followed were all new listens to me.
The selection of tracks that followed once again had that sense of versatility in its production and moods, much like the previous two studio projects. And while these tracks are much more of a mixed bag in comparison to the likes of God Don’t Make Mistakes, for example, there are still quite a few golden moments to pick from the album, particularly the tracks with the more soulful beats, which was evidently a preference of mine, in the case of WON’T HE DO IT.
The one glaring thing with this album that I struggled to engage with, however, is the narrative focus of the project. Where God Don’t Make Mistakes was a dark and gritty telling of the rappers comeuppance and past life, WON’T HE DO IT ties itself more closely to the braggadocious side of the hip-hop lifestyle, that I feel is quite overplayed at this point. And at certain moments on the album, I feel that this comes off in quite a bog-standard way.
But while not his best piece of musical material in my mind, WON’T HE DO IT still presents the talent and versatility behind Conway’s bars at its best points. In simpler terms, it is a bit of a mixed bag.
Favourite Tracks: Quarters | Monogram | The Chosen | Brooklyn Chop House
Least Favourite Track: Brick Fare
Drumwork Music Group | EMPIRE
