As someone familiar with balancing street life and music aspirations, Conway The Machine is sharing opinions about Hip Hop culture. The Buffalo native is a veteran in the industry, not to mention a respected lyrical giant. Conway has endured hardships and setbacks, and he wants to make sure the street life isn’t keeping young artists from their potential.
In a chat with 99Jamz, famed radio host Supa Cindy spoke about her efforts in highlighting local Florida artists. However, when those artists reach new levels of success, they still find that they are battling the same issues from the hood. They find it difficult to abandon longtime friends who may not be the greatest influences and get further entangled in street drama. Conway replied, “It’s tough.”
Read More: Carl Chery Reflects On Rappers We’ve Lost As Hip Hop Mourns Takeoff
“It’s definitely harder than it seem,” Conway continued. “It seem easy, like, you famous, you gettin’ money. Some of these guys, a lot of these guys, man, they’re really outside. Really tapped in. You gotta respect the code if you know what that life about. It’s codes and they live by it and stand by it. So, my advice to the young bros that’s doing they thing is just, when you gettin’ in this business, you just gotta know—you comin’ from the streets. You gotta know what to take with you and what to leave behind.”
“You gotta know what to bring with you and what to leave out. You’re doin’ business now. You becoming a brand, you becoming bigger than the hood.”
Read More: David Banner On Rap Lyrics Being Used In Court: “Hip Hop Is Being Attacked”
Conway also reminded these young stars that they’ve been allowed to create generational wealth. “Changing lives whether you know it or not,” he continued. “So, we gotta keep you here.” He also spoke about artists’ entourages, including “the homies.”
“We as the homies, man, we gotta protect the brand,” said Conway. “Protect the bag. That means, even if we gotta switch up how we move and everything just to prevent a lot of this. It’s just things we can do a lot different, but we gotta change the mentality first.”
Check out a clip of the conversation above.
