Sometime in 2018—after signing a distribution deal with Shady Records, before the thunderous arrival of Westside Gunn’s Supreme Blientele—Griselda became too big to fail. Having cornered a lucrative premium-vinyl market, the overachieving Buffalo trio swiftly established primacy within the realm of loop-based neoclassical rap. Soon, everyone in this crowded lane of East Coast hip-hop—from legacy acts like Roc Marciano and Smoke DZA to upstart revivalists like Flee Lord and Estee Nack—was funneled through a barrage of free-wheeling Griselda projects, the group’s cosign functioning as a tastemaker’s imprimatur. On their solo efforts, Griselda’s members have pushed their own visions, even if they don’t always cohere: Gunn inhabits a Scorsesean coke dream of Virgil collabs and art-world gravitas, while Benny the Butcher aspires to the assured verbosity of a young Jay-Z.
Amidst rumors of discord within the trio’s ranks, Conway the Machine continues to bring his hard hat and lunch pail to work. Still lacking a landmark full-length of his own, his profile is analogous to Styles P’s—a prolific genre artist, an invaluable group member and guest rapper, and such a self-possessed technician that, if you aren’t careful, you might take him for granted. On his new tape If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed, Conway’s verbal precision makes for snapshots that linger even after he’s flitted on to the next idea. He plows through knotty rhyme patterns with conversational ease; not only does he make every bar count, but his grunts and hesitations convey expressiveness even when he’s pausing for breath.
If It Bleeds reunites Conway with Big Ghost Limited, a blogger who achieved notoriety for prickly criticism written in the voice of Ghostface Killah (you had to be there) and parlayed it into a production career of his own. Like Griselda’s in-house composer Daringer, Big Ghost is a spiritual disciple of the Alchemist, pulling samples from film scores and dusty B-sides. Ghost’s atmospheric instrumentals advance with the slow force of a Humvee: the bass is low, the guitar chords scuzzy, snares optional. Dramatic violins highlight the early standout “J Batters,” and a bright piano sample buoys the Knowledge the Pirate duet “Sons of Kings.” On “Losses to Blessings,” a slick beat change kicks in just as Conway’s second verse reaches its emotional climax. Ghost’s loops, like Daringer’s, can feel like abridged takes on the obsessive tinkering of The Alchemist—by now, Griselda has the real Alchemist on speed-dial—but Conway’s continued loyalty to the next-gen producers is emblematic of the group’s D.I.Y. ethos.
