billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps
Between Armand Hammer and his solo career, New York rapper billy woods releases so much music that all varies from good to great, so it’s not easy to pick a favorite album or an entry point, but his Kenny Segal-produced 2019 album Hiding Places is up there. So it’s very exciting that billy and Kenny have once again made an entire album together, Maps, which finds their chemistry sounding even stronger. Kenny’s experimental production rarely sounds like traditional hip hop, and woods’ dizzying lyricism fits it perfectly. He has too many witty, ear-catching one-liners to count, and Maps has some of his most tuneful, memorable rapping in recent memory. Like Hiding Places, woods’ Armand Hammer partner ELUCID appears on this album–this time on two songs–and it also features Backwoodz labelmates ShrapKnel and some bigger guests like Danny Brown, Aesop Rock, and Quelle Chris, plus hooks from Benjamin Booker and Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring. Their distinct voices help give the album a good flow (and might help rope in some new listeners), but the recognizable names are an added bonus, not a crutch. It’s always woods and Kenny themselves steering the ship.
Conway the Machine – Won’t He Do It
The extremely prolific Buffalo rapper Conway the Machine has been busy building his Drumwork empire lately, with a recent collaborative album from Conway and Jae Skeese, followed by Jae Skeese’s own album Abolished Uncertainties, and now Conway releases his latest solo album on the label, Won’t He Do It. It doesn’t stray far from the ’90s New York rap revival that he’s churned out across his countless other projects, but somehow, Conway still has so much to say. With guests and producers that primarily hail from Drumwork and Griselda circles, Won’t He Do It doesn’t rely on much outside star power, it’s got songs with virtually no hooks–it keeps you hooked just because Conway’s bars are so captivating.
IDK – F65
Maryland rapper/producer IDK’s latest album F65 is some of his most expansive work yet. Across 22 songs–many of which feature production from IDK himself–the backdrop ranges from vintage jazz to trap to Afrobeats to thumping dance beats, as IDK’s lyricism ranges from personal introspection to police brutality. Guests include Snoop Dogg, Benny the Butcher, NLE Choppa, Saucy Santana, Fat Trel, Musiq Soulchild, and more–a diverse cast, which is fitting for an album as varied as this one.
Kassa Overall – Animals
Kassa Overall’s third album and Warp debut is all over the place in the best way possible. It’s got everything from real-deal jazz instrumentation to hard-hitting rap songs to avant-garde psychedelia to floor-shaking beats, and it’s loaded with an insane cast of guests. Modern jazz greats like Theo Croker and Vijay Iyer help flesh out the instrumentation, Laura Mvula lends her powerhouse pipes, and we get uniquely great rap pairings like Danny Brown and Wiki (“Clock Ticking”) and Lil B and Shabazz Palaces (“Going Up”). And those are only about half of the musicians featured. It might sound overwhelming on paper, but Kassa Overall ties up every possible knot. Animals is a journey and it’s very well worth taking.