billy woods on Backwoodz Studioz
June 2020
billy woods in The Wire 437. Photo by Jamil McGinnis
The Armand Hammer rapper behind the New York label chooses tracks from their imprint's back catalogue
Since billy woods first set up Backwoodz Studioz to self release his 2003 album Camouflage, the New York based label has come to represent a community of US hiphop artists with shared political ideas. As well as continuing to release works by woods and rapper/producer Elucid – both individually and together as Armand Hammer – the imprint also charts the experimentation and progression of several other writers firmly embedded in its roster, including Curly Castro, Blockhead, and others.
Here, woods selects standout tracks that help tell the story of the label so far.
Armand Hammer featuring KeiyaA
“Charms” was the first single off the new Armand Hammer LP Shrines, and every way in which it came together was indicative of how this project worked and why it’s special. The beat came to me by way of Child Actor, a duo whom I met while touring with a bigger artist and when the tour was over they started sending me beats. I was already working on this Armand Hammer project, so I slid some to Elucid and told him to let me know if he heard something he liked. He is the one picking the vast majority of A&H beats at the end of the day, but the submissions could come from anywhere. He picked that crazy ass beat and as soon as I heard it, I knew it could be special. Wrote it and recorded it together at Willie Green's studio, and immediately felt like it had that magic. We just needed the right hook, the right voice to bring it all together. Elucid suggested KeiyaA and she was just… perfect. It's one of the best songs we ever made, and sonically it helped sharpen our direction on this record. It pointed the way forward. Also, it has a must-see video!
Willie Green featuring Denmark Vessey
“The Majii”
From Doc Savage
(Backwoodz Studioz)
Denmark Vessey is an incredible rapper – witty, unique, crazy flows, succinct writer. I don't know a rapper who doesn't respect his talent. It's a real treat to get someone with his kind of rhythm and patterns over some Willie Green drums. Especially on this track where Green really has all these chaotic elements held together by those drums, I'm not sure than any rapper could have done better than Denmark on this unless we are talking about vintage KRS One. Willie Green is the best engineer working, so it's easy to forget that when he wants to, he can make beats with the best of them. This is a perfect reminder.
Vordul Mega
This song is a time capsule of sorts. Its existence predates the label's existence but is an inextricable part of our history. Vordul Mega is the reason I rap. He is a friend from before rap, and my first and only mentor in this thing, even though he is younger than me. This was one of a few joints Vordul recorded with this producer Zach One, who was basically a kid at NYU who loved hiphop. This is around 2000, before Cannibal Ox hit but after I had left NYC and gone back to DC. Once Vordul started working on Cold Vein, these solo joints kinda fell by the wayside and Vordul didn't even have copies of the songs – he just had this one VHS tape of a video they shot for "Megagraphitti". Vordul left the video with me and I was fascinated with it so I decided to hunt these songs down. This is many years later and I'm trying to find this guy Zach One who has long since graduated from college and not involved in music at all. Eventually, I tracked him down and he still had the actual studio reels and I went and met him in Fort Greene. He was really cool about it and then I rode the train home with these big ass reels, feeling like I found the Lost Ark or something. Then I held onto those reels for years and years, until Vordul was ready to do something with them. It's a special song to me personally, and it's also something that I feel like I played a part in preserving for people to hear just how talented Vordul was at such a young age.
billy woods & Blockhead
When Blockhead originally linked up to work, this was the first great song we made. When I start making an album, I really need one of those to be sure that it's going to work. Especially with a one-producer project because you also need to do something that gets the producer to sit upright and gives them an idea of where you're going. Gilgamesh was that song for us on Dour Candy. As soon as that beat starts, it's such a zone and that pirano breakdown after the chorus is my jam. Everything just meshes perfectly on this one. “Angels on a pin” indeed.
billy woods & Kenny Segal
“Bedtime”
From Hiding Places
(Backwoodz Studioz)
While we are on the subject of one-producer projects, Hiding Places is a collaboration with Kenny Segal, and although there are so many great tracks to choose from, I picked “Bedtime” because it illustrates our process – in that I found something I thought Kenny should sample and sent it to him. It was a really unusual sample source, specific to my background, and I had a rough expectation of what I might get back. What Kenny sent was unrecognisable. I was intimidated at first but just leaned into it and the next thing I knew had written this bizarre pair of parables. I think we really pushed each other and kept each other off balance and that yielded great results.
ShrapKnel
Dope raps over a dope beat – sometimes it's not that complicated. Castro and PremRock have an effortless chemistry that really comes off here, over a beat that doesn't sound like an Elucid beat till someone tells you it is. Their self-titled album is packed with head nodders but this is one I come back to the most.
billy woods featuring Fielded
“Western Education Is Forbidden” [produced by Jeff Markey]
From Terror Management
(Backwoodz Studioz)
Jeff Markey sent me this track when we were working on Paraffin and I dug it but Elucid didn't go for it. To be honest, in retrospect he was probably right to pass on the beat – I don't know if it would have worked sonically with the other production on Paraffin. But regardless, I really loved this beat and I put it away in a folder. When I started working on Terror Management, I gave it a whirl and the track just kinda poured out. It also was the first time I collaborated with Fielded and realised that not only could she sing but she could really write. Song is hilarious and sad at the same time, which is my favourite.
Elucid
“If You Say So” [produced by Elucid]
From Save Yourself
(Backwoodz Studioz)
Haunting blend of production and rapping replete with a monster beat switch and such ill lyrics...
“To live and die in a hole
Elucid
Hypnotic. This song is amazing. As far as going to see Elucid goes – he could do this along with “No Grand Agenda”, shut it down and I would still feel like I got my money's worth. Messiah Musik is a producer who has been so much a part of what we have done here over the last however many years, one of the best at what he does.
Blockhead featuring Billy Woods, Open Mike Eagle & Breezly Brewin
“Slippery Slope”
From Free Sweatpants
(Backwoodz Studioz)
It was just a blessing to be on a track with Breezly Brewin, I'mma keep it real with you. Goes without saying that Mike Eagle is dope as hell and Blockhead gave us a great beat but I still just get stuck on the fact that I actually rapped with Breezly Brewin.
Armand Hammer are interviewed by John Morrison in The Wire 437. Buy a copy or read online.
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