Billy Woods | Artist
Billy Woods is an American rapper based in Brooklyn New York. He is also the founder of the record label Backwoodz Studioz and has been a member of Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers, and The Reavers. Billy Woods was born in Washington D.C. His mother was an English literature professor from Jamaica and his father was a marxist from Zimbabwe. In 1980, the family moved to Africa but returned to the United States in 1989 after the death of his father. Woods became involved in NYC's hip hop scene and started making music in the late 1990s. His debut solo album, Camouflage, came out in 2003 on his record label Backwoodz Studioz, followed a year later by a second album The Chalice. His artistic breakthrough came in 2012, with the release of the excellent History Will Absolve Me, a politically charged indictment of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. The following year he released Dour Candy, produced by Blockhead. In 2017, his album Known Unknowns was included on Rolling Stone's "15 Great Albums You Probably Didn't Hear in 2017" list. In 2019, he released the superb Hiding Places, a collaborative album with producer Kenny Segal, as well as a solo album, Terror Management. 2020, brought another collaborative work titled Brass, with Moor Mother. Billy Woods has a knack for trying things never before seen in hip hop production. One moment he uses a haunted, ice-cold synth-embossed passage, and the next he's laying down cleverly placed nods to pop culture between twangy electric guitars and relentless kick drums. Descending piano rhythms and chirping flutes plucked from some free jazz production pack find themselves trapped within hard hitting distorted beats and a gradual unspooling acid-laced yarn that weaves one idea to the next. Standout releases to-date, include the albums History Will Absolve Me, Known Unknowns, Hiding Places and Brass. The 2011 compilation Cowardly Threats & Hideous Cruelty is also recommended. Woods is notoriously private. In press photos, he obscures his face. Even his name, Billy Woods, is an alias. And while he’s always been a writer, his early work was focused on fiction and cultural criticism, but Woods declines to elaborate on any details.
Artist Website: backwoodzstudioz.com
Featured Albums: Billy Woods
Related Artists: Moor Mother, Kenny Segal, Moor Mother, Armand Hammer
