Billy Woods

Golliwog is a character created in 1895 by the American writer Florence Kate Upton in a children’s book. Depicted as a black doll with bulging eyes, red lips, and flashy clothes, it was initially presented positively. However, its image was later simplified and spread through toys and advertisements, becoming a stereotyped and racist symbol. Mainly used in the United Kingdom, it sparked increasing controversy for its derogatory portrayal of black people. Today, Golliwog is considered a racist figure to be overcome and re-examined through a critical and post-colonial perspective. It is also the name chosen by Billy Woods for the follow-up to “Maps” (2023, with Kenny Segal). The album features vocal contributions from al.divino, Bruiser Wolf, Cavalier, Despot, Elucid, and Yoland Watson, while production is handled by a notable team including The Alchemist, Ant, Conductor Williams, DJ Haram, El-P, Jeff Markey, Human Error Club, Kenny Segal, Messiah Musik, Preservation, Sadhugold, Saint Abdullah, Shabaka Hutchings, Steel Tipped Dove, and Willie Green.

It is a dark, unsettling journey full of discomfort, leading the listener into the heart of suffocating malaise where poetry and beauty emerge as tragic contrasts. The distorted music box of “Jumpscare” sparks a descent into a form of afropessimism that alternates abstraction and political statements, sonic and verbal explorations bordering on the dreamlike, mixed with cacophonies, warped samples, and sharp hardcore flares. It borrows from horror cinema, using macabre storytelling mechanisms and allegory to comment on society and especially hostility toward the Black world.

It's a dark road, but it ain't no accidents
No coincidences, it's all praxis

The album unfolds with menacing visions, as in the gloomy jazz-rap of “Misery” (featuring Kenny Segal’s return) or the anguished tension of “Waterproof Mascara,” but also offers rare moments of relatively brighter creativity (“Blk Xmas” featuring Bruiser Wolf) and some more canonical tracks (“Cold Sweat”). The way rhythmic elements fade away and the presence of sounds and samples drawn from a broad lexicon, including film references, add a visionary dimension to the entire album.

Sonically, some moments stand out as absolute highlights, with complex expressionist mechanisms in the form of atypical beats, such as “Pitchforks & Halos,” or extravagant sci-fi explorations like “All These Worlds Are Yours” featuring Elucid, DJ Haram, and Shabaka Hutchings.

In an album without a single hit, meant to be listened to in full and experienced as a continuous sonic journey, “Blk Zmby” is the only partial exception. Dominated by brief tracks, often under three minutes, “Golliwog” also excels when the track length grows, as in the dreamy and melancholic “Lead Paint Test” with Elucid and Cavalier.

Closed by the jazz-rap ectoplasm titled “Dislocated” (featuring Elucid), “Golliwog” risks being underappreciated as just another profound album in a discography full of remarkable moments. Unsuitable for those seeking mere entertainment in hip-hop, it is a deep, complex, coherent, and dark work—probably one of the best of the year, at least within its genre.

05/06/2025