billy woods - Aethiopes ALBUM REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 17 апр 2022
- Listen: billywoods.bandcamp.com/album...
Just about every line of Aethiopes is pregnant with meaning.
More rap reviews: • Hip Hop Reviews
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FAV TRACKS: ASYLUM, NO HARD FEELINGS, WHARVES, SAUVAGE, NYNEX, CHRISTINE, HEAVY WATER, VERSAILLES, REMORSELESS
LEAST FAV TRACK: THE DOLDRUMS
BILLY WOODS - AETHIOPES / 2022 / BACKWOODZ STUDIOZ / ABSTRACT HIP HOP
8/10 www.theneedledrop.com/loved-l...
Y'all know this is just my opinion, right? 
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i was certain this was a 9 but i guess the lines have to give birth first
nice
He said light 9
strong 8 to a light 9 💯
ikr. he gaves hiding places and 8 and i think this is way better
my man
an 8/8? very odd metric, but i can appreciate a billy woods record getting a perfect score!
Sometimes he's changing the rating system. Another example would be mbdtf 6/6
@@neobliviscaris3346 or damn. 7/7
he also gave total xanarchy a 0/0
this was the unfunniest comment ever
hell nah not my homie Axyb under a Fantano video 😭
Billy Woods is one of Hip Hop's best kept secret.
Honestly !
I went to their concert and this guys gf after Armand hammer finished. Said “ that was actually better than I expected”. I think that’s a huge coming from her 🤣
And he's been one of the greatest for 20 years now..
He’s been great since 2003
As an Ethiopian,hearing Anthony say Mengistu Haile Mariam was one of the weirdest moments in my life...like two of my worlds clashing
Enem denekegn
fun fact i think he’s my neighbor
I love music are they gonna be making more of it
No I think they’re done
No
yeah just wait for the new release of music 2
sorry music hasn't released yet
@@Lucas-dy5mt idk music is pretty bad plus there already is so much of it, I don’t know what ideas they would use for a sequel.
Yeah I’m surprised this isn’t a 9 . I’m in love with this album. Remorseless might be my favorite woods record of all time
Totally agree, gorgeous beat on that track, also the second half of Haarlem had my jaw on the floor the whole time, the producer (Preservation I think?) Really snapped on this one
So happy someone else likes Remorseless as much as I do
@@joekratman1872 yup first time I've ever heard preservation's beats and I immediately checked out his other stuff after aethiopes lol
Remorseless is a flawless track.
also here to say remorseless might be my favorite woods track
I haven't heard this yet, but this is the most positive review I've ever heard Anthony give that didn't result in a 9 or higher. He said a single negative thing about one track.
Obviously I'm not Anthony but I find that sometimes an album can be a 7 or an 8 even if I didn't have anything negative to say about it just because while it was good and never bad, it never hit the highs required to achieve a higher rating
@@zekelanham9828 I listened to almost nothing but this album since it dropped and I really think it does hit those highs, I've never heard a verse that makes me want to research each line so thoroughly
@@user-gp6lq5mg9z I'm not saying it doesn't I'm just saying I can understand Anthony not giving it a nine despite not having much negative to say
You can’t really fault Billy Woods, it just becomes a matter of personal taste
There’s a lot of fantano reviews like that, I remember a Benny the butcher album where the least favorite track was his least favorite because of a kinda mid feature and the album still got a 7
This was probably the only album this year I'm surprised didn't get a 9 tbh
denzel too, but ya. makes me wonder what its gonna take for an album to get a 10 lmao
@@0Architectdude0 ummmm, when all of the tracks sounds great to him????
Tbf he did say it was a light 9 so maybe in that 8.8-9 range?
@@BobBob-cy9cu he’s said in an interview with Robin Pecknold (who asked why the Fleet Foxes was given a seven when he said strong 7 to a light 8) that it really could be either score but he went with the one he was feeling most on that day, and that it’s kind of more nebulous in reality. Like a ballpark estimate
@@0Architectdude0 have you seen the pbs video
The 8 caught me off guard I was honestly expecting a decent to strong 9 based on the rest of the review
my man is pretty much another Denzel
Billy Woods is the epitome of lyricism repping Zimbabwe in a lot, beats, vocals, Chimurenga message. The sad part is that Zimbabweans haven't discovered him yet
This is probably Billy woods most dense and meaningful record to date. The themes of African struggle and consciousness make this a near perfect record. I feel this deserve a 10/10!!!
It’s a 9 for me and probably my favorite billy woods album so far. The production is so unique, the closest thing I could compare it to is Ka’s beats that he usually raps over. Just so many layered bars, every feature hits, I can’t stop listening.
Agreed, billy never has bad production but this shit was just on another level. Also I definitely feel the KA comparison, even in the way a lot of the vocals were mixed on this one it had a very nights gambit feel.
Funny you mentioned Ka because he made a whole album with Aethiopes’s producer lol
@@stuffstuff8942 whoa preservation produced this?? Loved the eastern medicine, western illness ep, that’s so dope!!
@@royceisthebestrapper7686 he produced the entire joint, my dude!
@@stuffstuff8942 Wait, which album is that one he did with Preservation?
billy woods is the most consistent 8/10 artist lmaoo
Yes Billy and RTJ lol
Billy, Denzel, and RTJ are the holy trinity of 8/10s
Denzel in shambles
Dude has as many 8s as years it's been since he got his first 8
Edit: no wait he got more
History Will absolve me
Today I Wrote nothing
Race Music
Paraffin
Rome
Haram
Brass
Known Unknowns
Hiding Places
(I cant remember if Dour Candy got a 7 or not)
(Terror Management got a 6)
@@owl509 sounds like an incredible tour
They lyricism on this album is awesome. Even the simplest bars stuck out to me, especially if they were the opening bars.
“Cold fryer full of old grease, you don’t work, you don’t eat”
“Money went same as it came, money spent, it was all pocket change, end of the day, day-traders make minimum wage”
never heard someone say “pregnant with meaning” but anthony always does have such a unique way with words
Pregnant has more than one definition dawg
He didn’t invent the phrase
@@NoblePringles ok and?
Ethiopian
A common side effect of listening to too much abstract hip hop
Y'all were complaining denzel getting too many 8's, but this guy takes the cake by FAR
no one is allowed to complain about billy woods
edit: just listened to hiding places again and holy shit it’s just as good as I remember
@@BIGBADNEWS he’s great tho fr
Except in this instance Billy Woods deserves a 10/10 every time
this one deserved a higher rating
Billy Woods, Denzel Curry, and Run the Jewels gotta be the holy trinity of 8/10s
I'm confused, he said Strong 8 to Light 9, doesn't he usually run with the higher of the two numbers?
@@spazalicious I think it’s just whichever he’s leaning towards more. This one deserved the light 9 tho
Billy truly has yet to miss ever since “History Will Absolve Me”
including his work with Armand Hammer
Super Chronic Flight Brothers as well
Camouflage* his debut
@@adammcjohnson5080 + The Reavers
Terror Management was ass, sorry! But everything else is G.O.A.T tier
Amazing to hear El-P and Breeze on a track together again. Been what, like 15 years since that happened? The Weathermen days
"Spare me the Hallmark Karl Marx" my favorite line
“ good lawyer “
Ashanti gold on Queen Elizabeth neck
Scarification across both breasts
Care to clarify the meaning?
@@user-ko5nt4ym2l It works best in context with the verse it sits in:
"Money phone pocket dial, run come save me
Sweet old ladies poisoning pigeons in the park
For a lark, make mine strychnine, life is a zipline in the dark
Spare me the Hallmark Karl Marx
I was in the Dollar Tree break-room playin' cards with quarters
Stop loss posters on the wall, brick and mortar
I watched the planet from orbit, remorseless"
The first line is a survival check list: what do you need when you go out, what do you use when you're freaked out, what do you say? Someone who's suddenly had a moment where looking too closely causes stress, they reach for their closest lifelines. Then, the second line is interpretive as to the old ladies' motives but it could speak to a certain indifference out of necessity. The first half of the third line plays it off as a joke, or rather, 'something to do', which is something you might hear on a street corner among very poor kids or teens (I did when I was growing up, usually in the context of throwing stones at cats, etc). The second half sums up the main meaning: if you're poor, you go in life blind without genuine context and everything is just survival, trying to hold on to the thing that keeps you alive, morality is often only available to those who can afford to maintain it.
Then the Marx line kicks in and it's a jab at a lot of contemporary US politicians or high profile figures who use lots of Marxist talking points or prop up a convincing aesthetic but ultimately don't do anything except make noise about it and pocket the salary, person dependent. It could also be about how these talking points are growing in online spaces but only create a culture around them, not genuine, material action from them. It ends up as neoliberalism with a socialist face i.e. Hallmark Karl Marx.
The next two lines are environments poor folk might identify with, it's all barebones and barely above functional, money included (what can you really do with quarters anyway?). The last line relates mostly to the rest of the track, the narrator seeing a broader history built off of many smaller ones. He finishes off the verse with this idea of 'this is what it is seen from the outside, how much more bleaker do you want me to describe it?' but this could be interpretive.
"This album is perfect in every way... 8/10"
This was probably the most 9 sounding 8/10 review since Nurture
Billy Woods is a masterful creator. His lyrics and everything he stands for is beautiful. I love his voice his flow his music is so impressive
woods is the king of abstract rap right now. this feels like my favourite woods album and preservation's production is definitely one of the reasons it is. there was something very poignant about his sound throughout the album that matched with each track. also shows the possibilities of looping with a MPC are endless if you are able to pull from more and more fresh and obscure samples. asylum samples the legendary ethiopian popstar alèmayèhu eshèté's song gubelyé. wonder if all songs on the record pull from ethiopian songs, wouldn't be surprised too, because preservation's last lp 'eastern medicine, western illness' had samples only from chinese-issued vinyls in record shops in hong kong.
I can tell you pour your heart into making sure that last monologue summation of the album was bang on, exactly capturing your passion for this artist and the project
If Denzel Curry made this you would've given it an 8.
Mark my words, this will be considered one of the best hip hop albums of the 2020s.
I feel this is kind of a 10 just for the work put into it alone.
Man, sauvage is so good never imagined boldy would hop on a billy woods track
Boldy is cool w/ Earl & Earl seems to be cool w/ Woods & Elucid. Armand Hammer, Boldy & Earl should do a track or album together.
With Alchemist
@@PontFlairbro just came up with the best song of all time
Something I noticed about the record is how the beats slowly get clearer and prettier as we move away from the intenser subject matter in the early and mid section of the record. By the end Billy is distanced from issues but still cognizant of them. It's really smart.
Loved this review. You can tell just how enthusiastic Anthony is about billy woods' music. Very wholesome. Still kinda shocked it got an 8 tho
i just know now anthony is gonna give the new vince album a strong 6 just by how many other albums he’s reviewing instead
AYO I WAS RIGHT
I love it.. If you are African, from Southern Africa, some of those songs, chants, hymns at the end, you know where they come from... Making the density of the music even more... Totally love the album..
Strong album of the year...
"one in a million makes a killing off the curb
nine ninety nine thousand nine ninety nine in the dirt" is one of the hardest bars I've heard in my goddamn life
So this might be my favorite review you've done. I think what we are feeling in billy woods progression is the times we are in. Things feel oppressive as hell, moreso than thus generation has ever felt. What we are seeing in woods is a prescience that both encapsulated and transcends the zeitgeist, adding weight to his lyrics in dazzling ways.
Felt like an eternity waiting for this review. The track Remorseless has me feeling emotionally drained.
billy woods never disappoints, I still have Hiding Places in heavy rotation.
Good lawyer “
He's so fucking consistent that I kinda hate it. He just isn't giving me enough time to absorb his albums before he drops another
I just love hiding places. I truly hold it up with some of the best underground hip hop I've ever personally heard
Preservation really brought it with the production on this album. I look forward to hearing more from him. He has only 2 full length albums, a tape with Ka and a tape with various artists. He uses a lot of world music on his albums. One of them pulling only from albums found in Hong Kong I believe.
billy woods has been slept on for over a decade now, can we finally give this man more recognition
Still waiting on that Fivio and Vince review. I’m hungry for it
Billy that dude. You speak of this like it was gonna be a 9 minimum. Incredible release.
I haven’t heard the album yet and I don’t follow billy woods religiously, but I am a casual fan. Super excited now, but also this is one of my favorite reviews my man’s done in a while. This is good ass music journalism.
Congrats on your pregnancy, Anthony!
WOW! didnt think you would give us the first 10 of this year already! so cool melon
you aint still coming to my birthday party though
Totally great review anthony also boldy James has been active for 10 years 🤯🤯 I didn't hear about him till the album with a house on its cover so I thought he just started making music like 3 years ago max so I'm gonna have to check out that older work but from what I have heard this man is the king of abstract hip hop I swear I could listen to this album 5 times and still have to use a dictionary and Google stuff while listening to the songs to get everything he is saying and his cadence and how he delivers his words is unlike anybody else 👍 plus I don't know where people find beats or make beats like the ones on this album but damn you have to be a mad lad to hear them and say yeah I can rap over that 😅
Should've been a 9/10 smh.
He said light 9
@@chiefeef6891 Mate, do you think I actually watched the video
I haven't even listened to the album yet
@@phothewin6019 most average fantano enjoyer
@@phothewin6019 not really sure what the point of a bait comment is, was correcting you because I figured you actually watched the video before giving criticism
10/10 REVIEW IT AGAIN
My god man! You read my mind! I was listening this today thinking... yeah... he's definitely gonna cover this one!
i haven’t loved a new album as much as this in so long
Such an incredible album. The first three songs, No Hard Feelings especially, are genuinely haunting.
Definitely would've rated this project higher than an 8. An AOTY contender for sure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
@pitko, which is odd because usually when he adds a 9 it gets a number 9 at the end, but this got a number 8.
Lol that's a stretch.
this album is amazing want a vinyl now plz Billy we need it
Been waiting for this
Hell yeah, melon! I been falling down this rabbit hole for two weeks, man. What a record!
ANOTHER 8/10?
I'm gonna have to put you in time out, Melon.
Literally this is the earliest I've ever been on a video, I clicked on it only 11 seconds after it was uploaded
I have some experience with ethiopian history through my gf who is a child of ethiopian immigrants so it's interesting to hear Mengistu being brought up because he's one of the figures she would tell me about since she heard stories from her mother and extended family who lived through his reign.
I was shocked to not see this on the loved list and then I noticed that this video was uploaded one minute ago.
10/10 review that got an 8/10 lmao I have no idea how he comes up with these numbers besides vibe clearly. The whole review I thought he was gonna give it a ten, was actually shook when he said 8
I swear Anthony whenever I see one of your reviews without having listened to the album I just check the score and bounce because I will have zero clue what you are saying in a review if I haven’t listened to the record in question
At this point Billys next album should be called "No Red Flannel"
Doldrums as your least favourite? I can’t see how. I absolutely love that track. Very haunting imo
El-P and billy woods should collaborate more. I think this is the second time it's happened. First one was on Keep Livin' by Vordul Mega which featured billy and was produced by El in around 2008.
hoping RTJ5 has an Armand Hammer feature, 2 of the best rap duos right now
@@owenstroud5656 word!
Actually, look up the song “James Bon Elevators” by billy woods. It’s him rapping on an El-P beat from 2003
@@Boomi_Dog Yeah I looked it up, but that is the Tuned Mass Damper instrumental so it wasn't specifically made for that. But u right tho
@@ttarkus True, but it’s still woods on an El-P beat
would you please do a video on your top 50 records worth buying on Vinyl specifically??!
Damn, that feature list got me excited. Despot is alive?
8.0. Billy Woods is probably my favorite rapper right now. I love the moody and atmospheric production he brings to all the projects I've heard from him. Hiding Places is still my favorite, but this one is still great.
If it were named Ethiopians instead of Aethiopes you would have gave it a 10
holy shit these comments keep getting funnier and more creative
This album after my listening has a lot of fucking entendras and many references/meanings. A lyrical mastermind to be sure.
Me *thinking to myself*: WTF IS AN ENTENDAR … oh jk I just can’t read
it's spelled "entendre" if you're talking about double entendres (sorry)
@@silafim It means 'to hear'.
Sauvage and Heavy Water are absolutely amazing. Some of my favorites of this year
Hey just wondering if you were gonna review the city morgue vol 3 album or not no pressure and not meaning to be rude just curious bc I loved your other reviews of them
THIS IS MY FAVORITE ALBUM I EVER LISTENED TOO
It's a testament to the quality of Billy's work that I can agree with basically all of your complaints about The Doldrums and still have it be my favorite track on the album just by the sheer overwhelming quality of the lyricism. He conjures these images of American depression and fighting for scraps like a frustrated novelist.
Doldrums is so surreal.
Definitely on the light 9 side. This man gave us high art.
Liking the genre mix Anthony always presenting... Death s symbolic in the background while reviewing Billy woods lp... Awesome... Like my collection... And yeah... Lp is great too.. But for me is it clearly a 9
oh HELL yes, I've been listening to this album on repeat since it came out, it is....my god the man is a lyrical serial killer it is astounding. "I think mengistu haile mariam is my neighbour" IS SO CRAZYYYYYYYY
This album is amazinggg
“the hills are alive with land mines..”Land. Mines! G-d damn, woods. The overlay of sound of music/hills have eyes imagery too…
Woods got to be in my top 10 of all time and I know many fans of his feel the same. He’s in a different lane
I think this is the most praise you've given to an 8 lmao
The sauvage beat sounds like a beat thats been around for decades now. Not literally but its got the same vibe some griselda beats do.
When’s the Daniel Rossen review melon, i’ve been dying to watch it😔
Saw the flannel in the thumbnail and knew what was going down
Easy 9 for me and will probably be my favorite hip hop album this year
I think Woods in terms of consistency and quality is my favorite MC of the 10s.
It is early to call but I could see Pink Siifu being that MC for me this decade.
i see where you’re coming from with Siifu. I think that his consistency is a bit less than Billy’s though, and that’s i think the most apparent on GUMBO!, some of the songs he’s lyrically meandering in my opinion. the song stay sane, however has been stuck in my top 3 underground/abstract hip hop songs for some years now so there’s that haha
PLEASE REVIEW MID-AIR THIEF’S CRUMBLING
Thanks for the heads up - this is a damn good record.
Lower score because the themes went over his melon.
The whole review it sounded like he was gonna give it a 9, I was really surprised when he said strong 8 to light 9
Excellent review of an excellent album
Hey Anthony
I dont know how to get this to you the best way but you say if we have a Suggestion, we should put it in the comments so here i go.
I would really like to know what you think of Tristam, especially his latest, and debut, Album "With love until we die"
He's been one of my favourites for e few years and i think this album marks a real transition from him, so it interests me what you would say about it.
Have a nice one.
Great review of a great album.
The beat in Smith + Cross is fucking CRAZY. The lyrics are so damn poetic. He fuckin walked on that song
Great vid but may you please do fivio album review
Quickly becoming one of my favorite albums, I don't dislike a single song.
If only he was Billy Jungle, this would have been a 10!
Putting us on more underground artists thank u Mr Wethanoy Mistano I’m still banging that Armand Hammer project Sir Benni Miles slaps af 🤮💯it’s disgusting how good it is
Nah he's not. I've been bumping billy since the 2000s. OG.
@@ttarkus does that not make him an underground artist or something
@@rudywilliams6538 no
@@ttarkus why not
billy woods is too great of an artist to just have 8/10s, he's gotta get a 9 eventually
He did with Brass
Ka and quelle as well. Let's be real, reviewers like fantano (and p4k as well) aren't averse to underground hip hop artists, but are probably afraid of giving them more praise than an 8/10 on the basis of it not being 'groundbreaking' enough
@@BobBob-cy9cu nah he gave that an 8
Why do people keep bringing up the score. An 8 is a great score. Like a really great score. It’s not like he gave it a 6 or something like that
there are so many good references to pregnancy, such as the line 'stuck inside the belly of the beast' - so clever
I just came to hear him talk about No Hard Feelings
I'm on my fifth listen now and it gets better and better. Easily a 9/10 for me.