Over the last decade, Conway the Machine has been at the center of some of the best hip-hop on the planet. He founded Griselda Records with his brother Westside Gunn and Mach-Hommy, released countless mixtapes, collabs, singles, and EPs with Prodigy, The Alchemist, Big Ghost LTD, DAUPE! Records, Shady Records, and more. In 2020 he released his debut studio album From King to a God. And now, he’s just dropped his Shady Records’ follow-up God Don’t Make Mistakes. Conway talks about the long road to releasing his new album, his first-ever world tour, and his next tape.
Your new album God Don’t Make Mistakes just dropped. What are you most excited about?
I’m just most excited about people finally getting a chance to hear and digest the album. The album is an art piece that I’ve been working on for the last couple of years – well, it’s actually been done for a year or two – and I’m just excited for people to finally hear this shit, for it to be out and about and all that. The fans have been patient – and growing impatient – waiting to hear this joint. That’s the most exciting part.
You mention the album has been finished for over a year. How much changed in the final mix between finishing and releasing the album?
Yeah, I made some last-minute tweaks, a little couple adjustments. But they are really small – some small adjustments, some small tweaks like that. I’ve been pretty much happy with it for the longest. Like I said, it’s been kind of done for the last year, maybe even two. Some of the songs are two years old on there. So, again, man, I’m just happy as hell to finally just get it out.
You’ve been super prolific throughout your career. Does dropping this album in February signal that there will be another big run of projects in 2022?
Absolutely. We going to start it out with this album. A couple of my artists on my Drumwork Music Group, they got projects that they’re working on. We got a compilation coming. I got a lot going on, man. I’m starting a couple of new brands and dabbling in a bunch of new business stuff. So, 2022 will be an exciting year, for sure. I wanted to set the tone this year the right way and just give people a high-quality album, a high-quality release. I wanted to make my impact felt early in the year.
You’re planning a world tour this year. How do you get ready for something like this?
I don’t know. This will be my first time. I’ve never been out of the country, overseas, or none of that. So, I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it, and I guess the next step in this journey is getting overseas. I never imagined or fathomed that my music would be impacting lives all over the globe. So, it’s special to me. It’s a special musical milestone for me to even be able to go on tour overseas.
You titled your debut studio album From King to a God, and now your new studio album is God Don’t Make Mistakes. How do they fit together?
It starts back with an EP I did a couple of years ago, Look What I Became. It’s a sentence that I had, something that I said just one day just kicking it with one of the homies: “Yo, man, look what I became: From king to a God; God don’t make mistakes.” Because I just look at it like, it ain’t by mistake that I was blessed with this talent and even more than the talent, the drive, and the ambition, and the hunger, to go and keep going, and believing in myself, and chasing this dream, and never giving up. So, it’s no coincidence, man. I just felt that was the right name for it. So, all three projects coincide; they go together.
What comes after that?
The next tape is Won’t He Do It.
Your new album is out on Shady Records. What’s your relationship with Shady Records after this release?
I think my relationship is good. I have a great relationship with Shady Records, and it is what it is. I know this is the last obligation on our contract and shit or whatever, but who knows. Whatever makes the most sense. I’m with whatever.
What’s the number one thing you want fans to take away from the new record?
I want everybody, new, old, young – I don’t give fuck who you is – to know that I am him. I am here. I am the most impactful artist of this generation, man – Conway the Machine. And after this album, this shit going to be etched in stone.
