You Can’t Kill God With Bullets

<i>You Can’t Kill God with Bullets</i> is an audacious title, but if you had been through what Conway the Machine has, you may see yourself as god, too: The Buffalo, New York, rapper survived gunshots to his head, neck and shoulder in 2012, becoming partially paralysed in his face. And he still went on to become one of the most respected lyricists in rap in the 2010s and 2020s, as he and his Griselda comrades helped reactivate the boom-bap sound that East Coast rap legends had perfected in the ’90s. He’s shared tracks with greats like Method Man, Eminem, Jadakiss and more, always holding his own. So, when he speaks about all that he’s overcome on songs like the triumphant Justice League-produced “Lightning Above the Adriatic Sea”, it means something. And more than a decade after those shots nearly took his life, Conway is still consistently delivering some of the best rapping that the industry has to offer. “No viral moment, I just went pyro on it,” he raps—no gimmicks here, just bars. He’s confident as ever over a characteristically quirky Timbaland beat on “Crazy Avery”, and he capably trades bars with drumless coke-rap architect Roc Marciano on the satisfying “Diamonds”, one of several songs that showcase brilliant chemistry with frequent collaborator Conductor Williams. But this album is more than a victory lap. “Never Sleep” sombrely relives a memory of witnessing a friend’s humiliating arrest by police on his porch while in his underwear, and “Hold Back Tears” finds him grappling with a seemingly endless list of loved ones’ deaths. “They tell me I’m too transparent, tell me I’m too exposed/I’m just making sure in all my verses the truth is told,” Conway raps on the aforementioned “Lightning”. Whether it’s highs or lows, Conway’s sincerity shines.