“When I was nine years old, I wrote a story about an evil golliwog,” wrote New York underground rapper Billy Woods in a press release about his upcoming new album. “My mother read it and told me it was overly derivative and needed some work. Here we are.”
This is the story of how Woods’ eighth solo studio album (and first solo album since 2019) got its title, Golliwog. Named after a type of racist caricature of Black people in the form of a doll, Golliwog is due on May 9 through the independent rapper’s own Backwoodz Studioz.
Woods has tapped a who’s-who of alt-indie rap producers for the project, including the Alchemist, Ant of Atmosphere, Conductor Williams, and El-P, while the features encompass frequent collaborators like his Armand Hammer partner-in-rhyme Elucid, New York underground fixture Despot, Detroit’s Bruiser Wolf, and singer Yolanda Watson, among others.
The first single is called “Misery,” and is emblematic of Woods’ style as a whole; tongue-twistingly assonant rhymes tumbling and back-flipping over each other atop a jazzy-inflected, crunchy instrumental provided by Kenny Segal. You can check it out above and see the full tracklist and features below.
01. “Jumpscare”
02. “STAR87”
03. “Misery”
04. “Blk Xmas” Feat. Bruiser Wolf
05. “Waterproof Mascara”
06. “Counterclockwise”
07. “Corinthians” Feat. Despot
08. “Pitchforks & Halos”
09. “All These Worlds Are Yours” Feat. Elucid
10. “Maquiladoras” Feat. Al.divino
11. “A Doll Fulla Pins” Feat. Yolanda Watson
12. “Golgotha”
13. “Cold Sweat”
14. “Blk Zmby”
15. “Make No Mistake”
16. “Born Alone”
17. “Lead Paint Test” Feat. Elucid & Cavalier
18. “Dislocated” Feat. Elucid
GOLLIWOG is out 5/9 on Backwoodz Studioz.
