God Don’t Make Mistakes - Conway the Machine
Conway 係一個水牛城出生嘅Rapper,自小就已經係幫派盛行嘅紐約長大,咁當然佢都參與咗呢種危險嘅生活
直至2012 年,佢再次入獄之後,終於立定決心要focus 喺音樂上面。佢同佢同父異母嘅兄弟Westside Gunn 一齊成立咗Griselda Records 呢一個Label ,而直到宜家呢個Label 都簽入咗好多有天份嘅Rapper,例如Benny the Butcher, Mach-Hommy 同Boldy James,而整個Label 嘅Artist 都擅長喺用一啲aggressive 同grimey 嘅instrumental 加上複雜嘅歌詞同Flow 去表達佢哋嘅經歴,所以Griselda 可以話係自成一派嘅sub-genre
講返Conway,佢喺12年嘅時候不幸被人用槍射中頭同後頸,雖然佢極之僥倖咁執返條命,但係佢就因此患上咗Bell’s Palsy,導致一生佢半邊臉被癱瘓
值得尊重嘅係佢沒放棄佢對音樂嘅熱承 佢因為癱瘓嘅半邊臉反而造就咗佢招牌嘅懶音,而佢憑住不徐不疾嘅delivery 以及佢嘅lyrical 能力成功得到行內不少人嘅尊重,特別係Eminem 主動想簽佢入佢旗下嘅Shady Records 入面
Griselda 嘅出品一向嘅特色就係歌詞同wordplay 永遠係一首歌嘅重點,而咁樣嘅Style 或者都係令人卻步嘅原因 但我特別想介紹呢個Album 係因為佢唔單止講到平時都會講到嘅Gangster Lifestyle ,Conway 更加focus 喺佢自己點樣克服佢嘅Near death experience 以及身邊人離世所帶嚟嘅陰影,令呢個Album 成為呢種Rap Style 中少見,更為introspective 嘅好album
因為呢個Album 比我之前Review 過嘅album可能比較長,我會主要focus 喺佢好多嘅highlights 上面而未必go through 哂每一首歌,等大家多啲時間去自己發掘
第一首歌Lock Load 就已經描繪咗一過好殘忍街頭生活嘅畫面 特別係Conway 同Feature 嘅Beanie Sigel 都係曾經被槍傷嘅生還者,更加令佢哋描述無情又槍火連天嘅生活更加有說服力,特別深刻Conway 一句 “Talk about my face but can’t say shit about my bars though”
而Tear Gas 雖然用上比較uplifing 嘅instrumental,但係Conway 更加講述佢因為過去嘅陰影所面對嘅壓力 “I just tryna keep my head above the water/ My feet on solid ground, post-traumatic stress disorder got my smoking out a pound” 而用唔同嘅方法去麻醉自己嘅憂鬱亦都係之後唔少歌會探索嘅主題 而Lil Wayne 同Rick Ross 嘅feature 亦都有呼應Conway 嘅感受 例如”Up, up in thin air, so high, sometimes my throne feel like a wheelchair/ I’m half dead as it is, flag red as it is” 同埋 “I keep the guns and drugs just for the paranoia”
Piano Love 同Drumwork 就用上綱琴為主導嘅旋律,Conway 亦都係呢兩首歌上面有出色嘅wordplay 同flow,而Drumwork 嘅兩個feature 更加為首歌營造更為冷血嘅感覺,尤其要讚一讃 7xvethegenius 呢位女rapper 嘅表現,極之有自信同aggressiveness
Part 2 遲啲繼續
之前review 過嘅album list:
Vince Staples (self-titled): #1
DAYTONA - Pusha T: (Part 1): #14
(Part 2): #18