#drumwork

Where I grew up in Ohio was very rural. Josh Scott wore ankle weights on game day and went by the name of J Skeez. Today, we will cover Jae Skeese of Buffalo, NY.  This man shares a true tale of destiny through dedication. Trips to Destiny U.S.A. in Syracuse showed and proved his squeaky clean fashion within Western NY.  Reigning incredibly as a sneakerhead led him to create 4 versions of EKIN…

Este es el debut cinematográfico del maestro de ceremonias de Baltimore SK da King. Emergiendo como miembro de Chequered Flag Boyz bajo el apodo original de Paul Skola, fue solo hace unos años que firmó con EMPIRE Distribution de Conway the Machine, Drumwork Music Group, como solista, como lo anunció en su primer sencillo. “Actions” y continuaría presentándose a la base de fanáticos de Drumwork,…

When Griselda signed to Shady Records in 2017, the promised release of Conway’s major label album seemed eminent. The album was supposed to be GOAT, which ended up being just another mixtape in Conway’s extensive and consistent catalog. Every project since 2017 has been teased as an appetizer for the Shady Records album but Conway has made a lot of artistic progress in that time. There was Look What I Became, which saw Conway coloring outside the traditional Griselda sound. There was also Lulu and the albums with Big Ghost, which saw Conway playing with different flows while sticking to what he knows. There was the actual debut album, From King To A God, which showed that Conway’s potential is limitless and that he can rap about all sorts of subjects. Last year’s La Maquina album showed that Conway cannot be placed in one lane. He even put out the Everybody is Food series and the Greetings Earthlings mixtapes which showed that he can rap over any beat, no matter how fast or slow and both underground and mainstream. With each project, it seemed like Conway was just pushing things back while continuing to tease the ultimate major label album that promised more emotional and introspective raps from Conway. Now that the album is finally out, I would saw Conway absolutely fucking delivered. This album is amazing from top to bottom. He starts off with the bars and moves into more introspective songs while keeping a mix of both throughout and there’s a solid amount of variety too. The album is also very short which increases its replay value. It starts with Lock Load, which is hard as fuck. I had actually heard this song live before it came out at one of Conway’s shows. He brought out Beanie Sigel to do his verse, which is very good but it was poorly mixed. The song is fire and perfectly set things off. Tear Gas was an amazing collaboration between Conway, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross. I love the soulful beat and Lil Wayne clearly stole the show with his verse. The lead single, Piano Love is great but it is exactly what I expected from Conway on an Alchemist beat. It sounds like many other Griselda songs but is still enjoyable. The song Drumwork properly introduces his imprint’s roster with rappers Jae Skeese and 7xvethegenius. The second half of the album gets more personal, with the exception of the amazing Griselda track John Woo Flick where everyone brings their A-game as usual. Wild Chapters talks about different stories in certain chapters of Conway’s life, along with features from T.I. and Novel. Stressed is the ultimate introspective Conway song that I have been waiting to hear; it is probably his most personal song since The Cow. He talks about the trauma, depression, and stress that have come after being shot and losing others in his life, as well as the difficulties with friendships that come along with reaching a certain level of success. Chanel Pearls really surprised me as I never thought Conway and Jill Scott would do a song together and she raps which I was not expecting at all. It’s good to hear Jill again. God Don’t Make Mistakes is a perfect way to end the album as he raps about how the story of his life lead him to eventually succeed and how he looks back on the decisions that led him to getting shot and becoming a famous rapper. This album was well worth the wait and is really everything I’ve ever wanted from Conway. I have always praised him for his lyrical ability but this album revealed a lot about himself which I have wanted to hear more of. Musically, it is great as he raps over a variety of great beats with some great artists and improved his songwriting skills as well.

Even though they constantly put out music, I will always welcome a new Griselda release. Conway’s new album La Maquina was announced not too long before its release date and marks his second project of the year already and we are not even halfway through the year. In February, he put out an EP with Big Ghost called If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed which sonically is in the same vein as their first collaborative EP, 2020′s No One Mourns The Wicked. Conway has always been on a consistent run of projects but lately he has turned that up to a new level. La Maquina does not sound at all like the Big Ghost projects; it is more along the lines of his fantastic official debut album From King To A GOD which he also put out last year. FKTG showed Conway displaying a lot of versatility and new flows that he had never showed us and is one of many projects that has been promoted as an appetizer for his Shady Records debut God Don’t Make Mistakes, which has been pushed back a thousand times. Though I rank FKTG highly among Conway’s catalog, I think I honestly like this album more and the production on this album is a big contributing factor. Conway generally has a great ear for beats and even though the production is nothing groundbreaking or unlike anything he has rapped over, these are some of the best beats that he has rapped over. Conway is perfectly capable of holding down an album on his own but a lot of the features really did steal the show on certain songs. Artists Jae Skeese and 7xvethegenius from Conway’s new Drumwork record label make appearances and I don’t remember them rapping like this on the FKTG deluxe songs because they really shined on this, especially Jae Skeese. Blood Roses and Grace are two of my favorite songs and Jae Skeese really came through with some outstanding verses and hooks. The production on Grace reminds me of the kind of east coast Hip Hop songs that I grew up loving. 2 Chainz makes an appearance on the slower 200 Pies, which has an Alchemist-produced beat reminiscent of his Scottie Beam beat that he did with Freddie Gibbs. Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher show up on the last song SE Gang for an amazing album closer with a guitar loop that reminded me of some older Griselda songs like Bob Backlund and Moroccan Waters. They used to rhyme over a lot of guitar loops when they were starting out and this song brought some of that older Griselda energy back in that way. I love this album and the only critique I have about this album is the song Scatter Brain, which sounds out of place. I don’t really like the beat that much but I still liked the way Conway was flowing over it. I know I’ve been harsh on Jid in the past but even his verse was good and Ludacris also came through with a pretty good verse. I think the beat was what made me not really not like it that much. I don’t really know how to explain this, but Conway has a certain energy on this album that he hasn’t brought to other projects recently even though he’s always been rapping his ass off so I think the production just brought a lot of great qualities out of him. Conway isn’t really displaying anything new on this album but the bars are there, the production is there and one thing I really like about this album is that the songs themselves are really great. What I mean by that is a lot of Conway’s mixtape catalog is just him rapping which I always welcome but album Conway is bringing great songs to the table which I think is great and hopefully God Don’t Make Mistakes brings more of that. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more Conway albums before that one comes out.

NEW VISUALS: CONWAY THE MACHINE FT. ELCAMINO “FOREVER DROPPIN TEARS”

Conway and Elcamino dropped the visuals for ” FOREVER DROPPING TEARS” OF FKTG lookout for the Deluxe version dropping December the 11th. The Song pays homage to those lost close to the GXFR crew RIP DJ Shay the General of Hip Hop in…