Conway The Machine is a well-established artist from the East Coast and an often overlooked figure. As the half-brother, Westside Gunn, and cousin of Benny the Butcher, it is safe to say the Buffalo emcee (real name Demond Price) is from a musical family.
Although Price didn’t grow up in the built-up jungle of New York City, he was born and raised in the upstate town of Buffalo, and, as a young man, he spent a lot of time going in and out of jail.
In the early 2010s, Price focused on music instead of making illegal money. However, even when he moved out of the city, many had unfinished business with Price and were ready to settle the score upon his return.
Speaking to DJ Vlad for Vlad TV, Conway The Machine unveiled that he was living in Atlanta with his half-brother Westside Gunn during the making of his mixtape Amerikan Greed in 2012. However, it was only a matter of time before he decided to return to his hometown.
Opening up about the details surrounding his shooting, Price explained to Vlad, “I wasn’t even living in Buffalo at the time; I was living in Atlanta. Me and West, we was living in Atlanta, and I came up for a couple of days. I had just did this tape; it was like this mixtape or whatever, and I came back to Buff to just work it.”
Speaking about how he promoted his mixtape, Conway continued, “I go to the clubs, there was a lot of DJs playing it. Drop it off at all the mom-and-pop stores that’s tapped in with the music and the mixtapes and all that shit. I don’t really know what happened, to be honest with you.”
He continued, “I was in the club playing the shit. I got too drunk, you know what I mean. I was in the club with this shawty and I’m by the DJ booth. That’s all I remember. I remember being in the driveway because I had drove the homies. I drove a truck. There was about four or five of us in the truck, and I pulled up in the driveway, and some niggas pulled up and sprayed the back of the truck up.”
According to Conway, his memory of the 2012 shooting is foggy and unclear. However, he did remember minor details of the event, recalling, “I just remember having a bottle of Remy, my record was playing, I was by the DJ booth, then I was in the driveway, and I heard some shots, but they sounded faint, like they were mad blocks away, like they weren’t even around.”
He concluded, “But that’s when I knew I was hit ’cause I couldn’t really hear, so I think I must have got hit behind the ear first and then the neck, then the shoulder. Then I just slumped.”
As a result of the fragments that entered the back of Price’s ear, his face is now partially paralyzed, giving him his now-signature slur. Since the shooting, Conway has ascended to dizzying heights and in 2017, signed with Eminem’s Shady Records.
You can hear Price speaking about his injuries in the video below.
