Conway The Machine isn’t the kind of rapper who spends much time worrying about Billboard charts and radio singles. Over the past five or so years, the Buffalo, NY artist has paved his own path and set his own definition of success, building up a following through high-quality mixtapes of raw hip-hop that takes the classic boom bap sound and updates it with the modern grit of his hometown. A key part of the core Griselda trio with Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher, Conway has been able to maintain that independent momentum even while working simultaneously with Eminem’s Shady Records, which put out the group’s WWCD late last year. Though that record didn’t blow up the charts, he’s only seen his star rise since, putting out multiple projects in 2020 in the lead up to his highly anticipated debut album From King To A God, due out Friday 9/11. “What I say to myself every day is just stay confident and always believe in your brand,” he says. “The more you believe in your brand, the more of an opportunity you’ve got for your brand to be the biggest in the world.”