The Ones: Conway the Machine’s “Lemon” [ft. Method Man]
With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace, it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear.
Conway - “Lemon” [ft. Method Man]
It’s a good time to buy up stock in Griselda Records. Label cornerstone Westside Gunn and new recruit Boldy James released two of the year’s most lauded rap albums—Pray for Paris and the Alchemist-produced The Price of Tea in China, respectively—Armani Caesar debuted on the label alongside DJ Premier, and Benny the Butcher brought his Black Soprano Family collective and the Gangsta Grillz tape to Bandcamp. Not to be outdone, Conway the Machine, who released his own project with the Alchemist in March, returns with “Lemon,” a Method Man-featuring display of venom, acuity, and raw skill. It is a song about refusing to succumb at any cost.
“Lemon” is back-to-basics rap that finds two hustlers at different points along the career arc. As the seen-it-all old timer, Meth gives out game to anyone listening. Conway is still in the thick of it. He isn’t driven by a glitzy rapper lifestyle; he’s motivated by the harshest realities of his other chosen profession. (“Don’t tell my niggas stay safe, tell ‘em to stay dangerous,” he snarls in the hook.) As the gloomy, whirring Daringer and Beat Butcha production hovers in the background, the two rappers both find their top gears, interlocking perfectly. Conway has rarely sounded more in command and unnerving. He raps about the friends he’s lost to the system and the women they’ve left alone on the outside (a sister, a mother, a baby mother). Meth is ridiculously precise, unraveling tongue-twisters into potent and orderly phrases, bobbing around like a boxer working slip bag drills. “I use the system, you cowards use euphemisms/Women call me Super Daddy, my powers is supervision/Who gave you permission to speak? To learn, you listen/Learn to listen to a different MC, you learn the difference,” he raps. With “Lemon,” it becomes abundantly clear that Griselda simply won’t accept a weak link.
Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Conway and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
