You can only know someone who never shows their face so well, and Aethiopes still isn’t that exposé. But it isn’t meant to be. You may not know who Billy Woods is, but you know how he feels.
This is Billy’s first solo project since his 2019 record “Terror Management”. It was entirely produced by Preservation, the pair actually already worked together before. Preservation did some of the production, on his last solo record. Woods was also featured on Preservation’s 2020 compilation album “Eastern Medicine, Western Illness”. I heavily praised that record, so i was extremely excited to hear them collaborate again.
The first thing you’ll ... read more
Ah… so it isn’t overhyped
It really is that good. The first songs on this project are the least accessible. It gets easier to vibe as the project goes along.
Bars. Bars. Bars.
Holy mother of bars.
Everything inside “Aethiopes” makes sense. Every little detail that Billy Woods introduces through his deep bars has meaning in the whole narrative that the album is trying to portray! Plus, there’s the abstract hip-hop factor, with those heavy but kinda classic beats that make this album so enjoyable. If it weren’t for some of the features in here this album could have been the best in Billy’s whole career, but this is still a really really good effort from one of ... read more
1 | Asylum 2:42 | 88 |
2 | No Hard Feelings 2:15 | 89 |
3 | Wharves 3:08 | 88 |
4 | Sauvage 3:07 feat. Boldy James, Gabe 'Nandez | 90 |
5 | The Doldrums 3:40 | 79 |
6 | NYNEX 4:17 | 86 |
7 | Christine 3:31 feat. Mike Ladd | 84 |
8 | Heavy Water 2:23 feat. El-P, Breeze Brewin | 91 |
9 | Haarlem 3:19 feat. Fatboi Sharif | 84 |
10 | Versailles 3:07 feat. Despot | 85 |
11 | Protoevangelium 2:24 feat. Shinehead | 85 |
12 | Remorseless 2:50 | 92 |
13 | Smith + Cross 2:21 | 91 |