billy woods and Kenny Segal – Maps

Review Score:

A

The Unprecedented Times –

May 12 / 2023

Maps is a head spinning scattershot of dizzying, moody beats coupled with masterful storytelling. Kenny Segal and billy woods newest collaboration is striking, sorrowful, humorous and witty. NYC rapper billy woods’ career has now spanned more than two decades. Musicians who continue to release quality music that lives up to the highs of their early days are certainly the minority. And billy’s lyricism is as topical as it ever was. Maps feels like late night doom-scrolling personified.

“Blue Smoke” was the point on the album where Kenny Segal’s contributions really stand out as something especially unique. An upright bass and a ride symbol create an evocative rhythm that takes you to another time and place. The same is true of the following track, “Bad Dreams Are Only Dreams”. You just want to kick your feet up on a wide wooden desk and drink a glass of whiskey, waiting for a desperate mother to burst into your era-appropriate detective office. “Year Zero” features Danny Brown, who’s verse is intoxicating. It’s a good example of how the album’s tracks can carry you away. It’s easy to get lost in the dark, shuffling, screeching beats. This works to the album’s benefit for the majority of its runtime. But the listener must stay vigilant. When the tracks flow together as well as they do on Maps, it’s easy to get a little lost in this dizzying array of poetic lyricism and echoing synth beats. Blink and you might miss something. 

Maps spells doom for its listeners. It reflects post-pandemic pessimism. One line that’s stuck with me since I first heard it was this:

“Sooner or later gonna be two unrelated active shooters

Same place, same time, great minds, Tesla and Edison”

How did billy know this would be so relevant when he released this album? He didn’t. He knew this is how it is to live in America and nothing would change from the time he put pen to paper and the day of release. The big picture is grim. But billy derives what little enjoyment he can from the simpler pleasures across the track list on Maps. But that dark cloud hangs over the project from start to finish. Kenny Segal’s beats consistently set the mood (or at the very least match it). Nothing here feels out of place. 

Review Score:

A