Truth: Conway The Machine
Griselda’s Conway the Machine breaks down his new album, You Can’t Kill God With Bullets.
As Told To: Peter A. Berry
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Fall 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website.
I took a little more time with the creative process of You Can’t Kill God With Bullets. I wanted it to be special. I put a lot of emphasis on the lyrics, so there’s a lot more maturity. It’s more visceral. The lyrics are dripping with more venom now. I’m on a different brainwave right now. This is Conway the Machine 3000. I wanted to make songs that people relate to whatever they’re doing in life, whether it’s a celebratory moment, or you’re with a chick, whether you’ve lost somebody, or you’re depressed. It’s got that old feel like Reject 2 and G.O.A.T. It’s all that sh*t on steroids. But this one’s just different because it’s got the maturity and a different selection of producers. There’s a lot of different sounds; it just comes together so well. That’s what makes it a little different, too.
I just realized you got to captivate the people. You’ve got to really set the tone. I want to stand out. I want the pinnacle moment of the year. Especially in a year like this with so many of the giants that’s coming out. The best of the best are dropping music. Now, they’re back in the lab, and they’re dropping incredible projects. I feel like I’ve got to show and prove now. For me to be accepted in that vein, it’s time for me to captivate everybody else. Before, I would just be rapping with the confidence that I’m nice. I know I’m nice, I’m just spitting. But now it’s with intent. It’s with purpose. Every line, everything I’m saying, beat selected, everything I’m doing is with intent. And the intention is to etch my name in concrete for once and for all.
What keeps me going as a rapper is the love. Even if I wasn’t getting paid to do it, I would have studio equipment. I would be still writing raps and making songs and sh*t and recording and sh*t. So, I just love hip-hop. I love the whole creative thing of it. And sh*t, the money. Sh*t, the hustle don’t stop, don’t matter. [There] is never no finish line for me in sight. I’ll keep going and going and going until I find a new challenge and a new journey. The studio saved my life. Music saved my life. Hip-hop saved my life. Ain’t no telling what I’d be doing if I didn’t have this outlet. Just having a sanctuary where I can go create and be myself, speak my mind, and just do what I love to do.
You Can’t Kill God With Bullets shows the durability that I’m able to have throughout this career. I’ve been on this journey. I’ve been in a space lately where I’ve felt like everything’s been against me. There’s been shots taken, not just verbal. Life starts lifeing and you just got to navigate through all the obstacles. Through all the ups and downs and all the bullsh*t, nothing could stop me. You can’t kill a god with bullets.
Watch Conway The Machine’s “Diamonds” Video Featuring Roc Marciano
Watch Conway The Machine’s “Se7enteen5ive” Video
The fall 2025 issue of XXL magazine featuring Conway The Machine’s interview is available to purchase here. The issue also includes Joey Bada$$ and J.I.D’s cover story interviews, conversations with Chance The Rapper, Curren$y, Hit-Boy, Rob49, KenTheMan, Wallo267, Bay Swag, Hanumankind, Babyfxce E, Ghostface Killah, Hurricane Wisdom, Pluto, TiaCorine, Isaiah Falls, comedian Josh Joshson, Vice President of Music at SiriusXM and Pandora Joshua “J1” Raiford, a look at the change in album rollouts over the years highlighted by Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out album and more.
