Hailing from Buffalo's East Side, Conway The Machine is a standard-bearer of hardcore street music. He found success as a musician after surviving a near-fatal shooting in 2012. In 2015, Conway released his first two official mixtape projects, The Devil's Reject and Reject 2, through Griselda Records, which was founded by his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn. Conway and Westside Gunn also released two collaborative EPs through London-based record label Daupe, the first of which was 2015's Hall & Nash, followed by 2016's Griselda Ghost. Matching gritty bars with a methodical, menacing delivery, the MC became a significant player in New York's underground scene, signing a deal with Eminem's Shady Records in 2017. Conway released his debut album, From King to a God, in 2020, considered one of the best albums of the year.