GOLLIWOG is billy woods’ first album in two years, preceded by 2023’s Maps,
his second collaboration with producer Kenny Segal. That nimble travelogue has
little in common with woods’ newest work, despite the fact that Segal shows up
a couple times in the credits. GOLLIWOG is a haunting collection that weaves
horror, humor, surrealism and Afropessimism into a cinematic tapestry, aided and
abetted by a murderer’s row of producers. African zombies, time traveling trap
cars, malevolent ragdolls and a dying Frantz Fanon are just a few of the revelers in
woods’ danse macabre.
GOLLIWOG 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. Meanwhile,
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.
GOLLIWOG is another triumph in the woods oeuvre, as layered and compelling
as anything he has ever done. A black carnival pitched in a muddy field overnight,
empty rides whirring and clattering in the dark.
