It’s hard to imagine any Hip Hop denizen having as great a 2017 as Cardi B. – minus the social media scandals, of course.
Griselda and Shady Records signees Conway the Machine and Westside Gunn come close. Their Buffalo, New York brand of Hip Hop – a stew of brooding, hypnotic beats and katana-sharp lyricism – found more ears this year thanks to a BET Awards Cypher, numerous guest spots and co-signs by rap “who’s who” and a handful of well-received mixtapes.
Conway’s steely lyricism, in particular, has earned him praise as his crew’s assassin. It only begs this question: Does G.O.A.T. raise the bar on an already stellar 2017?
The answer is no, and that’s a good thing.
G.O.A.T. – “Grimiest of All Time” – is more of what we expect from Conway. His bars remain efficient and finely crafted and his presence is as menacing as ever – like the Gooch from Diff’rent Strokes. The guest spots are something else, too. The late Prodigy, Raekwon, Styles P, Royce da 5’9 (who cleverly outshines them all with the line “That’s what the gorillas did, I’m everything you feel you ain’t/Assassinate characters like Twitter did to Azealia Banks…”), Lloyd Banks and Griselda affiliate Benny The Butcher make solid contributions.
Go-to beatmaker Daringer, who produced nine out of the 10 tracks, provides that signature Griselda thump: grimy, melodic loops coating “barely there” drums that lumber along in the background – a side player to Conway and guests.
That formula also gives the project a certain sameness because there is virtually no variation in tempo throughout and the tracks are dark and monochromatic. “Bishop Shot Steel” and “Bullet Klub” aren’t deficient by any means, but compared to the other tracks, they underwhelm. The former is listless and plodding while the latter is bland and overlong at a 5:40 run time.
The Alchemist-produced “Trump” differentiates itself from the pack with its restrained fury that drones, seethes and bubbles as Conway spits his signature, exquisite gun talk: “I got him and his homies in your bushes now/Sniffin grams to stay up so he can put you down/Homemade ski mask on, pull it down…”
Yes, the title has little to do with the country’s controversial Commander-in-Chief and more to do with the literal definition, to get the better of someone else.
Elsewhere, “Th3rd F,” featuring Raekwon, sounds like a direct descendant of the Wu discography with its wailing soul sample and hard-edged lyricism. Nevertheless, it’s an off-kilter delight. But the previously released, Prodigy-assisted track, “Rodney Little,” named after the fictional character from Spike Lee’s Clockers, remains a highlight thanks to its minimal guitar sample. The vintage lyricism from the departed Queensbridge MC is enough to make you misty-eyed, though.
A credible argument could be made that Conway’s 2017 mixtapes More Steroids and Reject on Steroids are better than G.O.A.T.. Still, amid the doom and gloom, there is some gorgeous sludge to be found.
More of the same
Exactly. Might be fine if you’re out in the streets or under 30, but if you’re older, there’s gotta be more to keep you around. Body bags and toe tags only take someone so far.
I love hearing Conway talk that grimy street shit but his bars sure do get repetitive, especially considering on like 1/4 songs he raps about how hes the nicest rapper in the game. Benny the Butcher has grown on me a lot more lately and I find myself listening to his songs multiple times a lot more because of the substance in them.
His typical stuff but better than 90 percent of the artists that are promoted on here. This is way better than EMs album.
Conway and WSG are two of the only gangsta rappers i can tolerate from the new generation. I’m not sure if this is an official album or what, but I listened to a few tracks and it is grimy underground hardcore hip hop as expected. Maybe not his most spectacular work to date, more like something to hold the hardcore fans over until he drops a major project, at least that’s the impression I left with. If you are a fan, check it out, if you are on the fence it about him it probably won’t really change your opinion.
How is this editor saying bullet klub was underwhelming? He should be fire because all of them slay that track, banks spits fire, the beat is amazing, def top 3 track on that album
Son. They all sound the same!
How many bars do we have to hear about violence? There’s no range on the lyrical content.
its what i expect from Conway. go listen to some other shit if u want positive subject matter and lyrical miracles.
Fire
i dug this project but it didnt feel like a “official” project to me. with over a year in the promotion of GOAT, i kinda felt like something was missing. my disappointment could be from the few tracks that were left off of it that were slated to be on the project. i hate to compare albums but Reject 2 felt like more of a “official” release than GOAT. dope project tho and its one of my favorite releases of 2017
Griselda droppin Flamez as usual…..
Strictly fire from top to bottom. a 3.8? Seriously?
ikr
Conway is menacing and precise. I like this G.o.a.t project a lot with the prominent guest feature’s. I give it 5
Awesome album
Dope album
I’m not sure why people are giving this a 1 out of 5. The whole project is dope. I didn’t skip one track and it was really cohesive. What do you expect from the grimiest of all time?
Greatest of all time…
Why? Consistency youngan…
FIRE!
The street hip music that Conway provides is refreshing if you’re cut from that cloth to understand.
Best rapper of 2017!
Hardest shit you gon hear out now.Got a mid 90’s feel and bars all round.More Steroids might have been a better project but it was on re-workings of other instrumentals this is 10 original tracks of straight gangster shit Conway G.O.A.T Grimiest Of All Time no doubt