Conway the Machine — Look What I Became

This album is a face of the whole "Look What I Became, God Don't Make No Mistakes" medal. While "God Don't Make Mistakes" will be his debut album with Shady Records, "Look What I Became" anticipates it by several months, falling in autumn 2019. And it's a good, surprisingly versatile effort by Conway. The production is realized by Daringer, The Alchemist, DJ Muggs, K-Sluggah, JR Swiftz, Rick Hyde and Statik Selektah. The guests are Griselda rappers Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher, along with Jim Jones, Dave East, Elcamino, DJ Muggs and Amber Simone.

The Alchemist opens the record with a good tense and gloomy, very deep cut, Conway drops excellent verses of mafioso braggadocio with his calm style. "Hawks" follows, a solid alternative piece produced by K-Sluggah. After a short skit, "Tito's Back" arrives, among the best choices of the album, it's Griselda: splendid boom bap, essential, wonderful thanks to a syncopated piano, samples from Cos' "Coloc", splendid job by Daringer. Conway and Benny kill the cut with a back and forth dope, they fly away, Westside Gunn closes with a funny bold verse.

DJ Muggs is presented in "Black Spoons", with a tense and slow production, sample from Cos' "Flamboya", with a deep and acute bass line that stands out from the background for another mafioso delivery by Con. Jim Jones, Dave East & El Camino join Conway for an excellent posse track: JR Swiftz's bouncy boom bap, sample from Blue Magic's "Tear It Down", Jim Jones paves the way for a good Dave East spot, closes El Camino who easily takes the joint with an extraordinary tear. Then the mood shifts towards a southern/trap rhythm, with funky traits ("Half of It") with a production of future Black Soprano Family member Rick Hyde, before the final soulful joint "You Made It": wonderful invention, masterpiece by Statik, sample from John Scofield's "Spoons", with soulful hook by Amber Simone; boom bap essential, clean and smoothness delivery of La Maquina here.

Highlights: "No Women No Kids", "Tito's Back", "Vino D", "You Made It".

Rating: 7/10.