Aethiopes

God this album is WILD. After I listened to his latest album Maps, I've been very intrigued by billy. His lyricism, Unique delivery and production choices really made me want to dive deeper into his discography, And since so many people are praising him and he is considered by many one of the best underground rappers out there. So this album seemed like an appropriate continuation for me with billy woods, And yeah this shit is insane.

How can I even describe this thing? There are genuinely so many details, Layers and things to unpack here, Which billy seems like a master of creating high conceptual and multi layered projects. But man, He does that in such a creative way I've never seen before, Its really mind blowing, This album is so dense and complex to the point that only the greatest creative minds can come with the ambition to create something like that.

Billy is definitely at the top of his game here. His writing is straight up genius, With his abstract metaphors, Powerful imagery and incredible storytelling. From what I understand and from some of the interpretations I've seen on internet, The concept of the album is pretty much billy walking in a museum and passing by different exhibits, Through every exhibit he tells his own experiences and thoughts by referring and using the specific exhibit, Or the specific historic event if you will. He tells all these stories in a very abstract way, Its like he is moving between different dreams and sections, That are all connected to the same concept and narrative if you look at the bigger picture. Its like he is teaching you history lessons while diving into different topics throughout the album.

In terms of his performances on the album, He is absolutely stellar. His delivery is extremely unique and his flows are almost spoken word at times, But he is very passionate on each and every song, At times he is screaming and on other tracks his voice almost breaks up, Its very engaging and he is charismatic to say the least, I fucking love him.

Sonically this album is insane, The production is truly off the fucking rails, some weird ass samples and dirty jazzy instruments can be found easily throughout the tracklist, Some songs don't even have drums in them or a steady beat. Its very challenging but once you settle into it, It gets more and more digestible in my opinion. The atmosphere of the album is very dark, Unsettling, Eerie and dusty,
Which actually fits very well the album cover. Billy matches this atmosphere perfectly with his unique spoken word raw delivery.

Aethiopes is an experience, A very dense record but extremally engaging and intriguing. Billy is incredible and if you dive into what he has to say on this album, You can pull out so many thought provoking amazing concepts.

Favorite: Asylum, Sauvage, NYNEX, Heavy Water, Haarlem, Remorseless, Smith + Cross
Least favorite: The Doldrums