Don't Call Him a Backpacker: Ranking Talib Kweli's Discography

While hip-hop is traditionally known for most of its misogyny, misandry, violence, overtly sexual material, and drug sales, there's still a section within hip-hop that isn't. Think back to the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, and Monie Love (aka The Native Tongues). Also, think about acts like Souls Of Mischief, The Pharcyde, Dilated Peoples, Masta Ace, and Last Emperor. These acts were more about lyricism, overall positivity, fun, and conceptual boundary pushing, only in imaginative, non-controversial appeal.  However, also mix in pro-Black militant rhetoric and socio-political awareness from the likes of Public Enemy, The Coup, X-Clan, and dead prez. A healthy conglomerate of all of these intangibles is an emcee known as Talib Kweli. This Brooklyn born-and-raised student of the game, the man born as Talib Kweli Greene became a fixture within the underground through his work with Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) and his work with DJ/Producer Hi-Tek, but also did work on projects such as Soundbombing, Mood's highly underrated debut, Doom, and other projects. He got onto a bigger scene when he and Bey became Black Star and released one of the game's most valuable efforts, Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, with monumental acclaim and being hailed as one of the most fundamental hip-hop albums alive.  From there, he and Hi-Tek became Reflection Eternal and delivered the almost as appealing and treasured, Train Of Thought, which spawned the bubbling mover, "The Blast".  Once he delivered his first official solo album, Quality, it was off to the races, and Kweli became one of the most prolific and intelligent emcees in the industry.  Well-read, well-spoken, and highly informed, Kweli brought a sense of awareness, thought-provocation, and cultural appreciation that few have presented since the Native Tongues days.  While his reported online antics have been quite controversial over the past couple of years, his music has been relatively on point and bathed with sincerity and consciousness.  Kweli's discography has its hits and occasional misses, but his discography as a whole is impressive. Here's a ranking of his very respectful discography and why he should be mentioned as one of the game's most true emcees.  

13.  Prisoner Of Conscious

Production: Oh No, J. Cole, RZA, Harry Fraud, S1, Terrace Martin, Sean C & LV, others

Guests: Miguel, Kendrick Lamar, Nelly, Busta Rhymes, Melanie Fiona, Marsha Ambrosius, others

We start with 2013's Prisoner Of Conscious, which serves as a double entendre of sorts, as both a prisoner of one 's own restraints to succeed, and being boxed in, personally, as a "conscious" emcee and wanting to aim at pushing the listener outside the box.  Both facets serve their purpose on this album, in more negative outcomes than positives.  As far as the positives, you don't have to look too much further than the crazy collab with N.O.'s residential prolific hustla/emcee, Curren$y, and Kendrick Lamar (when he was still riding super high off good kid, M.A.A.D. City), "Push Thru". With more of a bassline than a percussion effect here, all three go bananas over this horn-laced S1 track.  Also, he exhibits his lyrical craftsmanship on cuts like "Human Mic" and "Hold It Now" over fairly dope production, however, the down moments are sadly substantial. Perhaps the reason for this is because he deliberately tries too hard to expand his appeal, which artists such as Redman, Method Man, and others can attest has its occasional consequences.  The first single, "Come Here" with Miguel, is a typical radio-friendly attempt at starting off on the "right track" for the sake of doing just that.  Although not a bad cut necessarily, it also serves as very formulaic, whereas "Never Been In Love" from The Beautiful Struggle also has mainstream accessibility but sounds like a more authentic and non-force fed cut that Just Blaze provided.  Perhaps even worse is the Harry Fraud-produced, "Upper Echelon", which is a statement one doesn't state very often, as Harry Fraud and "worst track" hardly ever go together.  Kweli does, however, experiment with different styles and collaborative efforts, and the results can be mixed. St. Louis legend, Nelly, contributes to the surprisingly very rotational, "Before He Walks", as does the charming collab with Brazilian singer, Seu Jorge, "Favala Love". The other half of the equation lies in cuts like the shoot-and-miss "Turnt Up" and the Oh No-produced, "High Life", where it's just honestly boring. Where he shines the most is, to no shock, the lane he's the most comfortable in.  Cuts like "Hamster Wheel" and "It Only Gets Better" with Marsha Ambrosius are more of what you'd expect and with pretty nice results.  It's clear Prisoner Of Conscious was to make a statement to those that wanted to box him within a particular style or subgenre.  While admirable in its attempt, it ultimately falls to lack of expansive depth and experimental sounds that showed some attempts are better left not revisited.  On its own, POC is a fairly okay album. In comparison to his other efforts, this ranks amongst the worst, despite the go-against-the-grain spirit brought into this project.

12. Gotham

Production: Diamond D

Guests: Busta Rhymes, Skyzoo, John Forte, Diamond D, others

In the early to mid-nineties, D.I.T.C. was one of the dopest crews in hip-hop, yet severely underappreciated thanks in part to other crews such as Wu-Tang, Native Tongues, and BCC having more overall notoriety, despite the fact that this team contained producers and emcees of highly acclaimed caliber. One such emcee/producer was Diamond D.  His debut album, Stunts, Blunts, & Hip-Hop is still considered one of the best fundamental hip-hop albums of the nineties. With its head-nodding percussion mixed with occasional jazzy influences, SBHH became his most known album. While his follow-up, Hatred, Passions, & Infidelity was a charming output, it didn't measure up to the excellence of the aforementioned. Since then, he has delivered good to great outings such as Grown Man Talk, The Huge Hefner Chronicles, and his Diam Piece series. That being said, Diamond has produced bangers for the likes of Fat Joe, Fugees, Busta Rhymes, Pharoahe Monch, and Yasiin Bey.  In 2021, he collaborated with Kweli for an effort called Gotham, which was an ode to New York in such a low-key nineties type of aura with it that it brings it back to basics, which is absolutely fine.  The album opens with a strong cut, "Sons Of Gotham", as Kweli channels his inner Reflection Eternal days with the ferocity of the bars he spits.  Kweli tends to be on his lyrical braggadocio tip in various parts of the album, and it works, especially on cuts like "Olympics" and "The Fold", but of course it wouldn't be a Talib Kweli project without substance over style.  On "Chillin' While Black", he brings up police harassment over triumphant horns, while "Pick Your Head Up" is a rather prideful cut that encourages those within the Black community that have been victims of racism and discrimination to do exactly what the cut says to do.  He gets personal and open on tracks like "In Due Time" and "I'll Tell Ya Later", in which he tackles areas such as false accusations, critics, and haters that keep wanting to see him not succeed.  Other cuts such as the Skyzoo-assisted, "Attention Span", the dope Busta Rhymes-collaborated "The Quiet One", and "On Mamas" also aid in the overall fluidity of this album.  There's a chemistry that Kweli and Diamond have with Gotham that is understated yet welcomed.  No production choices overstay their welcome, and Kweli seems focused and precise with his bars, thus a big win for this duo.

11. Gravitas

Production: Oh No, Khrysis, J Dilla, Statik Selektah, others

Guests: Raekwon, Black Thought, Big K.R.I.T., The Underachievers, Rah Digga, others

In what was a busy year if 2013 for Mr. Greene, not long after he released Prisoner Of Conscious, he released Gravitas, and this one was more magnified due to the underwhelming nature of Prisoner Of Conscious. Musically, the aforementioned POC was pretty much all over the place and while he was indeed striving to take his label of 'conscious' and put it to the side, he took perhaps the biggest critical 'L' within his discography. With Gravitas, the music is more cohesive and tightly packed. However, the subject here is more about this going back to the 'conscious' rap he's acclaimed for, and the lyrics and music reflect it as such.  Kicking off the album is the Khrysis-crafted, "Inner Monologue", which has Chris Tyson bringing forth his form of thick boom-bap and clever loops to make Kweli handle his business effectively. He furthers this with the rock-infused, Big K.R.I.T./Gary Clark Jr.-assisted, "Demonology" and the Abby Dobson-guested, "State Of Grace", which is such a delightful highlight of the album musically, but it also has him commenting on the state of young women at the time and hip-hop in general.  A more interesting track on the album is the Oh No-produced, "The Wormhole", in which we have Kweli discussing the fascination within hip-hop of the Illuminati and all these theories that surround them.  Over this head-nodding track, Kweli breaks down these idealistic theories that tend to distract from real-world issues.  Also, on "Lover's Peak", he examines all aspects of love in such a dissected way that it's very human, yet very complex and multi-dimensional, over a decent beat that's minimalized for Kweli's lyrical structure.  Closing out the album, we have a posthumous Dilla beat for "Colors Of You", which features vocals from Mike Posner (you remember "Cooler Than Me"?) over such a delightful and dreamy Dilla beat that makes you wish we had more Kweli/Dilla collabs while Dilla was alive.  While it's a step up from POC, Gravitas is still more or less an average Talib Kweli album. He goes back to what he knows and, quite frankly, what he excels at, which is conscious, intelligent rhymes with mutli-syllabic deliveries.  He may have realized from POC that it's okay to stick to what you know and what you're good at, especially when you tried to expand outside the box, but it was hit as a foul ball.  Therefore, Gravitas is more along what Kweli is so good at, and that's being himself, openly and honestly.

10. Gutter Rainbows

Production: Oh No, Khrysis, 88-Keyz, Marco Polo, Ski, S1, others

Guests: Sean Price, Jean Grae, Chace Infinite, others

Following up he and Hi-Tek's sophomore album of 2010, RPM: Revolutions Per Minute, would be no easy task, as Reflection Eternal delivered another tremendous project that was a worthy follow-up to Train Of Thought in terms the quality of music and lyricism.  Kweli attempted to do this with 2011's Gutter Rainbows.  Four years removed from his damn excellent album, Eardrum, Kweli attempts to further drive his pseudo-intellectual rhymes and socially aware themes over more consistent production, this time provided by the likes of heavyweights such as Marco Polo, Khrysis, Oh No, and Ski Beatz to provide a fairly nice outing.  After the breezy, flute-laced intro, we get the title track, which has some substantial head-nodding to it and kicks the album off right.  It's areas such as the title track where Kweli is understandably at his most comfortable and most fitting, as we have production that slightly favors his elder days within the underground pre-Quality and Black Star only in an updated form with cuts like "Mr. International" and "Soul Low", but has moments of true vitality with cuts like the Sean Price (RIP)-assisted, "Palookas", the Khrysis-bumped, "I'm On One", and the loverboy-esque, "Ain't Waiting", in which he just has dumb dope fun with the mic showing off his lyrical dexterity and off-kilter flow that still manages the ride their respective beats.  Perhaps the highlight of the album is the moody, Ski Beatz-crafted, "Cold Rain", in which Kweli powerfully dives into organized religion and how it tends to shape shift our society, a topic he often leans in on very often, and every time he does, he emphatically delivers.  With the closing two cuts of the Jean Grae-assisted, "Uh Oh" and the Chace Infinite-collaborated, "Self-Savior", Kweli brings this effort to a close in damn good fashion. As a whole, Gutter Rainbows is not the album to break any new ground, lyrically or sonically, nor is it meant to be.  Talib Kweli reemphasizes a standard he's set since his Black Star days and excels in what he does best, regardless of how preachy he tends come off: honest.  This effort is no exception whatsoever.

9. Fuck The Money

Production: The Alchemist, KAYTRANADA, others

Guests: Styles P, Ab-Soul, Miguel, others

Let's face it. There can be a LOT of artists out here so entitled to their stardom that they rarely show appreciation to the fans that helped them get to the success they're at.  Talib Kweli is not one of those people (for the most part at least).  For his fans, especially his loyal ones, he dropped a free album on his website at the time very appropriately entitled, Fuck The Money.  This was a project designed for and about the fans and rewarding them for their unwavering loyalty.  However, folks, do not mistake "free" for subpar, because this album is anything but that term.  With eleven tracks, this leaves little room for errors and missteps. This does just fine realizing this aspect and just has Kweli being Kweli with no strings attached.  He feels rejuvenated like a younger emcee on tracks like the gracious "Gratitude", "Nice Things", and the title track, while he goes to a softer edge on cuts like "Butterfly" and the Miguel-assisted, "Echoes", that contain your R&B-like aesthetics but is true to form with Kweli.  The highlight of this project is definitely the stellar Alchemist-crafted, Ab-Soul/NIKO IS-assisted, "The Venetian", in which NIKO hangs quite nicely with the vets of Kweli and Soulo over a engaging Uncle Al beat.  The closer, "Money Good", is an effective track that, although he realizes his worth as an artist and an emcee, he touches on the perils and reality of how money can change someone and switch perceptions.  While this doesn't necessarily stretch any artistic or lyrical benchmarks that he had delivered prior to this album, Fuck The Money is also another album that helps sustain his legacy as a fantastic, devoted emcee that's all for the culture and for the passion of his craft.  This was a project for and about the fans, and the result was a very dope effort that shows that it is, in fact, bigger and deeper than money and the fame. It's about the culture at the end of the day, and Talib Kweli is certainly a fine representative of it.

8. Right About Now: The Sucka Free Mix CD

Production: J Dilla, Kanye West, Karreim Riggins, 88-Keyz, DJ Quik, others

Guests: Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady, Mos Def, MF DOOM, Musiq Soulchild, Res, Killer Mike, Kardinall Offishall, others

Following the overall lukewarm response to The Beautiful Struggle, Kweli decided to go back to basics, remove wanting to favor all these different sounds for fickle audiences and go for authenticity with his follow-up project, Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD.  Although this is the official title, this is more of a full-length album more than a "mixtape", as there's no DJ overseeing the project plus the album was available on commercial sites.  He went back to his underground roots with this album, and truthfully, he sounds freer and truer to his artistic self with this release more so than on the aforementioned Beautiful Struggle.  He starts the album off fiery with the title track, as he addresses his issues with the industry, but more so his former label of MCA, which ended up getting owned by Geffen Records, and eventually by Interscope.  He lets shots cats out of the bag here and it's an interesting track if not for the nodding production of 88-Keyz but for how he expresses his frustrations and troubles as he mentions Jimmy Iovine by name.  This album was very fluid and consistent, as tracks such as "Flash Gordon", "Who Got It", and "Rock On", which he has fun, yet has the occasional lyrical stumble, on these cuts.  The guests on this project actually help and accentuate this project a great deal, especially the likes of longtime partner Yasiin "Mos Def" Bey ("Supreme Supreme"), Jean Grae ("Where You Gonna Run"), Papoose ("The Beast"), and the late, great MF DOOM ("Fly That Knot") among others. Typically, a tremendously dope spitter in his own right, his guests sometimes outshine him and make him the guest on his cuts at times.  The most personal cut on the album belongs to "Ms. Hill", a thoughtful ode to the one and only, Ms. Lauryn Hill over a breezy beat that could possibly belong on Train Of Thought very easily.  Similarly, Kweli glides excellently over a fantastic posthumous Dilla beat with "Roll Off Me" with his conscious and aware rhymes turned up in possibly the most classic Kweli cut on the entire project.  Talib Kweli is an emcee's emcee, and Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD is another example of his sharp lines and poignant social commentary, while truly appreciating the art form that he has tremendously contributed within and towards.

7. The Confidence of Knowing

Production: J. Rawls

Guests: Blu, Buckshot, Skyzoo, Ras Kass, Coast Contra, Planet Asia, Phil Da Agony, others

The latest offering from Kweli is his 2024 offering with producer, J. Rawls, The Confidence Of Knowing.  These two artists last joined up together in '98 for Black Star's simply Devine, "Brown Skin Lady", in which Rawls produced it. With J. Rawls being a notable within, especially, late nineties/early thousands underground hip-hop, his brand of jazzy soul is right on cue with this album, as Talib Kweli does some of his best lyrical and thematic work since his amazing collab with Madlib, Liberation 2.  With all the noise that he's garnered over the last few years in terms of being accused of online harassment and bullying, those that have been turned off by his rhetoric will likely turn their nose up at this album unfortunately.  There are serval songs here that have him speaking up about fair-weather fans, music critics, and social media trolls on cuts like "Breath, Eyes, Memory", "Native Sons", and the Blu-assisted title track. However, when he sticks to the script of intelligent bars with themes of Black love, socio-economic woes, and cultural affirmation, he's in his bag.  With "Love For Life", Kweli speaks from the heart of loving one another and with vocalist Jimetta Rose and rapper/singer/poet Georgia Anne Maldrow assisting him in this excellent piece.  He brings it to full hip-hop with no frills on cuts like the Strong Arm Steady/Planet Asia-assisted, "Pay Homage", the Skyzoo/Buckshot-collaborated, "Turnstyle", and the Coast Contra-assisted, "SWAT", but brings it to a pleasurable and funky Ras Kass duet, "Shalimar" and the jazzy closer, "It's Workin'".  There's no doubt that Kweli is a highly gifted emcee that is at his best when he's focused and zeroed in on the real things that matter like community, family, and the culture. It's when he gets off course by addressing detractors or other areas that don't do him any service to dive into.  Regardless of this aspect, The Confidence Of Knowledge is a win for Kweli, as J. Rawls delivers some of the best work he's done in a long time, and with Kweli presenting his form of technical bar spitting, here's to more from the pair in the future.

6. The Beautiful Struggle

Production: Kanye West, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Hi-Tek, Midi Mafia, Tone Mason, others

Guests: John Legend, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Common, Anthony Hamilton, Res, Jean Grae

Following up the high acclaim of Quality put Talib Kweli in a great circle of emcees at that time on the rise.  Obviously, following this album up would be a fun, yet interesting, task to perform.  Listening to critics stating that he was "too conscious" and "too much of a backpacker" made him choose to get more of his subject material out to a broader audience and expand his sound into making it more mainstream and commercially based.  Thus, he presented 2004's The Beautiful Struggle, with the hops of stretching out his fan base musically and thematically.  The first single, the Kanye-crafted, Mary J. Blige-assisted, "I Try", is a step in the right direction (featuring low-key background assistance from John Legend) with it's great piano keys over sparse drums to make this a decent single to get his wise rhymes across to listeners.  As for the album itself, the album starts off kind of hard with the sharp drums of the Neptunes-produced, "Broken Glass", and the equally thumping "Back Up Offa Me" and "Going Hard".  While we don't get knocking instrumentals and fiery bars such as cuts from Quality like "Guerilla Monsoon Rap" and "Good To You", we do get pretty decent head-nodders in their own right such as the playfully delightful Just Blaze contribution, "Never Been In Love" and the modest Hi-Tek-produced, "Work it Out".  Clearly intended for radio purposes, these cuts are decent enough to have a buzz around them based upon their accessibility, and again, that's the point. His social awareness and intelligent rhymes were meant for a wider audience via more accessibility, which ends up being its good and not so good.  One example of a shining moment is the tremendous collab with John Legend, "Around My Way", which wonderfully extracts The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" to making it a cut about struggle and finding hope within it.  Similarly, the title track has Hi-Tek once again behind the boards over a melancholy track on this occasion highlighting the need for a revolution and a change within our cultural society.  This track could easily belong on Train Of Thought in many aspects.  However, he fumbles on cuts like the EDM-sprinkled "We Got The Beat" and the average sounding cuts of the Faith Evans-crooned, "We Know" and "A Game".  Wanting to reach a broader audience is never a bad thing, ever. However, if it comes at the cost of sacrificing your art and the sound that put you on people's radar to begin with, it compromises your artistic value, thus making you part of the system. Kweli fell victim to this on a few moments on this album, however, as a whole, The Beautiful Struggle is at the least a decent to very good follow-up to Quality.  When it shines, it shines brightly, however, when it doesn't, it falters.  This is far from his worse album as a whole, but there's no telling how much more this album would've knocked if it wasn't for him trying to satisfy everybody all at once.  Life, especially the music business, can indeed be, at times, a "beautiful struggle".

5. Radio Silence

Production: The Alchemist, Robert Glaspar, KAYTRANADA, others

Guests: Waka Flaka Flame, Robert Glaspar, Rick Ross, Yummi Bingham, Anderson.Paak, Bilal, BJ The Chicago Kid, others

By the time we hit 2017, Kweli was becoming quite the prolific artist. He had delivered aforementioned projects such as Fuck The Money, Indie 500, and Awful People Are Great at Parties.  Right after he delivered the very underpromoted effort with Styles P, The Seven, he dropped his eighth solo effort, Radio Silence.  Here, Kweli remains a very strong voice for conscious, intelligent rap, with little wiggle room for anything outside the subject matter he knows and holds dear.  While he does occasionally go left field with the likes of the cut, "Chips", which features a surprising verse from Waka Flaka Flame, or the Rick Ross-assisted, "Heads Up, Eyes Open", Kweli aims to stop putting himself in boxes that critics and fans have been attempting to put him since his Black Star days in terms of people he works with.  Otherwise, he goes for the socially conscious and aware route that he's highly accustomed to on cuts like the title track, "The Magic Hour", and "Let It Roll". These cuts and others like these are good for head-nodding while soaking in the astute lyricism and knowledgeable subject matter.  He especially hits a home run on the touching track, "She's My Hero", which has him dedicating the excellent sounding, yet brooding, Oh No-produced track to Bresha Meadows, the (then) fourteen-year-old girl that shot and killed her abusive father as he slept. Deep and poignant, Kweli salutes her in the same type of manner he saluted Lauryn Hill on the Right About Now mixtape, which has her in pretty much the highest of regards.  He also tackles toxic masculinity on "Knockturnal", which has him dissecting negative views of men as role models and how it's time to do better for our children. Never straying away from the community, he drops "All Of Us", which is a delightful cut featuring the crooning of Yummi Bingham and a rare verse from Jay Electronica that highly compliments Kweli's verses of Black unity and pride, while Elec breaks down systemic oppression and the importance of us unifying against it.  The closer, "Write At Home", is musically the most sophisticated and dazzling, as multiple-time Grammy Award winning jazz producer/composer, Robert Glaspar, blesses the track with his signature keys with Bilal's inescapable vocals.  While Radio Silence may not fully be up to the standard of the likes of Black Star or Liberation 2, it definitely continues to solidify him as one of hip-hop's most needed voices, and he delivered one of his most consistent albums to date at that.

4. Liberation

Production: Madlib

Guests: Consequence, Res, Strong Arm Steady

When there were talks that Talib Kweli was linking up with the game's mad scientist himself, Madlib, anticipation was high considering his MASTERFUL work with the late, great MF DOOM on Madvillainy.  Kweli, himself, called the album, "the perfect hip-hop album", and with this high of an accolade, a superb wordsmith such as Kweli linking with him sounded like such a natural fit and in fact it was. Their first joint collaborative effort, Liberation, was a fantastic merging of their respective sounds of intelligent bars mixed with left-brained soul and jazz influences and samplings.  He starts off with the dumb dope, "The Show", in which Kweli is clearly having fun and enjoying his sense of hip-hop and how it affects him as an emcee.  With the funky Blaxploitation vibes this track sends off, Kweli goes for his, and on similar tracks such as "What Can I Do" and "Over The Counter".  Madlib brings it back smooth as psychedelic butter on the Consequence-featured "Engine Running" and the simply excellent, "Happy Home", he excels on the frustrations of making it while financially struggling on the soulful-as-hell, "Funny Money".  The other dope cuts of "Time Is Right", the Strong Arm Steady-assisted, "The Function", and the Res-featured, "Soul Music" all exemplify Kweli and Madlib's magic together. The 'Lib brothers presented a project with Liberation that actually counted as Kweli's best work since Quality and set the standard for several albums to come from Kweli, as well as for Mr. Otis Jackson, himself.

3. Quality

Production: Kanye West, J Dilla, Ayatollah, Megahurtz, DJ Quik, DJ Scratch, others

Guests: Kanye West, Bilal, Black Thought, Pharoahe Monch, Res, Smif-N-Wessun, others

Fresh of the overwhelming acclaim of his collaborative albums with Yasiin (Mos Def) Bey (Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star) and longtime friend/producer, Hi-Tek (Train Of Thought), it was finally time for Kweli to get his own spotlight and his own shine. In 2002, he did just that with his solo debut offering, Quality.  Considering the fact that the Black Star album was considered an all-time great and Train Of Thought was among the best of the decade as well, the bar was set extremely high to match, or even top, these levels of excellence.  The pressure was on, but this Brooklyn wordsmith stepped right up to the task.  Aiming to bring forth a wider audience while staying true to himself and his ideals as an artist and emcee, we get a very healthy balance here. For instance, he collabs with the legendary DJ Quik for the west-coast funk and melody of the previously released "Put It In The Air" and the Bilal-crooned, "Waiting For The DJ" to provide feel good, mid-tempo stepping while bringing heavier sounds and subject matter on cuts like the Ayatollah-crafted "The Proud" and the Dilla-blessed "Stand To The Side", which are both powerful cuts that examine the Black community within the nation and the woes of the climate of society at the time. Not to mention the sultry, jazzy vibes of "Talk To You (Lil' Darlin'), which features Bilal wonderfully doing his best Eddie Kendricks impersonation of Kendricks' hit, "Can I" in what somewhat sticks out like a sore thumb, but somehow it still works.  Kweli is a regular, simple man with passionate views on the Black community, political change, and cultural empowerment.  Cuts like another Dilla-crafted cut, the Res-featured "Where Do We Go" further exemplifies this with somber, yet hopeful, detail, but also will venture back into simpler and not-as-heavy topics such as the birth of his daughter on the Mos Def-guested, Ayatollah-designed, "Joy", or the appreciative manner of life on "Shock Body". Of course, he hits perhaps his biggest moments when he collabs with one-time friend and collaborator, Kanye West. The soulful samplings of "Good To You" is enough of a replay cut all by itself, but we hit the observational stylings of the breakout cut, "Get By", which has West providing Kweli with a gospel-esque feel with the hand claps, choir backdrops, and the ever-talented piano abilities of John Legend.  He gets into battle mode with the fellow legendary rhyme animals, Pharoahe Monch and Black thought on the Kanye-crafted, "Guerilla Monsoon Rap", while standing beside fellow Brooklynites, Smif-N-Wessun, on "Gun Music", and we are reminded of how bruising his pen game is.  Honest, emotional, stirring, and soulful, Kweli dropped a gem with Quality. At a time where the typical subject matter was guns, money, commercialism, raunchy sex, and overall negative stereotypes, Kweli dropped an album that was human, yet passionate. Transparent, yet proud. Much like his previous collaborative efforts, it was about the uplifting of his people in both militant form and love.  This album was exactly what title represented to the utmost: effective and outstanding Quality.

2. Eardrum

Production: Madlib, Just Blaze, Pete Rock, will.i.am, Kanye West, Terrace Martin, Battlecat, Hi-Tek, DJ Khalyl, Karreim Riggins, others

Guests: Jean Grae, Norah Jones, Little Brother, Marsha Ambrosius, Lyfe Jennings, KRS-One, Justin Timberlake, Sa-Ra, Res, UGK, Raheem DeVaughn, Kanye West, Norah Jones, Musiq Soulchild, others

Following up 2004's underrated, yet delightful, Beautiful Struggle, Kweli dropped arguably his most well-rounded album to date with Eardrum.  Somewhat picking up where Quality left off, Kweli goes several different directions that all work. From soulful to old school to jazzy, to accessible, Kweli covers a gamut of emotions and experiences throughout this album.  The first single, "Listen" was a dope introduction to what we could expect from this album, and the neck-snapping production from "The Boy Genius" himself, Kwame, certainly helped this point.  The second single, the syrupy "Hot Thing", is infectious and makes for a very good, mid-tempo bop that arguably more accessible than anything heard on Beautiful Struggle, while "Hostile Gospel Pt. 1" puts Just Blaze behind the boards on this sizzling cut.  The rest of the album holds up quite excellently.  The opening cut, the Res-guested "Everything Man", serves as a warning shot to those that feel he should be everything to everyone, especially as an artist.  He continues to expand his repertoire and his mind state as an emcee and writer on other very dope tracks such as the surprising collab with southern legends, UGK (RIP Pimp C), "Country Cousins", the west coast-flavored "Give 'Em Hell" featuring the crooning of Lyfe Jennings, and the sharp Hi-Tek crafted, "More Or Less".  Sonically, this album is way more Quality than Beautiful Struggle, and that's not a knock of Beautiful Struggle, but the expansion of sounds while still fitting the vibe of what he wanted to accomplish is high level.  He brings Pete Rock with his signature soulful boom-bap on the cuts "Holy Moly" and the "fan" mockery of "Stay Around" to which Kweli sounds fresh and invigorated. However, it's the recruitment of Madlib to this project that brings out some of the simply best moments here.  The incredibly jazzy and highly understated snare drum cut, "Soon the New Day" has him and Grammy Award winner, Norah Jones, providing an intoxicating and relaxing aura while Kweli is spitting consciousness and compassion with importance. Also, the cut "Eat To Live", is a pro-health track that can also be perceived as a double entendre for surviving in this rap game over Liberator's lush track as is the snapping left-brain concoction of the aforementioned "Everything Man".  In terms of the jazzy aura within the album, this is as similar if not even higher on the Kanye West-crafted, "In the Mood", in which we have famed, and influential jazz musician Roy Ayers featured as well as Kanye on this outstanding cut that excellently samples "Lonesome Mood" by Friends Of Distinction with effortless craftsmanship.  He brings a touching ounce of beauty with the ode to his children, the Musiq Soulchild-crooned, "Oh My Stars", but also brings commanding attention through his delivery on cuts like "NY Weather Report" or the conversation starting, "Give 'Em Hell", in which he breaks down the corruption and dangers of organized religion. While he excels on other cuts such as the Strong Arm Steady-assisted, "Go With Us", the somewhat blistering KRS-One-assisted, "The Perfect Beat", the Jean Grae-duet, "Say Something", and part two of "Hostile Gospel" (only DJ Khalyl mans the boards on this version), the only misstep may understandably be the inclusion of Justin Timberlake on the otherwise not bad "The Nature", in which it feels he doesn't necessarily belongs on this track.  As a whole, Eardrum is a middle finger to his critics. From the time he dropped Quality, there were those that felt he needed more accessibility. He dropped Beautiful Struggle, and not only did he get backlash from his core fans in terms of how accessible his sound was but that it wasn't a conscious or "backpacker" as his previous material.  It was clear with Eardrum that Kweli realized he couldn't be everything to everyone so he stuck with a formula that would work best for him and either you were going to ride with him, or you weren't. The result was a loose, pressure-free, and fiery album that had Kweli in his bag as an emcee and as one that makes his art for himself first, the fans second. At the end of the day, that's what it should be about anyways. With Eardrum, he showed he could be any type of emcee and writer that he wanted to be, and the versatility of his subject matter and music choices show this, and we aren't mad at him one single bit.

1. Liberation 2

Production: Madlib

Guests: Roy Ayers, Q-Tip, Westside Gunn, Roc Marciano, Pink Siifu, Meshelle Ndegeocello, Mac Miller, Goapele, others

As we covered earlier with Liberation, it was clear that Kweli and Madlib were quite the emcee/producer duo.  This was repeated with another aforementioned album, No Fear of Time with Mos Def. However, it was the project that followed the very next year after No Fear of Time that would arguably go down as the best body of overall work of Talib's career, and it would come in the form of the sequel of Liberation in Liberation 2. While this album is somewhat similar in sound and texture like the original, this version surpassed the prior in terms of soulful aesthetics and some of the most engaging, yet abstract, production Malib has constructed in years, even more so than on No Fear of Time.  Kweli sounds truly confident and focused here, as well as mixing the variables closer together when it comes to his pro-Black community and love of hip-hop stances more than we've heard in years at this time.  Furthermore, he also makes this a family affair, as he brings his son, Amini, and daughter, Diani, on board to rap and sing on a few cuts, and these kids/young adults are talented in their own respective rights.  Madlib's penchant for jazzy grooves and lounge club sounds kicks in quickly with the opener, "Assata's Code", which was a spoken word piece by Diani and shows off her quite impressive pen game with this excellent ode to the Black community and the impact of us within the world.  Diani also shines on one of the true standouts on the album, the fabulous collab with the ever talented, Pink Siifu, "Ad Vice", which has Kweli proclaiming himself as "the most unapologetic Black man you've ever seen" over a hypnotic and catchy keyboard-driven track.  It's not always heavy or conscious necessarily, as he gets fun, yet still very Kweli, on cuts like "Best Year Ever", the Biz Markie-saluted collab with Q-Tip (doing his very best Marley Marl impersonation from "Nobody Beats the Biz") and former Lootpack member, Wildchild, and "Loop Digga's Revenge". He dips back in his afro-conscious bag with the very catchy "Nat Turner" featuring South African talent, Cassper Nyovest, and the son of Fela Cuti, Seun Cuti, over a fun afrobeat track going live over pro-Blackness and almost dead prez-like militant bars.  With other cuts like "After These Messages", "Air Quotes", and the dope "Richies Pt. 2" with Westside Gunn and Roc Marciano (the first one was originally on Gunn's Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B...or HWH9 depending upon who you ask), Kweli is generally having fun just spitting and lyrically showing why he's among the best there is two decades plus later.  When he gets into Black love and awareness, he shines and shines damn well.  On the breezy and delightful, "Wild Sweet Love", Kweli expresses his infatuation to his lady over some of most hypnotic sounds Madlib has crafted in recent years.  This is similar on the equally intoxicating "Wild Beauty" as well as on the Roy Ayers-featured, "Something Special", in which these tracks in particular are sonically the most relaxing sounding cuts Kweli has ever rhymed over and puts one in the remembrance of Quality's "Talk To You".  On the astounding, "Marathon Thru Babylon", he and legendary Grammy Award-winning artist, Meshell N'degeocello this surprisingly haunting track has both these outstanding artists going fully in on the state of the society and how everybody seems to be sheep and robots instead of authentic and themselves, falling victims to traps that were designed to have us falling in line more so than being ourselves.  More heavy stuff.  Perhaps the most sobering part of this album is with the fantastic "The Right to Love Us", as it features a posthumous verse from the late, great Mac Miller, as he reminds us of just how tremendous of an artist and emcee he was.  With the closer being the beautiful sounds of "Assata's Reprise", Liberation 2 is a critical and artistic milestone for both artists.  Over a decade in the making, the results were simply exceptional and well worth the wait and then some.  While the first Liberation was a very dope experiment to see how good the meshing of Kweli's pro-Black, thought-provoking rhymes would combine with Madlib's overtly left-field jazzy and soulful soundscapes, Liberation 2 took their chemistry and leveled up tremendously.  The lush, yet dynasty, aura of Madliberator's production brilliance here matches up with several landmark moments in his discography, possibly even his all-time opus with the late, great MF DOOM, Madvillainy. With Kweli, besides his Black Star debut and Train Of Thought with Hi-Tek, Kweli has hit a benchmark that he can previously celebrate as this is truly memorable experience.

Here are some of his best collaborative projects with artists/producers that are worthy of total acclaim:

Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)- Mos Def & Talib Kweli are...

Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli)- No Fear of Time

Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek)- Train Of Thought

Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek)- RPM: Revolutions Per Minute

Talib Kweli & Styles P- The Seven EP

Idle Warship (Talib Kweli & Res)- Habits of the Heart

Talib Kweli & 9th Wonder- Indie 500

Here's a look at several of the best tracks from Kweli:

"Around My Way" feat. John Legend (production: Supa Dav West) from The Beautiful Struggle

"The Blast" (Reflection Eternal) feat. Vinia Mojica (production: Hi-Tek) from Train Of Thought

"Brown Skin Lady" (Black Star) (production: J. Rawls) from Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

"Ad Vice" feat. Diani, Pink Siifu  (production: Madlib) from Liberation 2

"Holy Moly" (production: Pete Rock) from Eardrum

"It's Workin'" feat. Middle Child (production: J. Rawls) from The Confidence Of Knowing

"The Proud" (production: Ayatollah) from Quality

"Mineral Mountain" (Black Star) feat. Black Thought (production: Madlib) from No Fear Of Time

"Funny Money" (production: Madlib) from Liberation

"Just Begun" (Reflection Eternal) feat. J. Cole, Jay Electronica, Yasiin Bey (production: Hi-Tek) from R.P.M.

"On Mamas" (production: Diamond D) from Gotham

"NY Weather Report" (production: Nick Speed) from Eardrum

"In This World" (Reflection Eternal) (production: Hi-Tek) from R.P.M.

"Love For Life" feat. Georgia Anne Maldrow, Jimetta Rowe (production: J. Rawls) from The Confidence Of Knowing

"Never Been In Love" (production: Just Blaze) from The Beautiful Struggle

"I'm On One" (production: Khrysis) from Gutter Rainbows

"In Due Time" (production: Diamond D) from Gotham

"So Good" (Reflection Eternal) (production: Hi-Tek) from R.P.M.

"Let It Burn" feat. Styles P, Rapsody, Chris Rivers (production: Khrysis) from The Seven EP

"Push Thru" feat. Kenrick Lamar, Curren$y, Glen Reynolds  (production: S1) from Prisoner Of Conscious

"Good To You" (production: Kanye West) from Quality

"Ms. Hill" (production: Charlemagne) from Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD

"Love Languages" (Reflection Eternal) feat. Les Nubiennes (production: Hi-Tek) from Train Of Thought

"Violations" feat. Raekwon (production: Thaddeus Dixon) from Gravitas

"In the Mood" feat. Kanye West, Roy Ayers (production: Kanye West) from Eardrum

"Wild Sweet Love" (production: Madlib) from Liberation 2

"More Or Less" feat. Dion (production: Hi-Tek) from Eardrum

"Write At Home" feat. Bilal, Robert Glaspar (production: Robert Glaspar) from Radio Silence

"Over The Counter" (production: Madlib) from Liberation

"Sweetheart, Sweettart, Sweettodd" (Black Star) (production: Madlib) from No Fear Of Time

"She's My Hero" (production: Oh No) from Radio Silence

"Palookas" feat. Sean Price (production: Marco Polo) from Gutter Rainbows

"Native Sons" (production: J. Rawls) from The Confidence Of Knowing

"The Venetian" feat. Ab-Soul, NIKO IS (production: The Alchemist) from Fuck The Money

"Cold Rain" (production: Ski) from Gutter Rainbows

"Good Mourning" (Reflection Eternal) (production: Hi-Tek) from Train Of Thought

"Colors Of You" feat. Mike Posner (production: J Dilla) from Gravitas

"It Only Gets Better" feat. Marsha Ambrosius (production: J. Cole) from Prisoner Of Conscious

"I Try" feat. Mary J. Blige (production: Kanye West) from The Beautiful Struggle

"All Of Us" feat. Jay Electronica, Yummi Bingham (production: Sam Truth) from Radio Silence

"The Right To Love Us" feat. Mac Miller (production: Madlib) from Liberation 2

"Fly That Knot" feat. MF DOOM (production: The Fyre Dept) from Right About Now: The Official Sucka Free Mix CD

"Lover's Peak" (production: 6th Sense) from Gravitas

"2wice Inna Lifetime" (Black Star) feat. Punch & Words, Jane Doe (production: Hi-Tek) from Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

"Nine Point Five" feat. The Lox, NIKO IS (production: Marco Polo) from The Seven EP

"The Quiet One" feat. Busta Rhymes (production: Diamond D) from Gotham

"The Main Thing Is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing" (Black Star) (production: Madlib) from No Fear Of Time

"Money Good" (production: Amadeus) from Fuck The Money

"Guerilla Monsoon Rap" feat. Black Thought, Kanye West, Pharoahe Monch (production: Kanye West) from Quality

"Beautifully Bad" (Idle Warship) (production: Farhot) from Habits Of The Heart

"Every Ghetto" feat. 9th Wonder, Rapsody (production: Hi-Tek) from Indie 500

It's The Machine, Bitch: Ranking the Discography of Conway The Machine

Buffalo. Home to AFC Champions, the Buffalo Bills. Also, home to the likes of future WWE Hall Of Famer, Lex Luger. In hip-hop, it's the home of one of hip-hop's biggest success stories of the past decade in Griselda Records. Started up by the ever-luxurious FLYGOD himself, Westside Gunn, Griselda became one, if not the, go-to for the gutter, grimy NY hip-hop of the 90s that gave you Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang, and Black Moon.  The founders of Griselda were Gunn, his cousins Benny The Butcher and Machine Gunn Black (RIP), and Gunn's half-brother, Conway The Machine. Born Demond Price, this Buffalo shooter has grinded his way into becoming one of the game's most in-demand emcees for his no-nonsense content, brutal street narratives, and vivid, yet finely put together, bars.  Already known within underground circles regionally, Conway was on his way to being more recognized thanks to underground mixtapes such as The Devil's Reject, T2: The Machine, Who Wants What, and PhysiKal Therapy. However, in 2012, Conway was struck by an array of bullets in the head, neck, and shoulder, in which he barely survived. Coming away with injuries, as well as a severe case of Bell's Palsy that resulted in partial facial paralysis and this resulted in his speech being slurred when speaking and rapping. In the midst of this, the slur helped to distinguish his flow even more. From there, his grind was even harder than before and he dropped his official Griselda debut in 2015, Reject 2, a cold-hearted and venomous sequel to the already pulsating Devil's Reject.  From there, it became a plethora of overall excellent projects that eventually put him among the top spots in the game consistently.  Never satisfied with just being named "one of the greatest", his forever goal is to be considered THE best. Not a bad goal for anyone to have.  We will dive into his steep discography that is as consistent as anyone currently going. This twenty-plus year veteran of the mic has finally arrived, and still is as hungry as he was when he first got in.  Without further ado, let's get into the discography. Note that this includes his solo work as well as producer collaborative efforts such as with Alchemist, Conductor, and Big Ghost LTD.  Let's go! Always remember, to quote him, "IT'S THE MACHINE BITCH!"

 20. La Maquina

Production: Daringer, The Alchemist, Bangladesh, Cardiak, Murda Beatz, JR Swiftz, Don Cannon, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, 7XVETHEGENIUS, Jae Skeeze, Elcamino, JID, Ludacris, others

We begin with his 2021 mixtape, La Maquina (Spanish for 'The Machine'). Ever since his features on various albums, as well as some endeavors on his simply excellent, From King to A God, album, we've heard and seen Machine switch up flows and vary from his usual subject matter of gunplay, street validation, and vengeance. He instead hits up parties, gets more into his fashion bag, and shows he's the baddest cat in town over thumping 808s and trap-inducing production from the likes of Bangladesh, Don Cannon, and Murda Beatz on tracks such as "6:30 Tip Off", "KD", and the dope collab with southern heavyweights Ludacris and JID, "Scatterbrain".  Certainly, some cuts for the streets, speakers, and clubs alike, Conway shows he can hang with any type of style and go for his properly.  Do not think, kiddies, that they filthy grime of Machine has gone anywhere, however. This is actually obvious on the first track by itself, the menacing, yet neck-cramping, "Bruiser Brody", as well as cuts like the 2 Chainz-assisted, Alchemist-blessed, "200 Pies", and the crazy collab with Drumwork artists, Jae Skeeze and 7XVETHEGENIUS, "Sister Abigail". The closer is the every vital posse cut with Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher, the Daringer-rocked, "SE Gang", which contains an understated drum signature underneath a vintage rock guitar sample that, at first listen, may sound a tad out of place and unusual for Daringer's often melodically murky and atmospheric production, but this track fits the mold of what Conway was trying to display in the first place on this album: a refocused, redesigned, and reinvigorated Machine.  Arguably his most ambitious project to date, La Maquina showed the far-reaching talents of Conway, and why he's become among the most adaptable emcees currently going.

19. Palermo

Production: Wun Two

Guests: Goosebytheway, KNDRX

When Conway went on IG live in mid-2024 to preview some upcoming cuts. There were a few that were particularly mean but sounded like they were produced by Grammy-nominated producer, Conductor Williams, due to his brand of psychedelic, almost airy and woozy, sounds. The cuts were fire, but we had no idea that these cuts weren't done by Conductor. In fact, they were done by up-and-comer, Wun Two from Germany.  The sheer hazy, atmospheric conditions of this production end up being quite the compliment to the rugged bars of The Machine in the form of their first collaborative project, Palermo. We start off with the snapping, "Carduni", where we get the thick, lo-fi atmosphere from Wun Two. He continues his street boss bars over similarly engaging tracks such as "Montagna" and "Mind Tricks", while reminiscing on his come up on "Brick By Brick".  Towards the end, we get more of the same from him only the cut "Bianca", in which we get arguably his most vivid cut, while "Gaspare" effectively closes on a high, yet dusty and stripped back, note.  Having just released Conductor Machine, with the aforementioned Conductor not long before, Palermo wasn't too far behind in terms of fire.  This project brought Wun Two to more ears, although he had a history of working with the likes of Hus Kingpin and others.  Meanwhile, Conway ended that year more prolific of an emcee than before.

18. What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed

Production: Big Ghost LTD

Guests: 7XVETHEGENIUS, Goosebytheway, Jae Skeeze, SK, Shots Almigh

Certain producers tend to bring different things out of different emcees. Conway is no different.  While many have heard him excel over astounding production from the likes of The Alchemist, Conductor Williams, Daringer, and Graymatter bring out the more ruggedness from him. A more focused emcee that has the dark, eerie, yet thumping production to match his brutal and vivid bars.  Another name one should add to that list is the enigmatic producer, Big Ghost LTD. BGLTD has worked with Griselda before with the release of the collab album of Conway and Gunn for Griselda Ghost, a mixtape that was acclaimed for its haunting production and visceral imagery from these two emcees. BGLTD's signature ominous and haunting production is hand and glove fitting for The Machine, and one such dumb dope project is What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed.  This album followed up 2021's If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed and arguably matches the brooding nature of the aforementioned.  He starts off with Salutations, which has him giving imagery of snorting coke and gunplay, while proclaiming how on point he is.  He continues with "Green Light", in which he turns up the aggression with the lyrics in terms of his tough thug talk, while he also addresses his haters and those that want to stop his shine on cuts like "Y.B.C.M.", "Bodie Broadus", and the Jae Skeeze-assisted, "Sunday Sermon".  We get a great collab with him and Method Man on "Scared 2 Death", while the Drumwork labelmates of his of 7XVETHEGENIUS, Jae Skeeze, SK Da King, GooseByTheWay, and Shots Almigh, "Big Drum" is a sick posse track that shows the talent of all these emcees in damn good fashion.  BGLTD provided Conway an excellent soundtrack and score for this project and, although What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed, may be the "worst" of the Conway/BGLTD collabs, by no means is this a weak project whatsoever.  The menacing score of this is very reflective of how sharp his pen is, and the imagery he conjures.  They went three for three with this effort, and at this point, there's no stopping the acclaim these two bring together.

17. Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 3

Production: JR Swiftz, Cookin' Soul, K-Sluggah, DJ Skizz

Guests: N/A

The last installment of his Everybody Is F.O.O.D. mixtape series was a part of his very busy 2019. This third installment was almost every bit as brooding and fluid as the previous installment, EIF2: Eat What You Kill. Unlike the previous installments, they are no big name beatmakers such as Alchemist, Pete Rock, and even Daringer isn't on board here.  Instead, we get equally formidable soundsmiths such as the always on point, JR Swiftz, and acclaimed Spanish-producer/DJ, Cookin' Soul.  The intro track, "E.I.F." is conducted by a nuts Swiftz-produced track that has him showing his ass as only he can, especially over instrumentals as dark as this.  Cuts like "The Basement", "Country Mike", and "Don't Judge Me" are showing Conway's subject versatility but mostly regards his struggles coming up in the game along with death, grief, not being able to see his son, and other issues that are personal and poignant.  He flaunts his riches on "Richest In the City" and "Egyptian Cloth" while showing how underrated he really is out here.  At only eight tracks deep, Conway doesn't waste a moment bringing his skills to the table and EIF3 is almost as much of an accomplishment as the prior two, and shows he really is among the best bar-for-bar emcees around.

16. If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed

Production: Big Ghost LTD

Guests: Ransom, Rome Streetz, D-Styles, Knowledge The Pirate, Shots Almigh

Following up their 2020 project, No One Mourns the Wicked, Conway and Big Ghost LTD presented If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed, which is more or less and extension of the aforementioned album.  BGLTD's haunting boom-bap is tremendously appropriate for Conway's murder bars and street narratives to the utmost.  Murderous material is the name of the game here as he starts letting off rounds on the opening cuts, "J Batters" and the Shots Almigh-assisted, "Way We Move". With the first single, "Toast", it has Machine spitting about his come up and how he still has ties to the streets even with his success.  This tends to be a running theme with him in most cases, but on this album, he brags more about his gun firing abilities than his burgeoning star status.  He hits a home run with the Ransom/Rome Streetz-collaborated, "Kill All Rats", in which all three gives the listener fair warning about crossing them and the imagery of the three of them pointing guns in your direction is intimidating.  Over arguably the most menacing beat on the album, these three are vicious together.  He turns a corner halfway through the album, as he starts getting reflective on tracks like "Losses to Blessings" and especially the confessional "Forever Ago", in which in the first verse he reveals he had an affair with his girl's sister while on the second verse, he shows that he has an alcohol problem due to PTSD and bipolarism.  This project is Conway near the top of his game. With If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed, although surreal and murky sounds are the backdrop, Conway's penchant for storytelling and honesty take the stage here, and while he's as violent as one could picture, there's also a method behind the madness, and Conway spills it out for the world to hear even when it gets uncomfortable.

15. Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 2: Eat What You Kill

Production: The Alchemist, Graymatter, DJ Skizz, Daringer, Khrysis, DJ Shay, others

Guests: Flee Lord, Benny The Butcher

The second installment of the Everybody Is F.O.O.D. mixtape series dropped not long after the first installment did a few months earlier.  The first EIF was bananas. A high bar to reach and exceed, Conway was ready for the challenge and boy did he make that effort.  While he brings back in-house soundmaster, Daringer, he brings The Alchemist, Mutant Academy super producer, Graymatter, DJ Skizz, late Griselda producer/DJ, DJ Shay, and NC board wizard, Khrysis with him this time around. We start with the crazy, "Fentanyl", in which Conway spits out his brand of harrowing threats and showing off his lavish lifestyle.  This edition is arguably more menacing sound-wise and theme-wise with this particular album.  Potent examples include the Alchemist-blessed, "224 May Block", the Flee Lord-assisted, "G Money on The Roof", and the Benny-assisted, "Hide The Body".  With a more brooding tone throughout the majority of the album, it's the last two tracks that go a different route and he gets more personal.  With the Khrysis-produced, "Be Proud of Me", he raps about his troubled relationship with his father and how he's been striving to be a better father to his children than his father was to him. While on the last track, "Piece of My Heart", he dedicates the track to fallen friend and cousin, Machine Gunn Black (also Benny's brother).  The track is touching and shows a vulnerability we hadn't heard like that from him since arguably the now legendary verse from him on "The Cow".  His second installment of EIF, Eat What You Kill, is easily as dope as his first installment, and closed the year on a very lethal note. The pressure was on for EIF3, and as you read earlier, this was a triumphant three-for-three, but EIF2 was blistering, yet open, at the same time.

14. Conductor Machine

Production: Conductor Williams

Guests: 7XVETHEGENIUS, Jae Skeeze, Shots Almigh, Goosebytheway

Conway was on a complete tear in 2023.  After dropping his quite dope, yet unfairly underrated, Won't He Do It, he had been dropping project after project that year such as his Drumwork compilation album, his collab albums with 38 Spesh and Drumwork artist, Jae Skeeze (Speshal Machinery and Pain Provided Profit respectively), his aforementioned album with German producer, Wun-Two, Palermo, and of course his outstanding collab with Gunn and Alchemist, Hall & Nash 2. You should add his album with Griselda in-house producer-turned-highly in-demand phenom, Conductor Williams, for their collaborative EP, Conductor Machine.  Conductor's signature production of hazy, almost psychedelic, boom-bap has become a major calling card for his style. Of course, Conway sounds excellent over all the production here and doesn't take a pause in how dope he really is here.  The opening track, "Blessings of the King" is one such example of how ridiculous their chemistry is.  Over a fantastic Gospel-sampled track, Conway spits about his come up and how nobody is seeing him. This isn't the only cut with Gospel-sampled influence, as "Church Fan" and "Love The Lord".  He keeps the thermostat turned up on the other cuts of "Noir", "Believe Me", the 7XVETHEGENIUS-assisted, "Flame", and "Higher" featuring another brother of his, Shots Almigh.  Conway doesn't reinvent the wheel with Conductor Machine, but he also doesn't have to. His bars are lethal and over some effective production, he makes the grimiest of music sound truly dope.  Conductor provided Conway with seven tracks of craziness, and with this EP, imaginer a full-length with these two. 

13. Reject On Steroids

Production: Green Lantern, Daringer, Metro Boomin, D-Dot, Roc Marciano, Southside, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, Royce Da 5'9"

The first collaborative mixtape Conway did was with notable NY DJ/Producer, Green Lantern.  Lantern oversaw and produced several of the tracks of their first collaborative mixtape, Reject On Steroids.  While Conway getting busy on freestyles over the likes of "Humble", but of course the original cuts on here are the story.  Most of the album is menacing and brutal sounding, with the likes of Daringer and even Green Lantern contributing to these bleak sounds.  One such example is the haunting, "Cooked in Hell's Kitchen", in which we get Reject 2 Conway in full force as he unleashes verbal sprays as his victims in violent fashion. He continues this with "Dead Bodies Left" and the Benny-assisted, "Spurs", in which we get chilling keys that these rhyme warriors go to work over this ghastly instrumental.  Machine links up with legendary rhyme animal, Royce Da 5'9" on the snapping, "Ill", in which Royce goes lyrically bananas as usual, but to Conway's credit, he's no slouch whatsoever on this grimy cut as well.  Other cuts of "Rick Boxes" and the personal "Through It All" add to the fire Conway presents on this particular project that green lantern did a good job hosting and, in the case of "Ill", producing.  The sequel, More Steroids, would repeat this formula of visceral, yet slammin', production and highly impressive bars from 'La Maquina".

12. Everybody Is F.O.O.D.

Production: artist, Daringer, Pete Rock, Statik Selektah, Green Lantern

Guests: Busta Rhymes, Skyzoo, Elzhi, Pete Rock

The year 2018 was quite the busy year for The Machine. He dropped Blakk Tape earlier in the year but also dropped Death By Misadventure with UK hip-hop artist, Sonnyjim. He also dropped the first of three-part mixtape series, Everybody Is F.O.O.D.  The series came just before his "growth" album lineage of Look What I Became, From King to A God, God Don't Make Mistakes, and Won't He Do It.  This was very much a teaser of what was to come, and the first installment of the series was nothing short of blazing.  The opener, "Bullet Holez in My Neck", is an essential way to begin this mixtape, as we get Conway spitting gunpowder over a murky beat courtesy of Daringer.  These two continue their impeccable chemistry on the hellacious track, "O.D.B.", in which we get more of the vicious side of Conway that sprays and slays. Also, on the ominous "Slapbox", he goes into storytelling mode, Raekwon/Slick Rick-style with he and his friend plotting a robbery on an op that's apparently loaded with stash and bricks, only for the cops to catch up with them and they dip out.  He stays on the rugged street shit on cuts like the Busta Rhymes-assisted, "Land O' Lakes" and the snapping "Segal in State Prop", but also just goes for his lyrically on the joints "212" with one of Detroit's truly animalistic spitters, Elzhi, and the Skyzoo-collaborated, "Skyjoint 2".  Perhaps the most surprising, yet tremendously dope, collaboration is "Piper" with the legendary Peter Rock on the boards and providing adlibs. Over a trademarked Pete Rock beat complete with funky drums, undeniable bassline, and melodic keys, Conway goes apeshit over this outstanding production.  The first installment of EIF definitely established a benchmark that would be tough to equal or outdo. However, if it can be done, Conway would find a way, but even he knew the bar he set for himself was high for this one.

11. More Steroids

Production: artist, Daringer, Green Lantern, The Alchemist, RZA, Statik Selektah, others

Guests: Raekwon, Benny The Butcher, Elcamino

Aiming to reach the same acclaim as Reject On Steroids did six months earlier, Conway, once again, teams up with DJ Green Lantern for the sequel to Reject On Steroids, More Steroids.  In much the same fashion as the prior release, this mixtape is filled with ominous production, furious bars, and an aura that makes Conway come off as one of the most feared street kings around.  His brand of gritty street narratives and intimidating threats are quite resonating on tracks such as "Killer", "Bucket", and "Some Free" over chilling instrumentals by the likes of Uncle Al and Green Lantern.  On the cut, "Steroids", Conway gives a rest in peace shout to (at the time) recently departed legend, Prodigy of Mobb Deep.  The intro of the cut has Bandana P giving a soundbite, while Conway salutes him at the end. In between, Conway rips up the Green Lantern instrumental with bars that would certainly make the god P give that slick grin of approval.  Machine continues with the eerie "Voices", in which he summons his Randy Orton that has voices that speak to him to show these cats why he is in fact The Machine, while "Paranoid" similarly follows the same aesthetic having him looking over his shoulder with his tool with him due to jealousy and hate.  He hits his most terrorizing peak with the ominous "3 Bodies", in which we get some of his best violence bars to date at this time.  Vivid and nihilistic, Conway is unapologetic and brash about his usage of dismissing haters and enemies his way.  Of course, he gets up with cousin, Benny, for "Spurs 2", the venomous-sounding sequel to his Conway's original cut from ROS and replicates it damn well.  Arguably darker and more visceral than ROS, More Steroids has Conway practically writing in his pad with a pen in one hand and a 9MM in the other.  Aside from his freestyles on the album, the original cuts here are clear as to how Conway is to be seen in this game, and that's as no-nonsense as humanly possible, both as an artist and as the man.

10. Won't He Do It

Production: Daringer, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Khrysis, Graymatter, JR Swiftz, others

Guests: 7XVETHEGENIUS, Goosebytheway, Juicy J, Sauce Walka, Benny The Butcher, Fabolous, Ransom, Mozzy, Dave East, others

After the very highly acclaimed outing of God Don't Make Mistakes in 2022, the pressure was on to make an album that could meet the expectations of the aforementioned album. His answer to this was in the form of Won't He Do It, an almost direct opposite of the overall moody, somber, and bleak atmosphere of GDMM. This album was more about celebrating his victories and acknowledging the fruits of his labor, which was likely the point of the title.  Seen as the last of the growth series (Look What I Became, From King to A God, God Don't Make Mistakes, Won't He Do It), we hear Conway as finally arriving. Realizing his work has brought him to being amongst the most in-demand emcees out. Although there was ruggedness with the singles of "Quarters" and the Gunn-assisted, "Brucifix", the overall vibe of the album is one of celebrating and production that somewhat reflects his much overdue props in more of a mainstream capacity, especially with his guest verse on Kanye's "Keep My Spirit Alive" (along with Gunn).  This is especially reflective on the appropriately titled track, "Kanye", which has J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League brings their dope brand of southern neck-snapping sounds using layered sounds and modern R&B-esque sounds.  With vocalist Drea D'Nur supplying the tremendous crooning, Conway and Drumwork artist, GooseByTheWay, celebrate Con's hard work with a victorious track reminding everyone, "They even talked about Jesus".  He shares this similarly on the title track along with 7XVETHEGENIUS in which he boldly states throughout his verse, "Bet they believe me now".  He turns the tempo up on the posse cut with Jozzy, Dave East, and GooseByTheWay, "Water To Wine" and the Juicy J-assisted collab, the bouncy "Super Bowl" to give more thump for your speakers and the clubs.  Fret not kiddies, his art of street narratives and gutter bars aren't far behind at all.  Fantastic examples include "Brick Fare", the Ransom-assisted "Stab Out", and "Kill Judas", while cuts like "Monogram" and "Tween Cross Tween" have him illustrating his cockiness, while still showing his hunger to achieve even more.  Conway raises his glass to his successes on Won't He Do It, as he should. Chopping it up with the likes of Kanye, Eminem, and Jay-Z during that time shows the hard work one has to put in to be able to even be on the radars of these three giants.  Confident, brash, and even a little egotistical, Conway is also among the most talent emcees walking and Won't He Do It was a trophy that he can proudly flaunt as much as he damn well pleases.

9. No One Mourns the Wicked

Production: Big Ghost LTD

Guests: Elcamino, Flee Lord

Just after the pandemic started to become the life-changing event that it became, Conway and Big Ghost LTD dropped their first official collaborative effort, No One Mourns the Wicked.  This nine-track platter marked the start of the three-album set with the low-key, yet highly in-demand, producer, and it started off with a complete and total bang.  After the fitting intro, we have "Dead Flowers", a murky-sounding track that sets the tone for the album well with snapping percussion and ominous keys underneath Conway's venomous bars.  He solidifies his stance within the game as he perceives it on the dumb dope, "Icon", while he names every project he's ever been on as classics on the equally dope "Shark Guts". While other cuts like "Bricks to Murals", the Elcamino-assisted, "Fake Love", and the Flee Lord-guested, "Sicarios" are heaters that display Conway's penchant for letting you know who boss is, it's the crazy cut, "S.D.L.N. (Streets Don't Love Nobody)", that puts an emphasis on how cold the streets are, especially if you have no business being involved in street life.  Part autobiographical, part conceptual, all real.  There wasn't a noticeable flaw anywhere on this project worthy enough for critiquing.  Simply put, No One Mourns the Wicked is a bumping, yet musically eerie, project that started showing off how great of a pairing Machine and BGLTD truly are.  While the two other projects they did together were almost as nuts as this project, this was the effort that demonstrated Conway's true persona that hadn't been this ruthless and brazen since Reject 2, and that's saying a mouthful.

8. LULU

Production: The Alchemist

Guests: Schoolboy Q, Cormega

It was only right that eventually Conway and the almighty Uncle Al himself, The Alchemist, team up to do a full project together.  Alan Maman was already in the middle of a historic run that resulted in him being among the most influential and prolific producers in modern hip-hop history to this very day.  Conway had been working with Al on earlier projects such as G.O.A.T., and this project was showing that these two are tremendous together. Their collaborative effort, LULU, is as dope of a project as you'd expect from either artist. We start off strong and dope with "14 KI's", a thumper that has Conway effectively gliding on the track.  Al provides Conway with his share of menacing, yet soulful, tracks that Conway is just comfortable spitting over. The track, "The Contract", has him getting frank about his enemies and how he deals with them.  On "Calvin", he goes a little more aggressively with his imagery, promising to unalive these same enemies in usual Conway fashion. On his collaborative tracks with Schoolboy Q and Cormega, "Shoot Sideways" and "They Got Sonny" respectively, Conway exhibits his tremendous pen game with vivid images of revenge and non-fuck giving ways that accurately reflect the moody atmosphere of the production.  The closer, "Gold BBL's", has him spitting cocky rhymes and showing off his riches while still not above letting that llama spray if need be.  As an EP, LULU was a stellar effort from these two, and one should hope for an equally as dope follow-up hopefully this year.  Conway and Uncle Al are a combo we can't get enough of.

7. Slant Faced Killah (SFK)

Production: Daringer, The Alchemist, JR Swiftz, Conductor williams, Camouflage Monk, Sadhugold, Swizz Beats, Don Cannon, Cool & Dre, others

Guests: Raekwon, SK, Method Man, Flee Lord, T.F., Ab-Soul, 2-Eleven, Jay Worthy, Tech N9ne, Key Glock, Swizz Beats, Joey Bada$$, others

Originally designed to be the "B-side" of Won't He Do It, Conway's biggest 2024 offering, Slant Faced Killah, was a direct opposite of the more accessible sounds of WHDI.  This album was more accustomed to what we're used to hearing from Conway, and that's not as bad thing whatsoever.  Once we got a hold of his collab with Joey Bada$$, "Vertino", as well as his first single and video, "Give & Give", we knew this was not the same WHDI and this had the makings of something a little more menacing.  By a little, it ended up being a lot.  The album opener, the knocking collab with Stove God Cook$, "Mutty", was a dumb dope illustration into what the album's direction would go in. Don't expect a ton of R&B-esque sounds on this album folks. While there weren't but a few here and there on WHDI, there are none here. Zero. With production courtesy of the likes of past collaborators such as Conductor, Camouflage Monk, Safhugold, Uncle Al, and of course Dirty Daringer, this is vintage Conway at his finest.  He continues with gutter cuts such as "Milano Nights Pt. 1", "Dasani", and the west coast-posse track with 2-Eleven, Jay Worthy, T.F., and a show-stealing performance by Ab-Soul, "Surf & Turf", as we get gritty narratives of the streets and stone cold threats and bars that continue to show why Conway is one to never cross or underestimate with the pen nor the tool.  Arguably the most neck-snapping cut on the album is the track with Drumwork artist, SK Da King, Flee Lord, and the legendary M-E-T-H-O-D Man, "Mef Is Back!", in which to no surprise Mr. Mef effortlessly steals the show from all the other emcees, even though everybody shows their asses on this cut.  He also links up with Midwest legend, Tech N9ne, for the appealing "Raw", while connecting with his down south self on the Key Glock-assisted, "Ten", and goes back out west with the ever-smooth vibes of Larry June on the sizzling, "Kin Express". With the closer, "Red Moon In Osaka", we get Conway spitting as only he can spit over a fabulous Alchemist production, with the almighty "chef" himself, Raekwon, giving Conway a few minutes of jewels and encouragement. No rapping, no bars, just Rae supporting Conway in his ascent to stardom and supremacy.  It's not hard to rank Slant Faced Killah among Conway's best recent outings, and that's saying something considering how much of a roll he's truly been on.  Realizing that his firepower is primarily with blending the gully nature of his bars, mixed with his take-no-shit persona and one or two cuts to show his versatility with, Conway showed once again that if you don't have him in your current emcees top ten, who the hell are you even listening to??

6. Look What I Became

Production: The Alchemist, Daringer, JR Swiftz, Statik Selektah, DJ muggs, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, Dave East, Elcamino, Jim Jones, Amber Simone

Fresh off tremendous mixtapes such as Blakk Tape, his Everybody Is F.O.O.D. series, and the sizzling G.O.A.T., he starts his "growth" series with Look What I Became.  After the gutter sounds of the aforementioned, he starts to let us in little by little.  The EP starts with he ominous Alchemist-crafted "No Women, No Kids" in which Conway burns through this sick track with bars that are completely convenient for The Machine.  He continues with the necessary Griselda track, "Tito's Back" with he and Benny doing their best EPMD tag-in, tag out chemistry with Gunn talking a bunch of shit for the close out over a haunting piano loop provides by in-house monster Daringer.  With other bangers like "Hawks" and the DJ Muggs-blessed "Black Spoons" bringing more scorching heat, he also goes the trap route with "Half Of It" and goes personal with the triumphant "You Made It".  With only nine tracks, one could only imagine how much crazier this could've been.  Realizing his maturation, albeit slight at times, he's gone from The Devil's Reject to one who's still trying to figure himself out while acknowledging his flaws and issues. With Look What I Became, we get a glimpse of the metamorphosis he's about to undergo, but also the rise of one of the game's most talented and unforgiving wordsmiths.

5. The Blakk Tape

Production: Daringer, V DON, Bozack Morris

Guests: N/A

Following the acclaim that he received from Reject 2, he dropped The Blakk Tape in 2018.  Unlike Reject 2, there were no guest features but there were plenty of tracks crafted by Daringer to bring some dark, murky knocking to this project.  He also gets assists from current hot, underground, in-demand producer, V DON, on the boards as well.  He starts off with the dumb dope "Devil's Work" but then gets busy shit talking and gathering bodies on followed up cuts like "Puzo", "Alpaca", and "Rare Form".  The production on here is arguably as menacing and spooky as Reject 2, but the content is slightly not as homicidal as the aforementioned. Conway is growing into his sense of self in terms of his rising star power but also remains true to himself in terms of where he comes from and his street allegiance.  This continues to be the norm on tracks like "Fish Fry", "8 Birds", and the crazy "Biscotti Biscuit". He closes with the reflective, "Pavement", in which he recalls everything from the tragic phone call from Flee Lord of Prodigy's death to the death of close friend (and Benny's brother) Machine Gunn Black over a moody instrumental that's very complimentary.  Consistent and glaringly hard, The Blakk Tape goes in. Conway continues to sound more and more confident and convincing with his delivery and his brutal bars.  The Machine was definitely on his way up even more from here.

4. G.O.A.T.

Production: Daringer, The Alchemist

Guests: Benny The Butcher, Styles P, Lloyd Banks, Raekwon, Royce Da 5'9"

When Griselda (the group), Gunn, and Conway got signed to Shady Records, this never stopped them from dropping heat for the streets in no way, shape, or form. One of those heaters came in the form of Conway's third commercial mixtape, G.O.A.T., or Grimiest Of All Time (not to be confused with LL's G.O.A.T. album).  Following up his sizzling aforementioned mixtapes of the two Green Lantern-collaborated projects, Reject On Steroids and More Steroids, this entry is even more bleak and vicious, almost parallel to Reject 2 in a lot of instances.  Composed primarily by Daringer and Uncle Al, this album is understandably a very brooding, sinister-sounding opus that has Conway providing his own effective dosage of that murda music.  He goes all in from the title track opener alone. With lyrics like: "In G bundles, my heat muzzle/we up til 5 in the morning in your bushes, you pull up, you in big trouble", it's clear Conway isn't playing with a single soul on this album.  The imagery of him being a remorseless street kingpin is dominant throughout this album, especially on other cuts like the Prodigy (speaking of that murda music, R.I.P.)/Benny-assisted cut, "Rodney Little" (which also appears on the Conway/Prodigy collab EP, Hell Still On Earth, "XXXtras", and the Benny-assisted, "Die On Xmas".  He addresses beef and betrayal on the haunting flute-sampled, "Bishop Shot Steel", which is a homage to the scene in the famed movie, Juice, in which Tupac's character, Bishop, shoots once homeboy, Steele (Jermaine Hopkins), simply because he felt Steele was talking too much about Bishop killing Raheem earlier in the movie (IYKYK). It's unclear as to who this song is about, if anyone at all, but it's certainly a cut that could cause an eyebrow or two to rise due to how vivid the lyrics appear to be.  Meanwhile, Royce Da 5'9" tries his best not to outshine Conway on the excellent "Mandatory", while Styles P shows a dope chemistry with Machine on "Arabian Sam's". The posse cut, "Bullet Klub", features Benny and Lloyd Banks over a homicidal beat.  For the other remaining cuts of "Trump" and the Raekwon-assisted, "Th3rd", the album shows how menacing Conway can truly be when he's direct and focused.  With Uncle Al and Daringer providing the perfect soundscape for such a brutal imagery album, G.O.A.T. is one of Conway's most no-nonsense albums, and more or less did establish him, quite possibly, as his title suggests: grimiest of all time.

3. From King to A God

Production: artist, Daringer, The Alchemist, DJ Premier, Havoc, Hit-Boy Khrysis, Beat Butcha, Rockwilder, Erick Sermon, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, Flee Lord, Method Man, Lloyd Banks, Havoc, Armani Caeser, Freddie Gibbs, Dej Loaf

The second entry in the album lineage of LWIB, FKTAG, GDMM, and WHDI, has Conway going From King to A God.  Following the aforementioned excellence of Look What I Became, this album was a tall order to meet and exceed the dumb dope nature of LWIB, but it definitely did both: meet and exceed.  The first single from this effort, the Method Man-assisted "Lemons", is a murky cut provided by Daringer and has MEF and Machine doing their thing and shows tremendous chemistry like they did on the aforementioned "Mef Is Back!"  From the onset, however, we get the ominous direction the album goes in on "From King", and from there the most accessible cut on the project goes to the Hit-Boy-crafted collab with Detroit's Dej Loaf, "Fear Of God", only to slink into other brooding cuts like the dumb dope Alchemist & Daringer split beat joint, "Dough & Damani", the crazy posse cut with Havoc, Lloyd Banks, and Flee Lord, "Juvenile Hell" (named after Mobb Deep's debut album of the same name), and the knocking "Front Lines", in which Conway brings up matters such as BLM and police brutality in a lane that has him providing social commentary.  While it stays on the murky and dusty with the essential Griselda track having him team with Benny and Gunn, "Spurs 3", the tempo goes up just a smidge, but no less hard on cuts like the introspective collab with Griselda associate, Elcamino, "Forever Dropping Tears", the Freddie Gibbs-assisted, "Seen Everything But Jesus", and the bumping, Khrysis-created, "Jesus Khrysis".  He and gangsta Griselda girl, Armani Ceaser, light up the 808s in your speakers on "Anza", but in comes Preemo to bless the scorching "Nothing Less" to close the album out on a knocking high note. If you were privy to the deluxe edition, the tracks of the 9th Wonder-blessed, "Serne vs. Venus", the two Daringer beasts, "Raw Oysters" and the Jae Skeeze-assisted, "Stefon Diggs", and the Roc Marci-produced, "Crack in the Nineties" with Skeeze and fellow Drumwork artist, 7XVETHEGENIUS were just too ridiculous to not include on the regular album. Just disrespectful!  In any case, From King to a God was billed as the "teaser" project for God Don't Make Mistakes.  One could look at this as a "teaser", but FKTAG was an animal all in itself. Conway's bars were more gutter than before plus brought some introspection and honesty to cuts as well. Plus, the production here was consistently tremendous throughout.  He certainly earned his crown with this dynamite effort. 

2. Reject 2

Production: Daringer

Guests: Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, Roc Marciano, Skyzoo, Mach-Hommy

While The Devil's Reject and other mixtapes of Conway getting rotated, he raised the stakes up with his first commercial mixtape, in the form of the sequel to his Devil's Reject tape, Reject 2.  This was an album full of his most sadistic and violent imagery, but also some of his most raw rhymes up to this point.  Being released around the same time as Gunn's now underground classic, FLYGOD, Conway had a feat to follow, and he definitely did so.  From the opener, "1000 Corpses", we are in for brutality and relentless hardcore gangsta shit from the Machine.  He didn't let up. None.  He continues with cuts like "30 Shells" featuring Inkredible Nes, the slinky, yet dark, "Wraith-ful", and the dumb dope collab with Gunn and Roc Marci, "Rex Ryan", in which these three all paint pictures of gunplay and riches, more so gunplay.  This is a project that put Conway on a bigger level, or at least on par with Gunn during this time.  Violent, nihilistic, and bleak, Reject 2 is Conway at, arguably, his merciless best. Clearly vengeful and full of scorn with the events that caused him to have Bell's Palsy, along with the deaths of close people especially Machine Gunn Black and Prodigy, Conway let the tool out on everyone listening and tuned in to his brand of angst and bloodshed.

1. God Don't Make Mistakes

Production: Daringer, The Alchemist, Hit-Boy, Bink!, Beat Butcha, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, others

Guests: Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, T.I., Jill Scott, Keisha Plum, Beanie Sigel, Rick Ross, Lil' Wayne, Novel, others

There's always that one album from an artist that becomes what defines their best work wrapped up in one album. It's the album where the best of their talents gets presented in a body of work that is seen as completely, tightly woven together, and finally establishes the artist as having been "arrived".  With Conway, the album that truly fits this narrative is his third studio album, God Don't Make Mistakes.  This was the third album out of a four-album lineage that concluded with Won't He Do It, but without question, his most-well-rounded and most personal to date.  While we've been accustomed to the nihilistic and violent side of Conway, we also get some of the most introspective versions of him we've ever heard on wax. Let's start with street king Conway, as he lets off round after round with vicious cuts such as the opener, "Lock Load" featuring a more scuffed voiced, Beanie Sigel, who has had few and far between guest spots since his unfortunate lung removal a few years ago.  The hunger is still there, however, and was good to hear "The General" on a track again.  He follows this up with ominous bangers such as the Alchemist-scorched "Piano Love", the harrowing "Babas" featuring a stunning spoken word piece from Griselda's in-house slam poetess, Keisha Plum, and the essential posse cut with Gunn and Benny, "John Woo Flick". Not to mention, the Lil' Wayne/Rick Ross-assisted, "Tear Gas" is a cut made for all three men on this cut, and "Drumwork" featuring his top two artists on his label of the same name, Jae Skeeze and 7XVETHEGENIUS, completely goes in on a haunting Daringer track.  However, we start getting a lot deeper, and it's when he gets to the core of who he is and why he moves the way he does that we get some of the best music of his career. The T.I./Novel-assisted, "Wild Chapters" is an introspective cut featuring a slightly groovy, yet melancholy, track provided by Grammy winner, Hit-Boy, in which it has Conway virtually writing an apology letter to his girl, while T.I. and vocalist Novel both spit out personal verses of trials, tribulations and overcoming, with Novel's possibly being the most gripping.  On "Guilty", he turns back the page and reflects on the shooting that nearly killed him but also caused him to develop Bell's Palsy, which ended having half of his face paralyzed in a way that was more insightful and hopeful than the most famous time he spit about it, which was his emotional verse off his brother's cut "The Cow" from Hitler Wears Hermes 4.  However, it's the track "Stressed" that will cause most people to hit the repeat button with how stirring, yet relatable, this cut is. Over snapping, yet surreal, instrumental, Conway raps about highly difficult topics such as his alcoholism, his depression, and the grief over losing his son in one of the most powerful and open cuts one could ask for. By asking the question on the chorus, "Does anybody care that I'm stressed", it makes one look at their own lives and wonder if anybody looks out for them and checks in.  The brutal honesty of the cut is only matched by the closing speech by motivational speaker, Wallo 267, who emphasizes to Conway that "he's back".  Similarly, on the spooky, piano-laced, Alchemist-crafted title track, Conway raps about his troubles, what the shooting left behind in terms of his life and career, and questions what would've happened if none of the tragedies in his life would've occurred and what type of place would he be at in his life right now. With his late mother, Annette Price, on the heart-wrenching voicemail that apparently happened while Machine was fighting for his life after the shooting, it was the best way to close out this album.  With other excellent cuts like the Jill Scott-crooned, "Chanel Pearls" and the dope J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced, "So Much More", God Don't Make Mistakes is simply the crowning jewel of Conway's career up to this point.  The raw honesty mixed with his bleak depiction of the streets and how handles the beef is on display like never before put together.  It's been debated as to what's the best album to ever emerge from the Griselda camp. You can absolutely start adding GDMM to the conversation.

Here are other notable collaborative efforts from The Machine:

Conway The Machine & 38 Speah- Speshial Machinery

Westside Gunn & Conway The Machine- Hall & Nash

Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, & The Alchemist- Hall & Nash 2

Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, & Big Ghost LTD- Griselda Ghost

Griselda- WWCD

Griselda- Don't Get Scared Now EP

Conway the Machine, Ransom, & V DON- Chaos Is a Ladder Too

Conway The Machine & Prodigy- Hell Still on Earth EP

Conway the Machine- Drumwork Vol. 1

Conway The Machine & Jae Skeeze- Pain Provided Profit

Conway The Machine & Trillmatic- Organized Grime

Conway the Machine & Trillmatic- Organized Grime 2

Sonnyjim & Conway the Machine- Death By Misadventure

Here are some of Conway's best moments within this tracklist:

"Bishop Shot Steele" (production: Daringer) from G.O.A.T.

"Wraith-ful" (production: Daringer) from Reject 2

"'94 Ghost Shit" feat. Westside Gunn (production: The Alchemist) from Hall & Nash 2

"Phone Call" (production: Apollo Brown) from Organized Grime 2

"Tito's Back" feat. Benny The Butcher, Westside Gunn (production: Daringer) from Look What I Became

"Broken Safety" feat. Prodigy (production: Daringer) from Hell Still On Earth EP

"Stefon Diggs 2" feat. Jae Skeeze (production: Graymatter) from Pain Provided Profit

"God Don't Make Mistakes" (production: The Alchemist) from God Don't Make Mistakes

"Gold BBS" (production: The Alchemist) from Lulu

"The Cow" (originally heard on Hitler Wears Hermes 4) (production: Daringer) from Hitler Wears Hermes 4

"Cocaine Paste" feat. Jae Skeeze (production: Graymatter) from Pain Provided Profit

"Juvenile Hell" feat. Lloyd Banks, Flee Lord, Havoc (production: Havoc) from From King To A God

"Raw Oysters" (production: Daringer) from From King To A God (Deluxe)

"Scared II Death" feat. Method Man (production: Big Ghost LTD) from What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed

"Air Holez" feat. Westside Gunn (production: Daringer) from Reject 2

"Richest In the City" (production: JR Swiftz) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 3

"Michealangelo" feat. Westside Gunn (production: The Alchemist) from Hall & Nash 2

"Serena vs. Venus" (production: 9th Wonder) from From King To A God (Deluxe)

"Ajax" feat. Westside Gunn (production: The Alchemist) from Don't Be Scared Now EP

"Sicarios" feat. Flee Lord (production: Big Ghost LTD) from No One Mourns The Wicked

"Commandments" feat. Ransom (production: V DON) from Chaos Is A Ladder Too

"Food" feat. Jae Skeeze, 7XVETHEGENIUS, Goosebytheway, SK Da King (production: Graymatter) from Pain Provided Profit

"Fish Fry" (production: Daringer) from The Blakk Tape

"No Woman, No Kids" (production: The Alchemist) from Look What I Became

"Sister Abigail" feat. Jae Skeeze, 7XVETHEGENIUS (production: JR Swiftz) from La Maquina

"Rex Ryan" feat. Westside Gunn, Roc Marciano (production: Daringer) from Reject 2

"Bodie Broadus" (production: Big Ghost LTD) from What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed

"Flame" feat. 7XVETHEGENIUS (production: Conductor Williams) from Conductor Machine

"Stefon Diggs" feat. Jae Skeeze (production: Daringer) from From King To A God (Deluxe)

"Pavement" (production: Daringer) from The Blakk Tape

"Overdose" (production: The Alchemist) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 2

"Scotties" (Griselda) (production: Daringer, Beat Butcha) from WWCD

"Spurs 3" feat. Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher (production: Daringer) from From King To A God

"Nothin' Less" (production: DJ Premier) from From King To A God (Deluxe)

"E.I.F." (production: JR Swiftz) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 3

"Benz Window" feat. Prodigy (production: Daringer) from Hell Still On Earth EP

"Rodney Little" feat. Prodigy (production: Daringer) from Hell Still On Earth EP

"Beloved" feat. Mach-Hommy, Benny The Butcher (production: Daringer) from Reject 2

"Front Lines" (production: Beat Butcha) from From King To A God

"Shellfish" feat. Ransom (production: V DON) from Chaos Is A Ladder Too

"200 Pies" feat. 2 Chainz (production: The Alchemist) from La Maquina

"Judas" feat. Westside Gunn (production: The Alchemist) from Hall & Nash 2

"Piper" (production: Pete Rock) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D.

"Lemons" feat. Method Man (production: Daringer) from From King To A God

"S.E. Gang" feat. Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher (production: Daringer) from La Maquina

"Believe Me" (production: Conductor Williams) from Conductor Machine

"Piano Love" (production: The Alchemist) from God Don't Make Mistakes

"Dr. Birds" (Griselda) (production: Daringer, Beat Butcha) from WWCD

"Rare Form" (production: Daringer) from The Blakk Tape

"14 KI's" (production: The Alchemist) from Lulu

"Stressed" (production: Daringer, Beat Butcha) from God Don't Make Mistakes

"Bruiser Brody" (production: JR Swiftz) from La Maquina

"In My Soul" feat. Jae Skeeze (production: Big Ghost LTD) from What Has Been Blessed Cannot Be Cursed

"Mandatory" feat. Royce Da 5'9" (production: Daringer) from G.O.A.T.

"Last Week" (production: 38 Spesh) from Speshal Machinery

"John Woo Flick" feat. Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher (production: Daringer) from God Don't Make Mistakes

"Bullet Holes In My Neck" (production: Daringer) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D.

"Love The Lord" (production: Conductor Williams) from Conductor Machine

"Tween Cross Tween" feat. GooseByTheWay (production: Graymatter) from Won't He Do It

"O.D.B." (production: Daringer) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D.

"Corners" (production: Daringer) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 2

"We Outside" feat. Che Noir, Pharoahe Monch (production: 38 Spesh) from Speshal Machinery

"Highly Praised" (production: Big Ghost LTD) from If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed

"Carduni" (production: Wun Two) from Palermo

"Dead Flowers" (production: Big Ghost LTD) from No One Mourns The Wicked

"Brick Fare" (production: Daringer) from Won't He Do It

"Fentanyl" (production: Graymatter) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 2

"They Got Sonny" feat. Cormega (production: The Alchemist) from Lulu

"Die On Xmas" feat. Benny the Butcher (production: Daringer) from G.O.A.T.

"Cold Dish" (production: Wun Two) from Palermo

"Cruiserweight Coke" (Griselda) (Production: Daringer, Beat Butcha) from WWCD

"Monogram" (production: Daringer) from Won't He Do It

"Kanye" feat. Goosebytheway, Drea D'Ndur (production: J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League) from Won't He Do It

"Mutty" feat. Stove God Cook$ (production: Conductor Williams) from Slant Faced Killa

"Milano Nights Pt. 1" (production: Camouflage Monk) from Slant Faced Killa

"212" feat. Elzhi (production: Daringer) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D.

"224 May Block" (production: The Alchemist) from Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 2

"Brick By Brick" (production: Wun Two) from Palermo

"Kill All Rats" feat. Ransom, Rome Streetz (production: Big Ghost LTD) from If It Bleeds, It Can Be Killed

"Meth Back" feat. Method Man, Flee Lord, SK Da King (production: Daringer) from Slant Faced Killa

"Kin Express" feat. Larry June (production: Conductor Williams) from Slant Faced Killa