Yes, I know there's Kendrick, and Doechii, and Tyler, and Megan, and SZA, and a whole slew of others who are selling out major arenas and stadiums, winning Grammys, playing on the world's biggest stages, and topping the charts. Still, none of them are billy woods. As one half of Armand Hammer and the man behind New York's hottest underground label Backwoodz Studios, woods has also put out a defiant solo career with some of the best hip-hop records of the past decade and this coming spring, he'll add another chapter to his storied discography with the release of his latest record, GOLLIWOG. Compiling a who's who of ultimate guest spots, his new record will feature the likes of El-P, the Alchemist, Shabaka Hutchings, Conductor Williams, DJ Haram, Preservation, Steel Tipped Dove, Messiah Musik, Sadhugold, Willie Green, Jeff Markey, Saint Abdullah, Human Error Club, and Atmosphere’s Ant. And that's just who produced the tracks. His first offering is the single "Misery" and it features the beat maker from 2023's album of the year, Maps, aka Kenny Segal. Over a broken jazz beat, woods spits his detailed and complicated bars over impenetrable rhythms that seem to break apart at the seams, yet woods emerges undisturbed and as poignant as ever. Here, woods opens up rather candidly about an intimate relationships, his wants, needs, and his desires while tightly wound snare hits punctuate the beat. It's as dense a track as you'd expect from woods and will surely do nothing to get him in the same room as the biggest stars in the game, but his respect has made him an underground king.
GOLLIWOG is out May 9.
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