Unsung Podcast

Episode 98 - History Will Absolve Me by billy woods

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Episode notes

It’s hard to see a picture of billy woods’ face. At least, it’s hard to see an “official” one as it’s often censored. It might seem like an odd thing to start with, but we bring it up because his music is so identifiable, so recognisable that it really doesn’t matter if you know what the guy looks like or not; the art speaks for itself.

Yes, that is Robert Mugabe on the cover. And the text is stark. The whole aesthetic of this record is confrontational. It’s ironic. It’s a bit dingy. It’s dark. It’s also staggering that billy woods is not more well known because he’s just as vital as many popular hip hop artists today.

History Will Absolve Me is woods’ second (possibly third) album, and it came at a time when he was questioning whether a music career was really for him. In this episode we talk about not just his discography, but the man himself. Over the years he’s taken part in many projects, but we focus almost entirely on his solo output. An unusual move for us, but the album is so deep that we thought we’d spend a little more time talking about the content and themes within.

For Weaver, it’s a close race between this album and his fourth album Today, I Wrote Nothing. This record is the one that he freely admits helped put him and his record label, Backwoodz Studioz, on the map.

Is this his definitive statement? You know what to do.