Reacting to "Maps" by Billy Woods
Added 2023-05-26 20:39:53 +0000 UTCDirect Play Link: https://iframe.mediadelivery.net/play/27377/1d8e498b-c046-4410-b4f7-25b2c8b246b4
Trying not to spoil here, but... I'm very glad I did not pass on this one 👍
Enjoy!
Comments
This was a fantastic reaction. Thanks Bob for supporting the lyricists. 🫶
Jared
2023-05-29 23:59:18 +0000 UTCi really think you should react to kaycyy’s new album TW2052 it’s a crazy futuristic sounding album that has production from Gesaffelstein who does a lot of production for the weeknd’s popular songs. even if you don’t do a reaction i really recommend you listen to it. it’s only 7 songs around 20 minutes and every track is very unique yet in a similar futuristic style production with great rapping and singing from kaycyy
Tucker Cross
2023-05-29 20:17:13 +0000 UTCevery line this guy delivers is like a brush stroke on a painting bro
yeah
2023-05-28 07:02:12 +0000 UTCI thought it was great. Well written, well performed, good sound and flow 👍
Bob_the_Poppop
2023-05-27 19:30:17 +0000 UTCAnother rap artist, R.A.P. Ferreira (f/k/a Milo), has had much of his work produced by Kenny Segal. Across multiple songs over the years, he has consistently pronounced the name as SEE-gull and never as see-GALL. Knowing that, I found it funny how you agonized over that at points! (For the curious, R.A.P. Ferreira is another highly poetic, high-diction artist, though with more of a philosophical slant than billy woods's sociohistorical one.) Oh, and this is a nice video. Hadn't heard this album yet, but on first listen it's a keeper, especially with that evocative production. I've never heard woods have so much fun on a record, which is ironic given how dismal his themes get here. It's also comforting to hear, on one record, such energetic and familiar (to me) voices from the East Coast & Midwest segments of this loose underground scene.
Dareka
2023-05-27 05:01:47 +0000 UTCAgree with the comment from James cheat codes is one of the best records from last year. Black thought is amazing
JohnMichael Kane
2023-05-27 04:34:56 +0000 UTCHey Bob- what did you think of Aesop Rock’s verse? I’ve been hoping that you’d check out one of his projects. Between him and El-p’s solo stuff, Cannibal Ox- a lot of the artists from Def Jux are right up your alley.
Ian Lewis
2023-05-27 03:29:20 +0000 UTCHis reviews of Billy albums does go to the next level.
The Gr8 Scott
2023-05-27 03:00:32 +0000 UTCLove the reaction! You should consider checking out more Quelle Chris’ work. (Quelle rhymes with L.A.) His production is in a similar vein to this. He’s a very clever lyricist but a little more straightforward than Billy Woodz, though makes up for with versatile approaches to songs. His most recent album Deathfame is all about the legacy of artists music after they die. And his album Guns from 2019 is a masterpiece and throughly intriguing portrait of America.
Tim B
2023-05-27 02:01:43 +0000 UTCMy favorite album this year
Josh Burcham
2023-05-27 01:35:36 +0000 UTCProfessor Syke described this album very well in his review calling it a great companion piece to Tyler's 'CMIYGL'. Instead of Tyler's romanticized luxurious travels, Woods is stuck in the gritty reality of it.
conorog
2023-05-27 00:49:12 +0000 UTCSo Happy you finally got to some Billy Woods! One of the best modern hip hop writers
Mike Muzzi
2023-05-27 00:40:24 +0000 UTCGreat write up, Vegan, thank you!
Bob_the_Poppop
2023-05-27 00:10:52 +0000 UTCIt's really good... I'm glad I sat down with it
Bob_the_Poppop
2023-05-27 00:08:37 +0000 UTCYour lyrical breakdown is second to none Bob. I think you’d really like the Danger Mouse & Black Thought record Cheat Codes, not many reactions out there and you’d have a blast w Black Thought’s lyrics
James Hanson
2023-05-27 00:03:55 +0000 UTCNever heard of Billy Woods until today when I saw that you reacted to it, so I listened to this album before I watched your reaction and it is 🔥 you put me on, Bob! Lol
Bryan Torres
2023-05-26 23:49:05 +0000 UTCI saw him say on twitter that he is planning to do it, but he hasn’t had time yet cause he was traveling
Caden Minnich
2023-05-26 22:48:05 +0000 UTCI agree. 👆
VeganMilk
2023-05-26 22:47:43 +0000 UTCAs you’ve heard here, Billy Woods is lyrically, just on a completely different level. He’s basically a poet. He’s one of those artists where it’s pretty much impossible to completely understand everything he’s saying at all times... but he’s saying it in such a way that convinces you it’s something worth listening to. Tons of people spend days on Genius analyzing his lyrics and whatnot every time he drops and never get anywhere, so don’t feel bad about not getting it. His lyrics though, are pretty disjointed and stream-of-consciousness-like. Like you said on Soft Landing, he’s just kind of throwing out his thoughts over the beat. Very helter-skelter in a way that comes together perfectly. I think the reason he’s so popular in the underground is because obviously his lyrics are great and profound, but his beat selection, flow, and delivery/tone match everything so well. You described it well. Even if you don’t understand anything he’s saying, you can still enjoy it just from the feeling that’s being presented. Though, if you do want a better understanding of the overall concept/story of this album, I’d recommend watching Professor Skye’s video on it, it’s fun watching him try to untangle it all. There are a lot of analysis videos on YouTube breaking down Woods’ writing style and lyrics, so check those out if you’re interested. Billy Woods has been around for a long while. He founded a record label called Backwoodz Studioz which has since become one of the most respected underground rap labels in New York. His debut was in 2004, it was a collab project with Vordul Omega of Cannibal Ox, who I’m sure you’ve heard of. His mother was a Jamaican intellectual and his father was a member of the Zimbabwe Marxist government in the 80s. Woods lived in Africa for most of his childhood and started rapping when he moved to New York after his dad died in 1995. He’s in a duo called Armand Hammer, it’s him and ELUCID. Very experimental lyrical rap, pretty much more of what you heard here. They have a great little 40-minute album produced entirely by the Alchemist called HARAM, it’s their best album in terms of production imo. As far as his other stuff, or what to do next. He dropped an album in 2022 called Aethiopes; It is, in Billy Woods’ own opinion, his largest and most broad album conceptually. It turned a lot of heads last year and gave him a much larger fanbase. Very dark, gritty, and kinda depressing in terms of tone and subject matter. Much weirder, more experimental production. A lot of people consider it his magnum opus. He has another album called “History Will Absolve Me”, kind of considered his breakout album, released in 2012 after a long period of writer’s block. His 2015 album “Today I Wrote Nothing” is great, too. There’s a lot to uncover in this sphere of dense lyrical rap that you’re exploring, Billy Woods is definitely one of the best in that regard. Some others in that same sphere include Ka (who you’ve heard), Aesop Rock, El-P, Roc Marciano, Earl Sweatshirt, Cannibal Ox, and Lupe Fiasco.
VeganMilk
2023-05-26 22:47:22 +0000 UTCCilvia Demo soon pls bob !!
Joey
2023-05-26 21:40:48 +0000 UTCI haven’t listened to him before, but his vocal style (and occasionally tone of his voice) reminds me a bit of Aesop Rock.
Tim P
2023-05-26 21:14:06 +0000 UTCu gotta react to hiding places since you liked this one
Jack Turgoose
2023-05-26 21:07:05 +0000 UTCHey Bob, don’t know if you mentioned it in a reaction, but are we gonna get additional thoughts on Live. Love. ASAP?
21Kris
2023-05-26 21:03:15 +0000 UTCI pretty rarely listen to new albums for the first time during a reaction (yours or otherwise), so it works in my favor when you do an album I plan to listen to but haven’t yet, gets me to avoid procrastinating. Just finished this one, perfect timing that your upload just dropped. 🙌🏼
Tim P
2023-05-26 21:01:22 +0000 UTCyou gotta do Hiding Places next Bob, even better imo
Lewis Mcshane
2023-05-26 21:00:22 +0000 UTCThis album will be hard to beat for rap album of the year! Great reaction Bob
Landfish 410
2023-05-26 20:58:12 +0000 UTC
