If you're familiar with billy woods, ELUCID, or Armand Hammer (these two as a duo), you're getting a taste of the label, Backwoodz Studioz. Founded in, as far back as, 2003, the label has been bubbling within the sub terrain sector slowly, but gradually throughout the past two decades. While those that have been up on ELUCID and woods for the better part of the past decade, there were a few artists that were with the label and some projects that, with the exception of the highly dedicated ones, few people heard a ton of noise about. In fact, it wasn't until 2012 when woods dropped, History Will Absolve Me, that more people started to take notice, as this became arguably the album that made people sit up and take more notice of woods and his damn near unmatched verbal and written talents. From there, he, ELUCID, those two together as Armand Hammer, and others have been low-key gaining momentum within the underground movement. As time would go along, more artists would get signed such as Fatboi Sharif, DefCee, producers Blockhead and Jeff Markey, and Shrapknel would start getting some shine under this very promising label and would amass critical acclaim much like woods and ELUCID. The label mostly hosts artists that are very abstract emcees and left-brained thinkers and writers, thus allowing the listener to go on lanes that aren't exactly the most conventional. However, the label has more than enough excellent to game-changing efforts to keep you intrigued upon their building success within abstract, experimental hip-hop. With that being said, let's get into the top twenty-five albums of the label, with honorable mentions (spoiler: woods & Armand Hammer take up about half this list, but it won't dilute any other project on the list).
25. ELUCID
Save Yourself
Production: artist, Messiah Muzik, Small Professor, Willie Green, others
Guests: billy woods, Psychic Twin
As is the case with most of the Backwoodz roster, certain types of styles and delivery are an acquired taste and can get some getting used to, and that's if you're able to adapt. One such emcee is ELUCID. While Armand Hammer cohort, billy woods, style is almost like spoken word poetry, ELUCID has a more complex style that is a mixture of dense and guttural and doesn't necessarily rely on flowing or riding with any type of set beat or production. His cadence is methodical yet technical. However, he still makes it work and work well. One such example of his unorthodox style is shown on his album, Save Yourself. His 2016 debut marked a big shift in his bubbling core audience that was already familiar with the NYC emcee. His writing is among the best around with cuts like "Obama Incense" and "NY Blanks", while showing his knack for the thought provocation with other cuts like "Wake Up Dead Man", the woods assisted "Bleachwater", and the intriguing "Jealous God". The production here is dense yet layered, just like the theme of this album. Personal, captivating, and complex, Save Yourself is not an album you'll digest with a sitting or two. It'll take several spins with full concentration to realize how special this album and this artist truly is.
24. billy woods
Known Unknowns
Production: Blockhead, Aesop Rock
Guests: Homeboy Sandman, Aesop Rock, others
The almighty billy woods is powerful. His pen game ranks among the most impressive of any artist, regardless of genre, in music today, and has been for over a couple decades now. This NYC native is miles and light years beyond his contemporaries with his overall themes of socio-political, culturally antagonizing warnings of the current civilization, and almost-Nostradamus levels of observance and foreshadowing. Through his spoken word style and carefully woven narratives, woods is meticulous in his approach to today's climate that goes beyond rap. One such example is his 2017 offering, Known Unknowns. Much like his 2015 offering, Today, I Wrote Nothing, and especially his heavily lauded, History Will Absolve Me, Known Unknowns is heavy. For the most part, very heavy. Cuts like "Washington Redskins" display his knack for zeroing in on racial tropes and clichés while showing how they'll never not be too culturally vital to not examine. While other cuts like "Police Came to My Show", the ELUCID-featured "Nomento", and "Strawman" demonstrate how woods can use his complex reality to make the listener feel like they're on an emotional airplane that's going through constant turbulence, Known Unknowns is such a tremendous class in the chaotic world and fascinating imagery that woods provides to the listener effortlessly.
23. PremRock
Load Bearing Crow's Feet
Production: artist, Messiah Muzik, Evidence, Small Professor, Willie Green, others
Guests: billy woods, ELUCID, AJ Suede, Curly Castro, others
NY's PremRock is an artist whose eccentric, yet striking style and delivery is suited for the left-brained imagery of Backwoodz Studios. While he has released previous stuff such as Who Art in Nada, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, and Mark's Wild Years, his 2021 effort, Load Bearing Crows Feet, is more engaging and personal then his previous releases, and certainly a denser sounding project at that. the bartender by trade has quite the pen game and has the knack to draw you into his sparse and eccentric mind. He shows anxiety and caution on the bass-heavy "Apollo Kids Meal", while on the inflammatory "Joel Osteen", he uses the widely known megachurch pastor to highlight corruption, selfishness, and self-absorption in a society where that's the last thing we as a whole need to keep facing on a day-to-day basis. On the eerie, "If on A Winter's Night" featuring the haunting vocals of Backwoodz sibger, FIELDED, he does an excellent job describing the world around him and how it all plays into his cynicism of the society he's exposed to everyday with a sense of vulnerability as well. Abstract yet observant, PremRock presents quite a dope effort with Load Bearing Crows Feet, and is another album that one or two listens will not be enough for you to let the promise and substantial nature of the effort to sink in.
22. Backwoodz Studioz
Target Practice
Production: K-Salaam, Hasaan Chop, Bond, NASA, others
Guests: N/A
The first big compilation of the label arrived in '07. While there was no PremRock or ELUCID or Sharpknel, there were Hi-Coup, Keith Masters, The Reavers, and Invizibl Men. All of these artists, along with woods, presented a promising effort with Target Practice. Filled with sounds that the likes of Mr. Lif, Aesop Rock, or even the late, great MF DOOM would rhyme over, each of the twenty-one cuts resemble a certain type of underground NYC flavor that can also be quite the acquired taste. Talent is abounded here on cuts like the hitting "Jimmy Swaggar", "Love & War", "Armor Truck Rap", and the woods' sliced "October" are standouts that show that even in 2007, there was something here with this roster of talent that it took a certain niche to connect with. At a time where artists like Kanye and Jay were in commercial spotlight and trap music was becoming the go-to sound, the underground was still delivering with some of its best moments. This Backwoodz project of Target Practice was one such case.
21. Armand Hammer
Rome
Production: Messiah Muzik, JPEGMAFIA, Kenny Segal, August Fanon, others
Guests: Mach-Hommy, Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, Curly Castro
The first of a few Armand Hammer efforts on this list is quite a treat. Following up their previous efforts of Race Music and 2014's Furtive Movements wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world to do, but not only did they do so, but they surpassed that effort as well with Rome. What billy woods and ELUCID did here was tremendous. Not only did they go even further down the iceberg of challenging the modern-day sound of what rap is "Supposed" to sound like, both lyrically and sound-wise, but they bring chaos in a world where society pressures conformity and socio-political agendas are becoming more and more zombie-like. They go for the jugular on cuts like "Stole", "Dead Money", and "It Was Written", in which they make paranoid imagery and grim oversights the normal way of life. The brooding Quelle Chris-assisted "Microdose" and the thematically heavy "Barbarians" also exhibit their approach to leave burned imagery of harsh cultural realities within this era that they're not afraid to tackle in their own unique ways. Once you've hit the hypnotic closing cut, "Overseas", you've been on an uneasy ride on Rome, but leave it to Armand Hammer to steer the ship within the rough seas of today's underground. While occasionally funny in certain lines and bars, Armand Hammer, to quote the late, great Prodigy, might crack a smile, but ain't a damn funny. If Furtive Movements was like their version of Cannibal Ox's gutter and frostbitten classic, The Cold Vein, and Race Music was their oft-put version of Funcrusher Plus, Rome could likely have some comparisons to the likes of Jedi Mind Tricks' Visions Of Ghandi, in that there's a spiraling decent into an unnerving sense of dread for the world and although the need for more peace and stable ideals are welcomed, they're not around nor is there any for hope for things to change. Armand Hammer made sure, with this effort, to let us know once again, this game is chess, not checkers.
20. DefCee & Messiah Muzik
Trapdoor
Production: Messiah Muzik
Guests: Armand Hammer, PremRock, Curly Castro, others
Chicago emcee, DefCee linked up with primary in-house producer, Messiah Muzik, to bring forth Trapdoor, and man did their chemistry shine here. DefCee is not a rookie emcee. He had dropped previous efforts, but in many ways, this was like a new level for the underground emcee. Over some of MM's most grim, layered, and atmospheric production, DefCee holds back nothing with impactful delivery and enough attitude to make you feel everything he's spitting. Mixing unsettling imagery with a penchant for creating vivid pictures of a society gone mad and distorted, DefCee and MM presented an album that shows they can put together something excellent. Standouts include the simply excellent "Snares" (which Mach-Hommy and Tha God Fahim would later use for Hommy's cut Money Magnets from his Balens Cho album of 2021), "The Institute of Living", and "Time Off", which all exemplify MM's talents to being among the most underrated producers out here. They would repeat this greatness in 2023 with the criminally slept-on The Golem of Brooklyn OST, but Trapdoor was their initial taste of very dope chemistry between these two great artists of their respective crafts.
19. Fatboi Sharif & Steel Tipped Dove
Decay
Production: Steel Tipped Dove
Guests: N/A
New Jersey representative, Fatboi Sharif, is another emcee that has a style all his own. Mixing bits of horrorcore similar to the likes of Esham to the uniquely vivid similar to the likes of Tech N9ne, Sharif has linked up with producers for previous projects such as his effort with Roper Williams, Ghandi Loves Children. He came through in 2023 with Decay, which is done entirely with another residential in-house producer, Steel Tipped Dove for a cleverly harrowing experience. With his own different style of rhyme cadence and delivery, Sharif sends us all on a ride through the dark, atmospheric, and outright haunting with cuts like "Ash Wednesday", "Designer Drugs" and "Brandon Lee". While artists like NATAS and even Brotha Lynch Hung go straight to the throat with unrelenting macabre imagery, Sharif leans more towards the nuance and obtuse in a few cuts, but others like "Scarhead", "Kingdom", and the very brooding "Farewell Outfit" are damn near Hitchcock-level fascinating in terms of the suspenseful yet dark evocation of his lyrics. Sharif & STD brought forth an album with Decay that is as chilling as it is intriguing and experimental. Sharif is someone to keep your eyes on throughout this decade like everyone else within the Backwoodz camp.
18. Steel Tipped Dove
Call Me When You're Outside
Production: artist
Guests: billy woods, ELUCID, Fatboi Sharif, SKECH185, Pink Siifu, others
Frequent Backwoodz production collaborator, Steel Tipped Dove, contributed to albums by DefCee and PremRock among others. The NYC based producer decided to pull the trigger on delivering his own project entitled Call Me When You're Outside. This is an eight-track project, and each track shows off his varying taste in sounds. From the gritty and atmospheric on the SHIRT-featured "Pirouette" to the electronica sounds from "Warner Wolf" and the layered samplings of "Buddy Ryan", STD has production that fits the type of atypical presence Backwoodz is all about. There's no one particular box to put Backwoodz in, and STD is an example of this. With woods on half the project, his influence is felt distinctively on this effort, with the likes of ELUCID, SKECH185, and The Koreatown Oddity showing up with impressive performances as well. With Call Me When You're Outside, STD takes us in more with him being in the spotlight for his sense of sound and the results are definitely worth listening to.
17. Armand Hammer
Shrines
Production: Messiah Muzik, Earl Sweatshirt, Nicholas Craven, August Fanon, Navy Blue, Kenny Segal, Child Actor, Steel Tipped Dove, others
Right when the world just got turned upside down with the pandemic in 2020, Armand Hammer dropped a crazy effort with Shrines, which is the follow-up to their exemplary 2018 effort, Paraffin. Mixed between the sublime and the dirty and grungy, Shrines has woods and ELUCID examining the consciousness of an uncivilized civilization, where it's both humorous and threatening. On cuts like the alarming "Flavor Flav", the conflicting "Leopards", and "Pommelhorse", the duo makes their cryptic, yet intelligently strategized, lyrical offerings thought-provoking, while conjuring images of constant ambiguity. The cautionary "War Stories" and "Parables" show how they can come at you straightforward with grim truths and they can also come at you with vivid displays of a grim climate without having to spell it out for you and for you to dissect yourself. A bit more complex than Paraffin, yet more subtly urgent than say Race Music, Shrines is one album from them that will not be easily digested yet may be among their most clear examples of their dichotomy of the state of our society.
16. Super Chron Flight Bros.
Emergency Powers: The World Tour
Production: Bond, MF DOOM, NASA, others
In the early years of Backwoodz, woods was paired with fellow emcee, Privilege, to become the Super Chron Flight Bros, a stoner duo that, even their highness, manage to eloquently spit out chaos in the midst of humor and dichotomy. With their album, Emergency Powers: The World Tour, picture a more observant and slightly paranoid Meth & Red over more haunting, gloomy, and dense production that appears more abstract than strategic. With cuts like the moody "Slaughterhouse", the Cannibal Ox-assisted "Adamantium", and the excellent, story-laced "First Blood", these two guys have you fascinated with how tune they are without being overly preachy with their commentary. In a sense, it appears these two are getting stoned to deal with the disorganized nature of the world around them, while trying to find cynical humor to get them through. Cuts such as "Rent Control" and the incredible opener "Drought" that takes you into such thematic classics like "Peruvian Cocaine", "Stray Bullet", and "Drink Away the Pain" show their clever use of imagery and imaginative tact with context behind them. The rest of this album is mixed between jarring and cautionary, with Emergency Powers: The World Tour being just right for those that believe you can't be highly informed and socially cognitive while stoned at the same time.
15. AKAI SOLO
Spirit Roaming
Production: Messiah Muzik, Preservation, AniMoss, Ahwlee, August Fanon, others
Guests: Armand Hammer
Another NYC underground dweller that deserves plenty of shine within the Backwoodz camp is AKAI SOLO. Almost as polished and gifted of a writer as head honcho woods and cohort ELUCID, SOLO came forth in 2022 with Spirit Roaming, a collection of cuts that examine this young emcee guiding through life making the best he can with consequences of bad choices and misguided direction. Over some of the best jazzy-yet-atmospheric production you'll find at that time, SOLO often times is trying to survive, which tends to be the one-word theme of this album: survival. Just trying to get from one day or minute to the next day or minute. Carefully written cuts like "Demonslayer" and "Red Butterfly" are having him painting pictures of his complexity and his ambiguity while somehow managing to spit jewels throughout the cuts. Meanwhile, he reveals more of his inner most thoughts and feelings on more reflective cuts like "Driftman" and the elegant- sounding collab with Armand Hammer, "The Upper Room" that shows him in a more of a mode of survival in the essence of him having nothing else left to lose. AKAI is a great lyricist and a great writer, and with Spirit Roaming, his need for spiritual absolution and the desire for some sort of remission within him has offered us a glimpse into his constant battles that deep down so many of us desire as well.
14. Armand Hammer
Paraffin
Production: ELUCID, Messiah Muzik, August Fanon, Kenny Segal, Small professor, others
Guests: SKECH185
Earlier, we highlighted Armand Hammer's 2017 offering, the very solid Rome. The themes within that album helped to shape the majority of subsequent albums from the pair. One such example of this was their follow-up to Rome in the form of 2018's, Paraffin. Even more weighty than Rome, Paraffin is denser and more socially pertinent. Although they still include brief glimpses of sideline humor and sarcastic cynicism, their brutal and harsh truths of today's socio-economic, socio-political, and cultural awareness is measured even closer than before over some very dense, stripped away, and occasionally surreal and esoteric production. Cuts like "No Days Off", "ECOMOG", and "Bob Barker" are so meticulously written for the sake of the sparse illustration and climatic stances that they take the listener on the type of roller coasters that give you that feeling that the ride could shut down at any moment and you have a feeling that it'll happen when the ride has you near the clouds and unable to do a damn thing about it. The anxiety levels are uncharted, and Armand Hammer purposely take you there on occasion with their imagery of the state of the union. They continue these types of narratives and soliloquies on other cuts like "Rehearse with Ornette" the chilling "Fuhrman Tapes", and "Hunter", as the latter is especially as jarring as any ARMHAM cut within their discography. Armand Hammer's fourth offering, Paraffin, is an especially brooding one. Most of their discography range from apocalyptic to paranoid to cautionary, but this one is as brutally aware and cataclysmic as anything Backwoodz as a label has ever produced.
13. billy woods
Terror Management
Production: Messiah Muzik, Blockhead, ELUCID, Preservation, Small Professor, Child Actor, Steel Tipped Dove, others
Guests: Mach-Hommy, Pink Siifu, AKAI SOLO, others
The ugly and distorted side of reality is often times the part of life we tend to avoid due to immediate trigger reactions of certain things we hate confronting. With billy woods, not only does he aggressively confront the ugly and nasty side of reality but is unapologetic of his paranoia and his sense of PTSD on 2019's Terror Management. This album picks up where his prior offering, the enigmatic yet bleak collab with Kenny Segal Hiding Place, left off. While you may occasional quick witted, ye occasionally misplaced, charm from woods, this is an album nearly null and void of those types of quirks, much like Hiding Place. Instead, he treads more into more a dark cynicism, nothing to laugh at but somehow, he may find this as his way of dealing with the paranoid thoughts in his head. His atmospheric imagery on "Shepard's Tone" and the dread undertones on "Blood Thinners" are exemplary, yet he gets even more personal on the honest "Great Fires" that explores separation and regret. While the production is not as murky and layered as Hiding Place, Terror Management is more along the lines of jazzy and a little more melodic, resembling more Race Music more than Hiding Place or even Rome. Often stylistically his albums tend to be compared to Earl Sweatshirt. If that's the case, if Hiding Place is I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, then this is more so Doris, filled with dread, but glimpses of sarcastic light, even if few and far between. What woods delivered with Terror Management is an almost as grim sequel to Hiding Place, but woods' talent for the written word and his visual imagery is damn near scholarly.
12. billy woods & Messiah Muzik
Church
Production: Messiah Muzik
Guests: ELUCID, AKAI SOLO, Fielded
The enigmatic billy woods nailed two solo albums in 2022, both of which painted woods in utter dichotomy. His earlier album was the Preservation-crafted, Aethiopes, in which it was ethereal and cataclysmic in nature. Later in the year, he delivered Church, a slightly more accessible and not as heavy effort with frequent production collaborator, Messiah Muzik. Don't get it twisted. This is NOT a sunshine, happy, Kirk Franklin/Mary Mary-type inspirational album. This is woods showing the pessimism of the current state of society in a more open and less dense approach. In fact, this is more about vulnerability in the midst of a grim outlook within his world. While he tends to let us inside his mental capacity in terms of his pessimistic view of life in and of itself, he dives into his own personal diary letting us dissect his pages filled with more honest and open passages. While the likes of "Paraquat" explores his vulnerability in almost ambiguous detail (especially with the song cutting into halves, with the latter half being more disruptive and brooding), conjuring up imagery that's more self-preserving than heartfelt and raw, tracks like "Artichoke" are more abstract in its texture and explorative in how to come to a self-understanding about how his thoughts tend to get him disheveled. Other cuts like the sparse "Fever Grass" and the ELUCID-assisted "Fuchsia & Green" help center woods' knack for imaginative lyricism shape shift for vivid double entendres. This type of penmanship and the imagery within it is fascinating and only the most superb talents are able to knock out. Meanwhile, "Pollo Rico" is a look at his own mortality in such an engaging manner you can't help but repeat this cut multiple times just to see if you missed a gem or two. What woods and Messiah Muzik put together with Church is a testament to how psychedelic and left-brained these two have been all these years, yet still continue to explore their tremendous chemistry sonically and, in woods' case, conceptually. While not a lightweight album in terms of style and texture, Church is more inviting into his open wounds than Aethiopes, but that's just fine.
11. SKECH185 & Jeff Markey
He Left Nothing for The Swim Back
Production: Jeff Markey
Guests: billy woods, PremRock, others
Chicago native, SKECH185 is not a rookie to this hip-hop game. This underground emcee first made his debut with Gunship Diplomacy with producer Automated Tape Decks. His style is very frantic and occasionally jumbled. Mixing intensity with focus animation, SKECH185 is quite a fit with Backwoodz with his abstract stylings. In 2023, he collaborated with Backwoodz producer, Jeff Markey, to deliver He Left Nothing for The Swimback, a chaotic and eclectic array of socially conscious cuts coming off with aggression and abrasiveness. SKECH185 arrives with his extinction agenda from the opening cut, which so happens to be the title track. Nothing cute, nothing fun. It's all cautionary yet very in-your-face and is almost relentless in his delivery with production very reminiscent of El-P and his lo-fi industrial-like production. The mood of "The River" is brooding, starting from an understated gloomy vibe to an increased level of organized chaos and vigor. With elements of grunge and industrial mixed with brooding and desolate, Markey gives SKECH the perfect sound for his own plight into decay. Markey created this soundscape for SKECH that is totally hand-in-glove. His production mixes atmospheric and dreamscape-like to the industrial and hard-hitting. All of which SKECH glides (or rips into) over excellently. Cuts like "Western Automatic Music Pts 1 & 2" (the latter has billy woods and Collosoul Structure assisting) and "Badly Drawn Hero" are equally frantic and high energy, as SKECH is clearly playing no games with the listener. With delivery that brings up images of Onyx or a far angrier Xzibit, SKECH185 & Jeff Markey have designed quite the impressive outing with He Left Nothing for The Swimback, and one would suggest more of these offerings from this duo needs to happen more often.
10. billy woods
Today, I Wrote Nothing
Production: Messiah Muzik, Aesop Rock, Blockhead, Steel Tipped Dove, Willie Green, others
Guests: ELUCID, Curly Castro, others
As the first quarter of 2015 rolled in, this time was significant for one huge reason: Kendrick Lamar dropped one of the most landmark albums in hip-hop history with To Pimp a Butterfly. Just a couple weeks later, another highly acclaimed album dropped in billy woods' Today, I Wrote Nothing. Following up on his previous ambitious effort, History Will Absolve Me, he goes as deep, if not deeper, with this release. With a clever and systematic approach to his writing for this album, he goes back to what propelled his prior work to such acclaimed levels. He doesn't have a bright outlook for his current society here. These aren't necessarily long tracks, despite the twenty-four tracks on the project. He says what needs to be said and that's it. What he says in the little amount of time makes profound impacts and statements. Filled with his usual barrage of socio-political commentary in slick yet calculated fashion with cuts like "Warmachines", "Sleep", and "Flatlands". While his writing is borderline extraordinary, his imagery is not at all. In fact, it's grim and hopeless. Other cuts such as the eerie "Dark Woods" and the almost claustrophobic vibes of "Lambs" make this such an interesting yet uneasy listen. Considered one of his best written works, woods doesn't need to hold your attention too long like in other projects. He cuts straight to the point in short fashion and goes right on to the next part of his collection of unkind poetry within Today, I Wrote Nothing.
9. ShrapKnel
Metal Lung
Production: Steel Tipped Dove, Child Actor, others
Guests: billy woods, others
Within the underground's tightly packed circle of high-quality efforts these past couple of decades, the holy grail of abstract masterworks is Madvillainy, while others such as Waterworld, Deltron 3030, The Listening, and The Iron Vein have all been cemented as monuments due to their unique sounds and left-brained approach to changing the conventional rules of hip-hop. As time has progressed, more and more people are willing to be less and less adventurous, and if they are, it tends not to resonate. Enter ShrapKnel. The duo consisting of previously mentioned emcees, Curly Castro and PremRock, are a special duo. Their chemistry is very reminiscent of a strangely workable mesh of EPMD and Outkast, yet highly abstract. Their debut self-titled effort was a glimpse of their adventurous union. However, it was their follow up in 2022, Metal Lung, that would ultimately show the subterranean market how much of a noisemaker they would be collectively. Combining elements of psychedelic, jazzy, boom-bap, and avant-garde, the musical soundscapes (primarily handled by Steel Tipped Dove) fit the organized confusion that is ShrapKnel, especially on cuts like "Night of The Living Analog", the head-nodding "Lazy Dog", the jazzy, yet brooding, "A Tribe Called Stressed" and the downright excellent "Gravity Falls". Not necessarily an Armand Hammer piece filled with brutal imagery of a desolate human consciousness in tongue-in-cheek manner, ShrapKnel knows they don't need to be. Cuts such as "Metal Sum Kids" and "Ghost Kitchen", although occasionally eerie, are not heady enough to put you in full-blown paranoia but does heighten the sense of urgency of a world gone mad in vivid fashion. There's enough balance within Metal Lung to make some of the most jaded underground heads have enough to put some respect on their name. With Metal Lung, the complexity is its charm, and their dichotomy is their identity. This is their next level.
8. ELUCID
I Told Bessie
Production: artist, Child Actor, The Alchemist, Messiah Muzik, August Fanon, Sebb, Kenny Segal, others
Guests: billy woods, Pink Siifu, Quelle Chris
Earlier, we highlighted ELUCID's breakout album, Save Yourself, and its honest look at the NYC native's complex life. He steps up his knack for abstract, left of center hip-hop with even more compounded contrast on the sentimentally titled, I Told Bessie (which is an homage to his deceased grandmother). Although not as bleak as anything he and woods do together as Armand Hammer, this is very much a free-for-all in terms of picture painting through his pen. He comes through in minimalistic obscurity on cuts like "Smile Lines", "Bunny Chow", and the intriguing "Old Magic". His ARMHAM rhyme partner assists him on half the effort too, and really beings that ARMHAM visceral poise on cuts such as "Jumanji", "Sardonyx" (which also features frequent collaborators Qulle Chris and Pink Siifu), and "Mangosteen". Do not expect traditional, orthodoxic sounds on this release either, as this may be arguably less accessible than Save Yourself, if that's even possible. While beatsmiths such as frequent associates Messiah Muzik, August Fanon, and Kenny Segal show up in excellent form, others such as the ever-extraordinary Alchemist and the typically dumb dope Sebb Bash show up to the conjectured event that is this album. While the direction is one of closeness and theoretical philosophies interwoven with stylings that will likely be impossible to comprehend in just one or two sittings. With I Told Bessie, ELUCID once again, much like the likes of woods, R.A.P. Ferrera or Busdriver, is an acquired taste on his own, but if you're willing to take this journey with him, you'll realize this non-compliance with uniformity is what ELUCID aims for, and highly succeeds.
7. billy woods
History Will Absolve Me
Production: Uncommon Nasa, Willie Green, others
Guests: ELUCID, Roc Marciano, Vordul Mega, others
In what was an overall very good year for hip-hop in 2012, among the very best albums you likely didn't even check for at that time was billy's third solo outing, History Will Absolve Me. The title came from a quote from the late and notorious Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, however the cover of the album is an image of late Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe, who was also a socialist and nationalist much like Castro. His political views resembled his ideology of being a Marxist, and within the context of History Will Absolve Me, you see hints of that passionate and driven insight into his views of socio-economic decline, cultural classicism, and a very jaded view on the socio-political climate of that time, which hasn't much improved in this current climate. Tracks like the conflicted emcee gem, "Crocodile Tears", the conceptually-rich ode to the frustrations of fatherhood, "Bill Cosby", and "Pompeii" all chronicle different stories of cultural destruction and the desperations to heal within the mix. The sounds of this album are also heavy, as most of the album is lo-fi, obscurely sampled, and stripped away of any particular flash. Thus, the results have woods being his intense and poignant best. Other powerful tracks like the visually intense, "Pompeli", "The Man Who Would Be King", and "Friedman's Bureau" are as educational as they are jarring and disturbing with his depiction of systemic racism, mental captivity, and a corrupt system that keeps patterns of self-destruction prevalent. This is not an easy listen. While there are moments of introspection and picking up mirrors and putting down magnifying lenses, woods accomplishes his goal of reminding the listener how grungy and distorted human civilization has become, and the necessity of freedom from the very things that keeps us socially disabled. It can be argued that History Will Absolve Me may be billy woods' most verbally and lyrically most alarming album, and based upon other incredible releases that came out that year such as good kid, M.A.A.D. City, R.A.P. Music, Cancer 4 Cure, Life Is Good, and Reloaded, History Will Absolve Me may arguably be that year's most important.
6. Blockhead
The Aux
Production: artist
Guests: billy woods, ELUCID, Armand Hammer, Aesop Rock, Bruiser Wolf, Danny Brown, Quelle Chris, Pink Siifu, AKAI SOLO, DefCee, ShrapKnel, Navy Blue, Open Mike Eagle, others
Frequent production collaborator, Blockhead, has been a respected fixture within the underground for over two decades. Assisting the likes of Aesop Rock, Murs, Open Mike Eagle, and Vordul Mega, the NYC producer's sounds almost make it appear as if he and fellow riveting producer, El-P both were sitting under the same type of tree in terms of their penchant for lo-fi, stripped away, grungy production. Far from the conventional sounds of other bigger named producers such as Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, the late J Dilla, and Pharrell, Blockhead's style is definitely custom made for the unconventional and the underground. Primarily known for putting out at least one album every other year, whether instrumental or a compilation, Blockhead dropped his Backwoodz debut in 2023, The Aux, and the results are fantastic. This has been regarded as a compilation of several of the underground's who's who, with appearances from the likes of Quelle Chris, Open Mike Eagle, Breeze Brewin, longtime collaborator Aesop Rock, and of course the Backwoodz crew. Most of the album has pretty unconventional production that he's known for, but at times he sprinkles in effective and appropriate samples that help enhance some of the tracks he puts together. Cuts like "Ponzu Sauce", "Lighthouse" and "Pink lemonade" are all fitting of the appearances by the likes of Ugly Frank, Breezly, and Aesop. He ventures into his boom-bap bag on cuts like the aforementioned "Lighthouse" but will also go atmospheric and gritty with "Ponzu Sauce" and "Gargamel". He also manages to assemble an Avengers of sorts on "That's Wat I Call a Posse Cut" which features Danny brown, the ever-entertaining Bruiser Wolf, billy woods, and respected underground vet, Despot. With a style that can mesh Griselda with El-P and Aesop Rock himself, Blockhead excels with The Aux, and puts his style of production on a higher stage than ever before. Easily one of the best compilation albums to ever emerge from Backwoodz with The Aux, Blockhead will soon be as sought after as his more mainstream contemporaries with outputs like this.
5. billy woods & Kenny Segal
Maps
Production: Kenny Segal
Guests: ELUCID, Quelle Chris, ShrapKnel, Aesop Rock, others
The pandemic could easily be considered the worst prolonged single event in modern global history. Lockdowns, businesses having to permanently close, injections, and economic failures all defined 2020 and 2021. Getting back to a "normal" life afterwards was going to be a slow, enduring process, and that's if there would ever be a "normal" ever again. Realizing this as much as anyone was billy woods. His last solo effort, Terror Management, was an extended version of the previous harrowing and grim, Hiding Place. In 2023, woods returned with Maps, a conceptual album that parallels his travels and touring post-pandemic to his "travels" to unfamiliar and at times uncomfortable spaces within his life and his inner most self. Reuniting with Segal for this effort, Segal doesn't provide woods with quite as much murky and grungy soundscapes like he did with Hiding Place. However, his soundscapes still do manage to hold woods to a standard of delivering his best over occasionally brooding and layered production. Meanwhile, the ever observant and intuitive woods examines these uncomfortable places and spaces on cuts like "NYC Tapwater", "Rapper Weed", and the ELUCID- assisted "As the Crow Flies". While still appearing to be quite anxious and disheveled, he finds time to be slightly light-hearted in nature on cuts like "Houdini", the Danny Brown-assisted "Year Zero", and the opener, "Kenwood Speakers". Arguably his most accessible effort to date, woods is still the ever-cautionary poet that doesn't trust the world he dwells in and has reason to be by all means. However, by including more humorous bars than before, maybe he's becoming a little more jaded to where he can become self-depreciating, and it becomes his mask to hide his anxiety and fears. Mixing his sense of dread with a sense of tongue-in-cheek barbs, Maps is a new career highlight for the one of the game's most prolific and fascinating emcees of his generation.
4. billy woods & Preservation
Aethiopes
Production: Preservation
Guests: ELUCID, Boldy James, Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, Breeze Brewin, El-P, others
The year of 2022 was simply fantastic in terms of quality hip-hop. Of course, a year can't go by without billy woods shaking the table with his brand of abstract and unconventional hip-hop. The NYC native delivered a couple of excellent efforts that continue to expound upon the greatness that is woods. Historically, woods has a grim and dark look outside his window within his society. Prior efforts such as the ambitious, History Will Absolve Me, and the DENSE, Today, I Wrote Nothing, are underground staples that challenge our sonic status quo. With the first of his two solo offerings of 2022, Aethiopes, he collabs with acclaimed underground producer, Preservation, to bring woods spitting over some of the melancholy and atmospheric production he's ever rhymed over. Preservation has been known for working with the likes of Quelle Chris, Ka, and Mach-Hommy, and his work here on Aethiopes is as top notched as we've ever heard from this producer. With any woods effort, there are several different layers for his extremely sharp imagery through his exceptional lyricism. He delves more into his storytelling bag throughout most of this album. All of which evoke fear, doom, and apocalyptic themes. With tracks like the engaging and fascinating, "Christine" to the simply chilling, yet gorgeous sounding "Relentless", woods is a master painter, whose strokes tend to go off course on purpose to keep the listener engrossed. Other tremendous cuts like the opener, "Asylum", the disturbing "Wharves" and the sonically unnerving Boldy James-assisted "Sauvage" are complex in texture, yet fits into the methodical nature woods dwells in. When he's not very brilliantly expressing his pessimistic and jolting expectations, he's tapping into his battle rap-like bag, going in on cuts like the posse cut "NYNEX" and the just dope collab with Breeze Brewin of The Juggernauts and the mighty El-P "Heavy Water". Folks, with all the people woods has worked with throughout time, this effort with Preservation, is one of the biggest sonic and thematic highlights of his career. Clearly, Aethiopes is a very heady album filled with as much density as we've ever heard from him (and that's saying a mouthful from him), but also serves as one of his most exemplary albums to date.
3. billy woods & Kenny Segal
Hiding Place
Production: Kenny Segal
Guests: ELUCID, others
We now get to the underbelly of society. The part of life where everything has caused you so much mental harm, paranoia and PTSD has become a part of your well-being and your identity. Residential Backwoodz in-house producer, Kenny Segal, got up with woods to bring forth Hiding Place, an album that is dark by nature, but also filled with haunting imagery from the perspective of real-life socio-economic plagues, conspiracy theories, occasional Biblical prophecies, and the fears of an uncivilized world getting even more uncivilized. Much like albums such as Slayer's Seasons in The Abyss, Metallica's Kill 'Em All, Radiohead's Kid A, and Black Sabbath's Paranoia, this album is an album that centers in on fear, mortality, and bleak outlooks, even if the scarcity of sarcastic humor about his existence in the world. Just the album cover alone is enough to give you a hint as to the type of murky waters the listener will likely tread in, as it depicts an image of the type of run-down, dilapidated house one would expect to see in a supernatural horror movie. There's an ice-cold feeling that runs down your arm and spine with his imagery on cuts like "Steak Knives", "Crawlspace", and "Spider Hole". With their moody and dense production from Segal, cuts such as these show more of his emphasis on the things that get him concerned about his future and the future of society at large, especially within his community and culture. He collabs with partner-in-rhyme ELUCID on the aforementioned "Crawlspace", and they bring their knack of eloquently expressing their razor-sharp views of the plight of humanity, from the obtuse to the blunt. Other standouts like "bigfakelaugh" and "Bedtime" are just as chilling and straightforward as basically everything else on this project. the production is for the most part minimalized, and the samples are obscured so that woods' powerful stylings are front and centered. Cryptic, yet honest, Hiding Place is quite the jarring listen. However, don't let this deter you from carefully examining this album as one of woods' most disturbing yet outstanding pieces of solo work and is a championship belt of Backwoodz releases.
2. Armand Hammer
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
Production: Messiah Muzik, JPEGMAFIA, Preservation, El-P, Sebb, Kenny Segal, August Fanon, DJ Haram, Child Actor, Steel Tipped Dove, others
Fresh off their individually acclaimed albums of Aethiopes, Terror Management, and I Told Bessie respectively, woods and ELUCID reunite for the first time since 2021's unbelievable, HARAM, for the odd-titled, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. While not officially released on Backwoodz, Armand Hammer is still Backwoodz, and this album is as classic Backwoodz as it gets. Not since Shrines has ARMHAM been this ambitious with an effort. The very definition of abstract and unconventional, WBDTS is true organized mania. With production from the likes of frequent collaborators such as Messiah Muzik, Kenny Segal, and Steel Tipped Dove, as well as the likes of El-P, Preservation, and JPEGMAFIA, the sounds range from heavy, industrial, dense and electro to lush, layered, and atmospheric. ELUCID and woods effectively shine on standouts like the El-P crafted, "The Gods Must Be Crazy", "I Keep a Mirror in My Pocket", and the dumb dope "Switchboard". Never ones to escape their knack for divulging despair, cultural distortion, and an unsettling look at a dwindling society, they deliver hard on cuts like "Total Recall", "Woke Up & Asked Siri How I'm Gonna Die", and the Peggy-assisted, "The Key Is Under the Mat". With previous albums such as Race Music, Shrines, and Paraffin, ARMHAM was being way heavier and being way darker and more brutal, WBDTS is more accepting of this world and society that we're in, no longer complaining to alarm and provide caution, but more so having a "fuck it, this is how it is" approach, accepting the failures of the world knowing there's nothing that will change. Experimental and genre-pushing, Armand Hammer continue to ruffle feathers and keep you deliberately uncomfortable, and WBDTS is quite possibly the best example of this.
1. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
HARAM
Production: The Alchemist
Guests: Earl Sweatshirt, Quelle Chris, Curly Castro, others
When it was announced that the legendary Uncle Al himself, The Alchemist, would be crafting Armand Hammer's next album, the underground was fiending hard over how that type of collaboration would sound. It's no secret Al is among the most consistent and non-miss producers of the past two decades, easily earning his place among other legendary beatsmiths such as Dr. Dre, Premier, RZA, Pete Rock, Dilla, and mentor Muggs. His previous efforts with the likes of the late Prodigy, Conway, Benny, Durag Dynasty, and Curren$y all rank among his most critical efforts. Meanwhile, ELUCID and billy woods are quickly becoming what Run The Jewels were in the 2010s, with them being perhaps the most fearless and unwavering duo in all of hip-hop. Previous efforts such as Paraffin, Shrines, and Race Music are all highly touted and respected within the underground. While Rome wasn't quite on the same standard as the aforementioned, it's still considered a heavy piece of abstract music. In 2021, these artists came together to deliver HARAM, and immediately was met with visual controversy. the cover graphically depicted two severed pigs' heads, drawing fire from the likes of PETA. Unsettling covers aside, this album was a match made in gloom, as Uncle Al provided absolutely the most opportunistic backdrop for ARMHAM's brand of chaotic, bleak, and jarring hip-hop (it's only right as the word 'haram' is Islamic for 'forbidden'). Al's brand of hazy and layered production that's as atmospheric as a winter's night in New York blends beautifully with woods and ELUCID on cuts like the eerie "God's Feet", "Pepper Tree", and the highly brooding "Stonefruit". Al goes left a little bit with a fairly easy going, almost reggae-esque vibe on the boards with the Earl Sweatshirt-assisted "Falling Out the Sky" but goes right back in his psychedelic bag with "Robert Moses". With all the projects Armand Hammer have presented, HARAM has to be considered their magnum opus, as there has never been a more perfect marriage of sounds meets written aura between the three artists. Don't let the fact that this is easily their most accessible album, this is far from conventional and falls right in line with their brand of dismal narratives. Alchemist is quite known for creating custom made bangers that resemble the aura and vibe of the artist he worked with, and with the highly complex and dreary nature of their narratives, Armand Hammer, along with Alchemist, created not only their best work, but, with HARAM, the best album to ever come from Backwoodz.
Honorable Mentions
ShrapKnel- ShrapKnel
billy woods- Dour Candy
billy woods & Moor Mother- Brass
Super Chron Flight Brothers- Indonesia
Super Chron Fligjht Brothers- Cape Verde
Curly Castro- Little Robert Hutton
Duncecap- Pay or Dispute
Googie & Henry Cannons- Hijinx
Armand Hammer- Race Music
Armand Hammer- Furtive Movements
Armand Hammer- WHT LBL
Armand Hammer- BLK LBL
Vordul Mega- Yung World
To get better acquainted with the label and its acts, here are some of what you can expect while peeping Backwoodz:
billy woods & kenny Segal- "Spongebob" (production: Kenny Segal)
billy woods & Kenny Segal- "Bigfakelaugh" (production: Kenny Segal)
Armand Hammer feat. JPEGMAFIA- "Woke Up & Asked Siri How I'm Gonna Die" (production: JPEGMAFIA)
Armand Hammer feat. R.A.P. Ferreira- "Dead Cars" (production: Kenny Segal)
Blockhead feat. DefCee, ShrapKnel- "Gargamel" (production: artist)
billy woods & Kenny Segal feat. ShrapKnel- "Babylon By Bus" (production: Kenny Segal)
billy woods- "Myth" (production: Preservation)
Armand Hammer feat. El-P- "The Gods Must Be Crazy" (production: El-P)
SKECH185 & Jeff Markey- "Eastside Summer" (production: Jeff Markey)
SKECH185 & Jeff Markey- "He Left Nothing For The Swim Back" (production: Jeff Markey)
Armand Hammer- "It Was Written" (production: August Fanon)
ShrapKnel feat. billy woods- "Mescalito" (production: Steel Tipped Dove)
billy woods & Kenny Segal- "Bad Dreams Are Only Dreams" (production: Kenny Segal)
Armand Hammer- "Flavor Flav" (production: Steel Tipped Dove)
Fatboi Sharif & Steel Tipped Dove- "Designer Drugs" (production: Steel Tipped Dove)
Fatboi Sharif & Steel Tipped Dove- "Boogie Monster" (production: Steel Tipped Dove)
ShrapKnel- "Dumile High" (production: Willie Green)
Armand Hammer & The Alchemist- "Peppertree" (production: The Alchemist)
Blockhead feat. Casual, Breeze Brewin- "Hater Porn" (production: artist)
billy woods & Perservation- "Remorseless" (production: Preservation)
billy woods & Messiah Muzik- "Artichoke" (production: Messiah Muzik)
ELUCID feat. billy woods- "Nostrand" (production: The Alchemist)
AKAI SOLO- "Demonslayer" (production: Iblss)
billy woods- "Warmachines" (production: Messiah Muzik)
PremRock- "Apollo Kids Meal" production: BrainOrchestra)
ShrapKnel- "Night Of The Living Analouge" (proeduiction: Steel Tipped Dove)
Armand Hammer- "Fuhrman Tapes" (production: Messiah Muzik & Willie Green)
ELUCID- "Blame The Devil" (production: BKGD Audio)
Steel Tipped Dove feat. Shirt- "Pirouette" (production: artist)
Armand Hammer- "Black Ark" (production: Jeff Markey)
billy woods & Moor Mother feat. Navy Blue- "Portrait" (production: Child Actor)
DeffCee & Messiah Muzik feat. Curly Castro- "Definition Of Insanity" (production: Messiah Muzik)
AKAI SOLO- "Driftman" (production: Roper Williams & Driveby)
It's easy to see with these efforts from this label, this is not your run-of-the-mill, standard hip-hop. You won't see much of anything that revolves around the current state of hip-hop. Nothing formulaic or bland. Nothing generic in any possible way. They're a group of left-brained, thought-provoking, genre & artistically pushing artists that don't give a damn what YOU think their form of artistry should be. Backwoodz Studioz may be to this decade what Griselda became in the 2010s, underdogs that didn't soften or lower themselves nor their vision and sound for anything (also, don't sleep on their R&B artist, Fielded, who has a unique all her own as well). While many would say that isn't the case anymore with Griselda, Backwoodz is just starting to see the hard work pay off. With more and more fans intrigued to see what's next for them, these albums alone are enough to keep you hungry for more if you're tired of the same ole, same ole in the game. Try Backwoodz on for size. Until next time!
