Albums to watch

GOLLIWOG

billy woods

GOLLIWOG

Latest full-length release from the New York-based rapper featuring contributions from El-P, ELUCID, Shabaka Hutchings, Jeff Markey, Messiah Musik, Kenny Segal, The Alchemist and more

ADM rating[?]

8.6

Label
Rhymesayers Entertainment
UK Release date
09/05/2025
US Release date
09/05/2025
  1. 10.0 |   The Skinny

    Working with an array of collaborators with impressive cohesivity, on his latest album, billy woods reflects on race and class through surrealist, horror-inspired soundscapes
    Read Review

  2. 9.0 |   Clash

    An abrasive, demanding album with a beautifully singular vision
    Read Review

  3. 9.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The album is intensely confrontational and makes no effort to hold your hand
    Read Review

  4. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Golliwog may be filled with allusions to the cannon of Black horror but its setting is the real world, a horror story created by our own loud silences. That’s about as scary as it gets
    Read Review

  5. 9.0 |   Exclaim

    Full of horror and self-described Afro-pessimism, GOLLIWOG is frequently grim. And yet, it's not a difficult listen, since woods is simply too clever of a writer for him not to tickle my sense of humour
    Read Review

  6. 9.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    billy woods is the premier lyricist of his generation, and the details that flow out of his pen sharpen with every album he releases
    Read Review

  7. 9.0 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    woods’s golliwog is the rare symbol that truly awakens from the dead on what seems like his twentieth stellar full-length, given breath by the cursed voodoo that permeates the entirety of the album
    Read Review

  8. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    The American rapper dwells on scary things – both fictional and real – for his latest album
    Read Review

  9. 8.9 |   Paste Magazine

    Irreversible, unavoidable self-destruction at the foot of power is a tale as old as humankind, but rarely is it captured so poignantly, or as comprehensively, as on the Brooklyn MC's latest
    Read Review

  10. 8.8 |   Northern Transmissions

    Dislocated ends this record in a crushing and emotionally expressive way with the jagged instrumentation reacting to the flows and bars of Billy with some gorgeous strings floating in the background. A stunning end to a beautiful record
    Read Review

  11. 8.7 |   Pitchfork

    The Brooklyn rapper’s new solo album is a twisty horrorcore masterpiece where history and nightmares are indistinguishable. The spooky backdrop is a perfect showcase for his craft
    Read Review

  12. 8.3 |   Beats Per Minute

    Assisted by his producers, he spotlights the absurdity and nightmare of human existence while lauding the magical properties of art
    Read Review

  13. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    The New York rapper confronts trauma and state-sanctioned terror with his latest release, pulling out innumerable images of inhumanity
    Read Review

  14. 8.0 |   All Music

    Even more so than woods' other albums, GOLLIWOG is a challenging work dealing with grim yet truthful subject matter, but it's fascinating and enjoyable due to the rapper's brilliant writing and focused delivery, as well as innovative production from his collaborators
    Read Review

  15. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    This is the kind of album that rewards repeat visits
    Read Review

  16. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    n GOLLIWOG, billy woods explores the endlessly shifting shades of horror. It’s not an easy listen, but it’s a stunning achievement
    Read Review


blog comments powered by Disqus

Watch it

Roll over video for more options

Hear it

Latest Reviews

More reviews