Early album of the year kind of talk whispers around Billy Woods and Kenny Segal’s dark and intoxicating recent HIDING PLACES (out on Backwoodz Studioz). Woods, the NYC rhymeslayer, Segal, the Los Angeles beatmaker; together they create visceral musical worlds. And we’re invited to listen. On “spongebob” we’re even invited to watch, as there’s a video. That’s what we have here. Shadows, dark rooms, dizzy vibraphones, fuzz guitars, ambiguous plans, spiraling & unspooling & unleashed free flows. Not to mention sunlight streaming through dirty old windows. This track is easy AND tense. How’s that? These parts, these idiosyncratic parts, are all molded into a most appealing whole by these underground hip hop heroes. And it’s no doubt some of the best and most unique music I’ve heard all year and I just keep playing this song over and over. Video by Joseph.

Billy Woods play DAP on 7/6 w/ Kadeem, Merci D, and Hassan Ghanny