Conway the Machine & Big Ghost Ltd. – “No One Mourns the Wicked” (EP Review)

This is the 7th EP from Buffalo emcee Conway the Machine. In case you don’t know, he‘s been running the underground for the past 5 years as 1/3 of the trio Griselda with Westside Gunn & Benny the Butcher by consistently been putting out 1 modern East Coast classic after another. Earlier this year we saw The Alchemist entirely produce La Maquina’s previous EP LULU & now just a couple months later, Big Ghost Ltd. is getting tapped on for No One Mourns the Wicked.

After the “Family Secrets” intro, we go right into the first song “Dead Flowers”. Where Conway talks about rapping what you live over a menacing guitar lead. The next track “Icon” talks his already established legacy over a demented boom bap beat while the song “Fake Love” with Elcamino sees the 2 talking about deceivers over an instrumental with these ghostly vocals hanging in the background. The track “Shark Guts” looks back at all the accomplishments of his career up to this point over a soul sample & even though Conway’s vocals slowed down for whatever reason, it works.

The song “Bricks to Mural” talks about how he’s eating now over a dusty boom bap beat & after the braggadocious “Rich” interlude, the penultimate track “S.D.L.N. (Streets Don’t Love Nobody)” vividly paints how it’s cold the hood can be over some bleak piano chords. The EP finishes off with “Sicarios”, where Conway & Flee Lord get together to talk about being hitmen over a boom bap/rock fusion.

If you loved the Griselda Ghost EP that Hall ‘N Nash dropped about 5 years ago, then I really don’t see why you wouldn’t like this as well. It literally sounds just as gruesome from Conway’s lyrics all the way down to Big Ghost’s production & both parties show why they’re currently the top dogs of the underground.

Score: 9/10