God Don't Make Mistakes - Conway The Machine: Review

Conway The Machine

is one of the principle members of Buffalo hip hop collective Griselda who has bee prolifically releasing material for nearly a decade. Conway had a breakout past two years, releasing his debut studio album in 2020 and following it up with the acclaimed La Maquina mixtape in 2021. God Don't Make Mistakes is officially Conway's 2nd studio album and it's his first being released by Eminem's Shady Records.

Review By Lav:

Conway The Machine doesn't know who I am and doesn't give a shit what I think about anything. BUT, I'm fully content on pretending that I sparked a fire in him in 2020. When I reviewed all the Griselda albums from that year his debut was my least favorite of the bunch and I specifically mentioned that I was still waiting on Conway to release something that was on the same level as the best work from his contemporaries Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher. Well last year he did just that with the impressive La Maquina mixtape that I enjoyed quite a bit, and got me excited for this release. On God Don't Make Mistakes Conway is firmly cementing himself among the best in the hip hop world right now with his best project to date and an early favorite for rap records in 2022. 

The first half of this record is insanely consistent and one of the major advantages it has is one great feature after another. Lock Load kicks the whole thing off with an absolutely killer beat and a thematically focused series of bars all about guns. Both Conway and Beanie Sigel explore the subject with more nuance than your average rap song and it sets the tone for an entire album whose lyrics are worth paying attention to. Wild Chapters is another lyrical highlight sporting features from TI and Novel. Everyone involved really dials in on telling these detailed and compelling stories from their respective come-ups. The parallels that emerge throughout are some of the strongest pieces of thematic consistency across the entire record and make the track a treat to dissect. 

Tear Gas sees Conway discussing his ride or dies and all the people who weren't actually there for him when he needed it the most. Lil Wayne does what he does so often these days and adapted to the energy of the song delivering a very solid feature. While it's no secret that I've never been crazy about Rick Ross even he manages to show up pretty solid on the song. If there is any complaint I have about the first half of this record it's that this track goes on for a bit longer than I'd like, but I still enjoy it. Drumwork lives up to its name with a stark drum pattern making up the core of its Daringer produced instrumental. I was pretty excited to see Jae Skeese show up on the track after how much I enjoyed his contributions to Conway's project last year and he delivers again. Honestly the other feature on the song 7xvethegenius also fits in perfectly on the song making it one of the most thoroughly enjoyable on the record.

There are only 3 tracks on the record with no listed features, plus a closing track that is essentially just Conway by himself with a sample at the end, and they're all fantastic. Piano Love is an awesome take on the generally underwhelming hip hop love song. Conway's larger than life brags and attention to detail really does paint him and his girl as extravagant badasses and while the second verse on the track takes it in a different direction I still find that angle really enjoyable. Guilty is a shorter song with an insanely good throwback soul instrumental. Conway delivers an extremely detailed recollection of when he was nearly fatally shot and how it's effected everything in his life that's happened since. It's such a great display of storytelling from Conway and he includes exactly the right amount of detail.

So Much More is another highlight that follows the most emotionally vulnerable song on the record perfectly. Everything Conway has done on the album up to that point really does support his claim that he's so much more than just a rapper. The song also draws a fine line between everything he has accomplished thus far with everything he hopes to achieve going forward, great song. Closing track God Don't Make Mistakes is another huge highlight that sees Conway adding some finality to his reflections on getting shot. On this particular tracks the approach he takes shifts to wondering about how different his life could have been if he had just made some very small decisions differently. Ultimately he settles on the theme of the entire record, that things happened the way they did for a reason and his success is evidence for that. 

Like most Griselda projects there is a song that sees Conway coming together with Westside and Benny, this time around it's John Woo Flick. While the trio obviously have immense chemistry together and do a great job of matching each others energy. While this isn't one of my favorite collaborations ever it still does enough to be good in the tracklist. Similarly I can't quite fully get on board with Stressed. The song has emerged as a major fan favorite and it's easy to see why with the unbelievable rawness of Conway's lyricism. He addresses personal tragedies throughout the track including losing a child of his own, it's an incredibly level of vulnerability to put on display and it's only the time of the iceberg in terms of what the song offers. Unfortunately the instrumental is one of the least appealing on the album and the songs hook feels like a major fumbling of its momentum. it's equal parts impressive lyrical content and underwhelming sonic elements. 

Chanel Pearls is generally one of the more forgettable songs here. There's some really funny wordplay but for the most part the reserved beat fails to stand out and I don't find the lyrical theme nearly as exciting as the records highlights. Finally there's Babas a moment that stands out but not really in a good way. Conway and Keisha Plum jump on this horror movie soundtrack sounding beat which is cool at first but starts to get kind of old with this guitar lick that is louder than Conway's own vocals and stuck on a short loop. The confrontational and more abstract vocal performances are interesting and probably my favorite part of the song, but it's probably still my least favorite here. 

God Don't Make Mistakes isn't perfect but fittingly, it's mistakes are minor ones. For the most part Conway has improved on all fronts from his cold and calculating flows, to his beat selection and more than anything else his ability to tell compelling stories and weave together narratives across this entire album. He's executing on a consistently high level throughout the tracklist here while pairing these songs with a number of talented guests also bringing their A game. The result is one of the best Griselda projects to date and a moment we are likely to be looking back on as a pivotal developmental piece for the group for years to come. 8.5/10

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

I'm not sure how I feel about this cover. I like the composition and the styling but the colors bring it down. It's muddy and hard to pick out some of the great details that are included. I like the placement of the parental advisory which also avoids covering up meaningful detail, but some branding in the bottom right could have helped balance everything out. 5.5/10TI, 

For more hip hop check out my review of Earl Sweatshirt's SICK! here