Billy Woods
GOLLIWOG is NYC rapper billy woods’ first album in two years, preceded by 2023’s Maps, his acclaimed second collaboration with Kenny Segal. Pitchfork called it “a masterful road-trip album,” while Rolling Stone deemed it “a dizzying listen…the kind of album that’s designed to get you lost.”
In 2024, Armand Hammer — woods’ “formidable” (New York Times) duo project with ELUCID — released We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, which The Needle Drop described as “on another level” and The Observer (UK) designated “an exceptional record [that] deserves your full attention.”
Today, the New York-based rapper billy woods shares “BLK ZMBY,” a new track produced by Steel Tipped Dove. “BLK ZMBY” finds woods in elite form, adroitly chronicling geopolitical concerns and nightmarish hallucinations atop a beat suitable for a spaghetti western shootout.
It’s the latest from GOLLIWOG, a new album out May 9. Influenced by MF DOOM as well as 20th century sci-fi and horror authors like Ray Bradbury and Toni Morrison, GOLLIWOG incorporates elements of horror, humor, surrealism, and Afropessimism into a distinctive danse macabre.
It’s got all the elements of a woods classic: African zombies, time traveling trap cars, malevolent ragdolls, and a dying Frantz Fanon. It’s another triumph in the woods oeuvre, as layered and compelling as anything he has ever done. As Consequence wrote: “Good news for anyone who enjoys quality hip-hop, sick-ass music, and supremely talented artists…GOLLIWOG can’t get here soon enough.”
The album features production from The Alchemist, Kenny Segal, EL-P, Conductor Williams, Preservation, Messiah Musik, Sadhugold, Ant (Atmosphere), Shabaka Hutchings, Steel Tipped Dove, DJ Haram, Willie Green, Jeff Markey, Saint Abdullah, and LA-based experimental jazz trio Human Error Club. woods is joined on the mic by Backwoodz labelmates ELUCID and Cavalier, along with rappers Bruiser Wolf, Despot, Al.Divino, and singer-songwriter Yolanda Watson.
“BLK ZMBY” follows lead single “Misery,” which got love from Pitchfork, The Needle Drop, Consequence, and many more upon release. Stereogum called it “an evocative snapshot of the moment of terrible clarity.” Listen to “Misery” here.
billy woods will be supporting GOLLIWOG with an extensive itinerary of live performances throughout 2025. In a review of a show at the most recent SXSW, Rolling Stone praised woods’ “raw and emphatic performance,” adding that “there was no question we were in the presence of greatness.” See full dates below, more details here.
GOLLIWOG is billy woods’ first album in two years, preceded by 2023’s Maps, his acclaimed second collaboration with Kenny Segal. Rolling Stone deemed it “a dizzying listen…the kind of album that’s designed to get you lost.” In 2024, Armand Hammer — woods’ “formidable” (New York Times) duo project with ELUCID — released We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, which The Observer (UK) designated “an exceptional record [that] deserves your full attention.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/sxsw-day-two-billy-woods-jacks-mannequin-billianne-1235295414/
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/billy-woods-golliwog/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/arts/music/billy-woods-golliwog.html