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.