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Billy Woods (stylized as billy woods) is an American rapper based in New York. He is also the founder of the record label Backwoodz Studioz. Woods has been a member of Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers, and The Reavers.

Early life

Billy Woods was born in Washington, D.C. His mother was an English literature professor from Jamaica. His father was a PhD Marxist writer, active in the Zimbabwe War of Liberation and then member of the government in Zimbabwe. In 1980, the family moved to Zimbabwe. After the death of Woods' father, they returned to the United States in 1989. Woods briefly attended Howard University before getting involved in New York City's hip hop scene. He started making music in the late 1990s. He wrote his "first real rhyme" at a laundromat in Kennebunk, Maine in 1997.

Career

Billy Woods released his debut solo album, Camouflage, on his record label Backwoodz Studioz in 2003. In 2012, he released History Will Absolve Me. In 2013, he released Dour Candy, which was entirely produced by Blockhead. In 2017, he released Known Unknowns. It was included on Rolling Stone's "15 Great Albums You Probably Didn't Hear in 2017" list. In 2019, he released a collaborative album with producer Kenny Segal, titled Hiding Places, as well as a solo album, Terror Management. 2020 brought Brass, a collaborative album with Moor Mother. Woods released Aethiopes and Church in 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

• Camouflage (2003)
• The Chalice (2004)
• Terror Firma (2005) (The Reavers)
• Emergency Powers: The World Tour (2007) (Super Chron Flight Brothers)
• Indonesia (2009) (Super Chron Flight Brothers)
• Cape Verde (2010) (Super Chron Flight Brothers)
• History Will Absolve Me (2012)
• Dour Candy (2013)
• Today, I Wrote Nothing (2015)
• Known Unknowns (2017)
• Hiding Places (2019) (with Kenny Segal)
• Terror Management (2019)
• Brass (2020) (with Moor Mother)
• Aethiopes (2022)
• Church (2022)

Compilation albums

• Cowardly Threats & Hideous Cruelty (2011)

Mixtapes

• New York Times (2006) (The Reavers)
• Deleted Scenes (2009) (Super Chron Flight Brothers)

Singles

• "Slums / America / Dusted" (2005) (The Reavers)
• "Shadows" (2006) (The Reavers)
• "Dirtweed" (2007) (Super Chron Flight Brothers)

Guest appearances

• Invizzibl Men - "52 Lashings" from The Unveiling (2008)
• Vordul Mega - "Opium Scripts", "Air Battery", "Keep Livin'" and "Imani" from Megagraphitti (2008)
• Teleseen - "Chikurubi" and "Whiteworst" from Fear of the Forest (2009)
• A.M. Breakups - "Forms" and "Chapter 2" from The Cant Resurrection (2011)
• Cult Favorite - "Omega3" from For Madmen Only (2013)
• L'Orange - "The End" from The Orchid Days (2014)
• L'Orange - "Stop Growing" from After the Flowers (2015)
• Pawcut - "Vulture's Picnic" from Maverick (2015)
• ELUCID - "Who No Know Gon Know" and "Slumped" from Osage (2016)
• ELUCID - "Bleachwater" and "Lest They Forget" from Save Yourself (2016)
• Lushlife - "The Heart Is an Atomic Bomb" from My Idols Are Dead + My Enemies Are in Power (2017)
• Uncommon Nasa - "Written at Night" from Written at Night (2017)
• Mach-Hommy - "383 Myrtle" from Dumpmeister (2017)
• Henry Canyons - "It Don't Mean a Thing" from Cool Side of the Pillow (2018)
• Curly Castro - "Ital-You-Can-Eat" from Tosh (2018)
• Blockhead - "Slippery Slope" from Free Sweatpants (2019)
• L'Orange & Jeremiah Jae - "Clay Pigeons" from Complicate Your Life with Violence (2019)
• Nicholas Craven - "Gyre" from Craven N 2 (2019)
• Shrapknel - "Estranged Fruit" from Shrapknel (2020)
• Quelle Chris & Chris Keys - "Grease from the Elbows" from Innocent Country 2 (2020)
• Preservation - "Lemon Rinds" and "Snow Globe" from Eastern Medicine, Western Illness (2020)
• FIELDED - "Justus" from Demisexual Lovelace (2020)
• Small Bills - "Sometimes Care Looks Like Leave Me the Fuck Alone" from Don't Play it Straight (2020)
• Your Old Droog - "Odessa" from Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition (2020)
• Navy Blue - "Poderoso" from Songs of Sage: Post Panic! (2020)
• YOUNGMAN & Celestaphone - "Human Rights" from A Year of Octobers (2021)
• Curly Castro - "Killmonger Was Right" from Little Robert Hutton (2021)
• Steel Tipped Dove - "Kingston", "Nft", "Buddy Ryan", and "Simple Machines" from Call Me When You're Outside (2021)
• Your Old Droog & Lil Ugly Mane - "Meteor Man" from Space Bar (2021)
• PremRock - "Bardo" from Load Bearing Crow's Feet (2022)
• ELUCID - "Sardonyx", "Nostrand", "Mangosteen", and "Jumanji" from I Told Bessie (2022)
• Myles Bullen - "Ordinary Magic" from "Mourning Travels" (2022)
• Algiers - "Bite Back" (2022)
• Jeff Markey - "Floaters" from Sports and Leisure (2022)

References

1. Gillespie, Blake (April 20, 2012). "Nothing To Something: billy woods on overcoming writer's block". Impose. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
2. Faierman, Leonardo (November 9, 2017). "An Introduction to the Dystopian Hip-Hop of Backwoodz Studioz". Bandcamp Daily. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
3. ^ Diamond, Samuel (April 24, 2015). "billy woods "But one day it will be gone."". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
4. Tardio, Andres (August 30, 2010). "Super Chron Flight Brothers - Cape Verde". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
5. Brown, Marisa. "Reavers - Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
6. ^ Mlynar, Phillip (May 31, 2017). "Billy Woods Is The Underground Rapper Chekhov Would Listen To". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
7. Nguyen, Dean Van (January 9, 2013). "Time Goes By: Interview with Billy Woods". Nerdtorious. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
8. ^ Biswas, Joel (November 15, 2018). "Hope in a Hopeless Situation: An Interview With Billy Woods". Passion of the Weiss. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
9. Lipez, Zachary (June 28, 2013). "Billy Woods and Blockhead's Collaborative Album, 'Dour Candy,' is an Invigorating Hangover". Noisey. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
10. Bozzer, Mark (April 10, 2012). "Billy Woods: History Will Absolve Me". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
11. McCurry, Francisco (May 8, 2012). "Billy Woods – History Will Absolve Me". Potholes in My Blog. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
12. Ellison, Kyle (August 21, 2013). "Champion Sound #14: Ka, Starlito, Billy Woods". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
13. Patrin, Nate (August 14, 2013). "Billy Woods: Dour Candy". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
14. Thompson, Paul (October 6, 2017). "billy woods Is at the Forefront of Rap's Avant-Garde". Noisey. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
15. Reeves, Mosi (December 19, 2017). "15 Great Albums You Probably Didn't Hear in 2017: Billy Woods, 'Known Unknowns'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
16. Breihan, Tom (March 29, 2019). "Stream billy woods & Kenny Segal's New Album Hiding Places". Stereogum. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
17. Carmichael, Rodney (December 11, 2019). "9 Afro Dystopian Rap Albums As Dark And Droll As 2019". NPR. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
18. "BRASS from Moor Mother & billy woods". Backwoodz Studioz. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
19. "BILLY WOODS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE". Backwoodz Studioz. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
20. "Your Old Droog announces new album, shares "Meteor Man" featuring Lil Ugly Mane and billy woods". The FADER. 15 November 2021.

External links

• BackwoodzStudioz.com
• Billy Woods discography at Discogs

• Living people
• American rappers of Jamaican descent
• American people of Zimbabwean descent
• American male rappers
• Rappers from New York City
• Underground rappers
• 21st-century American rappers
• 21st-century American male musicians