billy woods is a damn good rapper and a member of the duo armand hammer w/ elucid. he specializes in gruesome, intricate, hyper-literate art rap with a delivery that doesn't pay much attention to the drums. he does have a pocket (rhythm isn't the focus, but it's not fully rhythmless) and the a fun thing about listening to woods is piecing together which parts of the instrumental he's locking onto.
his 2019 album hiding places w/ kenny segal is widely considered to be a career highlight. segal is one of the best producers on the planet and woods does an excellent job accenting his contours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83F4JpVu61k
armand hammer is also a critical favorite. their 2018 album paraffin earned rapturous acclaim, tho it wasn't really my favorite when it dropped. i still don't really love it but there are some serious standouts. i tend to prefer the hammer in a slightly less abrasive mode.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-kgUrFfAhw
like on haram! which was home to one of my favorite songs of last yearhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctmTme9cG74
billy's released two albums this year, the first called aethiopes which is certainly an achievement, one that will probably appeal to fans of paraffin.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7GsIoyu1ZE
he has a second 2022 album out called church that i haven't heard in full yet
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Thursday, 27 October 2022 22:57 (one year ago) link
Aethiopes is amazing
― sloop johnnin' skater (geoffreyess), Thursday, 27 October 2022 23:20 (one year ago) link
i feel blessed that between billy woods/elucid/armand hammer, ka, earl sweatshirt, roc marciano, freddie gibbs, and mach-hommy there are reliably 5-10 rap albums for sad middle-aged dudes and i never have to find out about any new rap music
― na (NA), Thursday, 27 October 2022 23:58 (one year ago) link
joking aside billy woods is probably my favorite of all those dudes, his lyrics are so sharp and angry and sad. a great one that wasn’t mentioned yet was “brass,” his collaboration with moor mother
― na (NA), Thursday, 27 October 2022 23:59 (one year ago) link
“falling out the sky” is incredible, I haven’t checked out billy woods solo tho
― lets hear some blues on those synths (brimstead), Friday, 28 October 2022 00:03 (one year ago) link
church is good, def more on the hiding places side of things than the aethiopes side. the final track "magdelene" is a fantastic armand hammer cut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0wvnHwYgwg
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Monday, 31 October 2022 14:50 (one year ago) link
one of the best parts of the billy woods experience is mostly missing from church, that thing where the beat builds near-unbearable tension and billy's voices rises in intensity without dropping his flat affect and he sounds like the horseman of death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzy-djCiE0E
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Monday, 31 October 2022 14:56 (one year ago) link
Liked Church well enough but now listening to aethiopes and finding it pretty electrifying, can see why it got such plaudits, and can also see what vc means by his ability to latch onto different aspects of these (excellent and varied) beats
― imago, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 15:05 (one year ago) link
who's billy woods??
j/k he rules
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 2 November 2022 15:12 (one year ago) link
wau @ Remorseless
― imago, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 15:29 (one year ago) link
feel like you'd really like paraffin
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Thursday, 3 November 2022 22:30 (one year ago) link
Noted ty! Will listen tomorrow
― imago, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:28 (one year ago) link
He packs those words in
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 December 2022 03:25 (one year ago) link
just continues to elevate
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 6 May 2023 18:18 (one year ago) link
Just grabbed the wax of this! Had no idea he had a new one with Kenny coming out until this week.
― octobeard, Saturday, 6 May 2023 18:30 (one year ago) link
I can’t afford his wax lol
― brimstead, Saturday, 6 May 2023 18:53 (one year ago) link
same. wish i'd got on this one earlier.
― stirmonster, Saturday, 6 May 2023 20:29 (one year ago) link
I don't know why he doesn't press more. His albums are all gong for hundreds on discogs nowadays and even Maps is limited to 3k... wtf its found money dude
― octobeard, Monday, 8 May 2023 18:02 (one year ago) link
His albums are all gong for hundreds on discogs nowadays
this is pretty common practice in underground hip hop now, the whole sneaker culture rare thing, i guess maybe nipsey hussle and roc marciano started it?
i'd bet they "sell out" but keep some around to parse out on ebay and discogs over time for big bucks
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 8 May 2023 18:25 (one year ago) link
yeah i think it was nipsey who started it. mach-hommy also sold some of his albums at super-premium prices (i think he sold one album for $444.44)
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 May 2023 18:40 (one year ago) link
oh yeah mach too when he was more on that mystery man shit
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 8 May 2023 18:45 (one year ago) link
roc usually holds his new albums off streaming for a couple weeks and sells downloads for like $30
Anybody seen Woods & Segal live? I see they’re doing some US and Europe gigs .
― curmudgeon, Monday, 8 May 2023 19:29 (one year ago) link
I’m fine with this practice tbh, get paid
― brimstead, Monday, 8 May 2023 19:43 (one year ago) link
Anybody seen Woods & Segal live? I see they’re doing some US and Europe gigs
He's hitting up SF this weekend. I'm totally hitting this show up
― octobeard, Monday, 8 May 2023 21:26 (one year ago) link
I asked him about this when i interviewed him last month, he said he's not purposefully trying to limit production, but that given the label almost collapsed entirely a decade ago he's careful about not pressing too much, etc. said that he's trying to expand production, that the amount of deluxe editions of Maps was equal to the entire print run of Hiding Places, so he's trying to match the pace of his notoriety. I dunno, I still reckon he could repress stuff and not make it so collector scummy, but he didn't seem to be scamming the fans but genuinely leery of overinvesting in a print-run and losing out financially on it. The guy has been at this a long time, and for at least the first decade it was a slog with no reward.
― dicbo=v2-ubswizzb&hrt (stevie), Monday, 8 May 2023 21:42 (one year ago) link
Anyway I wish he'd repress his old records at a price I could afford and even the copy of Maps I preordered was more than I'd usually pay for a single LP but it is easily the best record I've heard this year and I want to support what he does.
As someone running a micro label, the line between "wow, that sold out already?" and "fuck, I'm gonna be sitting on these forever" can be shockingly thin...and hard to predict. It's better to err on the side of caution.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 8 May 2023 21:52 (one year ago) link
i believe that
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 8 May 2023 22:30 (one year ago) link
xp That's a fantastic answer and understandable. Also appreciate you asking that directly to him during an interview! I suppose his notoriety has only started to truly ascend the last few years. I might have overestimated his stature and sales when he dropped Known Unknowns.
― octobeard, Monday, 8 May 2023 22:32 (one year ago) link
I mean tbh I was more asking on behalf of me the record collector than me the journalist, but I did think it was interesting that his records are so hard to find (I was 3% asking in the hope he'd be like "You haven't got a copy of Aethiopes? I think I may have a spare one somewhere here...", though it was a phoner so that wouldn't have been much help). But it was good for the story because he started to discuss how, post Cape Verde and the crash that almost destroyed the label and ended his career, one of the changes he made was to ditch distributors and sell directly to the audience. So I think in his head that's lodged as the thing he did that helped keep his head above water, that led to his current fame. On some level I don't really want to judge any independent record label what they do to keep the lights on in the streaming/mp3 era, and I do think it's worth noting that, of that late 90s/early 00s NY hip-hop underground moment, Backwoodz is one of the few labels I can think of that's still going and indeed thriving. Rawkus obviously died quickly, Fondle Em and Subverse were short-lived, even Def Jux crashed eventually - I remember El-P telling me that ended in a pretty tough way, even though it had been a flourishing label only a short time before. The game changed big-time around 2010 - you can understand why billy's trying to play a smart, long game.
― dicbo=v2-ubswizzb&hrt (stevie), Tuesday, 9 May 2023 08:22 (one year ago) link
finally got around to this. unsurprisingly great. probably his most accessible project yet? lots of incredible moments, a few couplets that floored me, including: "gazpacho on the veranda, trust me I know it's hot in the fields/jimmy wopo draped over his steering wheel." sheesh.
the one part that i didn't love was danny brown's verse, love the guy but felt like he was on a different wavelength.
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 16 May 2023 14:20 (one year ago) link
oh jeez i didn't catch the jimmy wopo line :(
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 16 May 2023 14:54 (one year ago) link
Definitely feels like his most accessible yet. I actually LOVED the Danny brown verse, and he has a spectacular turn on the new Kassa Overall LP as well.
― dicbo=v2-ubswizzb&hrt (stevie), Tuesday, 16 May 2023 18:05 (one year ago) link
upcoming dc gig in little 150 or so venue sold out quick
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 May 2023 03:25 (one year ago) link
Yeah I agree that Maps might be his most accessible yet. This guy becoming my favourite rapper of all time. I havent even delved into his early stuff.
― Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Wednesday, 24 May 2023 21:54 (one year ago) link
it never occurred to me until listening to this album but touring by yourself sounds like hell
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 24 May 2023 22:43 (one year ago) link
Yep, many Maps lyrics really do convey the slowness of downtime and wishing to be home with loved ones aspect of touring solo well.
But I like how combines a reference to an old historical battle in Viet Nam with his food references--
“Baby Steps” Dien Bien Phu, my opps pass each other coming and leavingMy phở steamingOxtail and lemongrass, steak still bleedingCocktails and cake tiers, it's always wedding season
― curmudgeon, Monday, 29 May 2023 14:46 (one year ago) link
such a foodie record
― serving aunt (stevie), Tuesday, 30 May 2023 07:36 (one year ago) link
Finally got around to this record and it's great of course. Since the production is a big part of it, I'd suggest people check out these R.A.P. Ferreira (fka milo) records that Kenny Segal also produced all of, in a similar mode:
https://afrolab9000.bandcamp.com/album/purple-moonlight-pages
https://afrolab9000.bandcamp.com/album/who-told-you-to-think
― Random Restaurateur (Jordan), Tuesday, 30 May 2023 18:03 (one year ago) link
Yeah during his SF set, he shared an anecdote about flying out of LAX, how security wanted to look at his weed (was traveling with a few grams of flowers), and a bunch of security with weapons approached him, but ultimately didn't do anything and he made his flight. Joked how it was very close to being a Kenny solo show.
R.A.P. Ferreira (fka milo)
Whoa!! was just thinking about this dude - I loved Toothpaste Suburb and So the Flies Don't Come. Didn't realize Kenny wrote the beats of the latter!
― octobeard, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 18:22 (one year ago) link
Also didn't know he was still active. Def have some catching up to do, so thanks, Jordan!
― octobeard, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 18:23 (one year ago) link
Saw Billy woods and Kenny earlier tonight in DC. Good show . Lots of passion and emotion in his delivery. In between songs he reminisced about living in Dc — writing rhymes in Malcolm X Park, cutting grass to make money.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 3 June 2023 04:22 (one year ago) link
Oh, due to marketing and location of the gig at a small rock club that rarely has rap, it was the least diverse rap show audience in DC I think ( white ) me has been in ; with 96% of crowd white like me and the DJ
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 3 June 2023 13:18 (one year ago) link
cutting grass to make money.
He raps about that on the new one iirc
― octobeard, Saturday, 3 June 2023 18:41 (one year ago) link
Saw him and Segal last night Minneapolis, at a venue I had never been to or frankly even heard of before, so it was a pretty small crowd, but a great, great show, they played nearly 90 minutes
― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 1 August 2023 16:50 (one year ago) link
Maps sinks its teeth in slowly eh
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:02 (one year ago) link
incredibly cool to have a great rap record be overwhelmingly a slice-of-life rumination
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:05 (one year ago) link
probably loads of examples of that but it feels particularly true of this one
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:06 (one year ago) link
final verse of babylon by bus straight into first verse of year zero is unfair
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:16 (one year ago) link
He's playing at Big Ears Festival next year. See you in the pit?
― bbq, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:17 (one year ago) link
music festival lineups are certainly one thing the US has the UK licked in
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:25 (one year ago) link
Ehh. Not sure about that. We have plenty of shit festival lineups. A few that are still actually curated. It's probably just a numbers game relative to population.
― bbq, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:35 (one year ago) link
yeah but I looked up the Big Ears lineup and was all like 'we have nothing even a fifth as good as that here'
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 08:43 (one year ago) link
Just go to Le Guess Who. He'll be there.
― bbq, Thursday, 14 September 2023 09:21 (one year ago) link
the forthcoming Armand Hammer record is excellent, dizzying stuff. Not as approachable as Maps, a pretty pointed headfuck actually, but really worth getting deep into.
― Lumpy pillows, kiss my ass. Put that in your book (stevie), Thursday, 14 September 2023 09:49 (one year ago) link
It's on Fat Possum, which I thought might mean the vinyl was a bit more affordable, but Juno's preorder price is £54??
somehow have not yet listened to an Armand Hammer album
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 10:01 (one year ago) link
...despite promising to ten months ago, oops lol
Will amend presently
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 10:02 (one year ago) link
Fuck this goes kind of insane right
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 10:37 (one year ago) link
Would say that Maps slightly edges it for how strongly it works as a full album, and how it ends, but Paraffin reaches insane intensity levels through the middle
― imago, Thursday, 14 September 2023 13:41 (one year ago) link
fuck this is amazing
― imago, Friday, 29 September 2023 13:57 (eleven months ago) link
new armand hammer is typically great. billy and elucid bring out each other’s competitive side, and while billy still does his 1000 year stare thing in his rhymes, there’s still a sense that they’re trying to make each other laugh
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:19 (eleven months ago) link
white women with pepper spray in their purse interpolating beyonce
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:35 (eleven months ago) link
Don't invite me to your house, ask me to remove my shoes and your floors ain't clean
― Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:37 (eleven months ago) link
yes that line stuck with me too
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:39 (eleven months ago) link
a solid morning listen
― hat trick of trashiness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:40 (eleven months ago) link
livin the dream i walked out of denny's like it was ruth chris, grabbin toothpicks
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:40 (eleven months ago) link
really hoped this being on another label might mean the vinyl wasn't £££ but
― Lumpy pillows, kiss my ass. Put that in your book (stevie), Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:47 (eleven months ago) link
this is wild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9jCCZEY53g
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 19 June 2024 14:58 (three months ago) link