Today, I Wrote Nothing by billy woods - RYM/Sonemic (2023)

Hurricanslash Jul 06 2021

Splinters. People trying to live their lives. Death. Drugs. Violence. Danger. Mockery. Addiction. War. Oppression. Racism. Success. Dreams. The small moments. Paranoia. Happiness. Hope. Desolation.

Today, Billy wrote nothing. He has writers block. Other people came to aid to help him write about their lives and stories. They brought their own music with them, their own styles, chops and ideas, their own experiences. The results are a mosaic of bubbling electronics, classic Rock, melancholic melodies and sharp synthesizers. These people came out of Billys head, and possessed his mouth to tell their stories. Billy wrote nothing today, but his hand sure did.

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Iai Feb 09 2016 ▼

One of those albums that throws everything it can at the wall just to see what shit sticks. Those can be enjoyable, but honestly, I just don't think that approach ever really works with hip hop - the only rap record I can think of that does this and works is Madvilliany, with even the adored Donuts leaving me much colder than it theoretically should. So as usual with records that are this scattershot, there are moments that work fighting desperately not to be drowned out by the moments that don't, and in this case there are far, far too many of the latter, particularly when it completely runs out of steam in the back half of the album. It doesn't help that Woods isn't engaging enough as either a presence or as a rapper to hold things together, either; a better rapper might be able to hold me onside through the bad tracks and remind me that a good one might only be 90 seconds away, but Woods is not that rapper.

Call me crazy, but I'd far rather hear somebody take their best 25 ideas and spend their time fully realizing them than take their top 100 and spent their time trying to edit them together.

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Clockwork1 Nov 02 2015 ▼

First joey Bada$$, then Earl, then L'Orange/Jeremih Jae, then Deacon - when will the quality of 2015's well in Hip Hop dip?

More or less, Billy Woods continues in the trend of making atmospheric, brooding, ominous music. He does so while supplanting his ominous soundscapes with imagery-driven lyricism, with better-executed concept tracks. Because of this, Today, I Wrote Nothing may prove his definitive release. His hook-crafting is ridiculously superb here in contrast to Dour Candy, "U-Boats" and shows he's been able to refine his slightly off-putting delivery to find a wonderful balance among his talents - allowing you to focus fully on his incredible lyricism.

Speaking of which, he's got it in spades; "African Dodger"'s metaphors rank among Billy Wood's finest verses alone; though often contradictory in execution ("Zulu Tolstory" is violent and passionate, "Warmachines" is comatose and jazzy; "Carpetbagger" is like an Aesop Rock take on a Beastie Boys-style beat; "Born Yesterday" is sufficient as any dosage of Valiums), Today is chock-full of wowing displays of rhymes and beyond sufficient deliveries; and his knack for placing the listener in his direct coordinates and mindstate almost immediately has improved threefold since Dour Candy which is further evidenced later on in the album, but particularly "Bicycles", "Lambs", "Weepers", "Dark Woods", "Borrowed Time", and the excellent closer, "Good Night".

I guess if you're looking to complain, at 24 tracks, it's not an easy album to digest, but it's easily the most enjoyable and interesting project Billy has dropped thus far. And it tends to flatline for a moment after "Born Yesterday" arrives. But I think what makes this exceptional really just comes down to execution and the solid material that is here - with songs like "Flatlands" and "Woodhull" this proves even more atmospheric than the excellent Dour Candy (2013), with more attention put towards solid deliveries and experimentation.

His best project yet, a highlight of 2015.

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OneTai Sep 24 2015

A neat, intense project from Billy Woods after the unimpressive Dour Candy. The Elucid and L'Wren features are almost as questionable as they were in History Will Absolve Me, but both artists show at least minimal signs of improvement lyrically - their flows have certainly not improved. I really don't understand why Woods insists on bringing them back again and again. I recall him vocalizing his belief in their capabilities as rappers, but they certainly have not lived up to expectations.

The new features, Henry Canyons and Curly Castro, were more interesting; if only because I didn't know exactly what they would sound like, unlike the tired Elucid and L'Wren. Canyons brought decent, promising lyrics with a passable but indistinct flow. Castro, with a single verse on the album, managed to lower my opinion of the album as a whole. That's really all I have to say on the matter.

Billy Woods himself returned stylistically to the much-praised educated, angry and oft-political lyricism from History Will Absolve Me. However, no individual track on this record possesses the raw aggression of, say, "Pompeii"; nor does any one have quite the same degree of personal flavor heard in "The Wake". There's almost a feel of an 'ulterior motive' to the album, in that less and less of what Woods has stressed in the past is heard (or even recalled) here.

Simply how this record is constructed and sounds makes me believe that Woods' influence was heavily diluted by other persons working on the project. Busdriver and Aesop Rock are two people who I believe definitely negatively influence Billy Woods' original approach to hip-hop, and it makes me uncomfortable to see them listed as producers on this project.

While this album just barely meets the bar of 'average mastery of the form', I fear that this artist's quality of content will continue to decline as he continues to fraternize with and be influenced by Busdriver and Aesop Rock.

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ClassTK Apr 12 2015

I have a hard time putting this album into words, because, like many albums from 2015, it's completely unengaging. Maybe this style isn't for me, because I like rappers with big personalities who take control of the mic and Billy Woods seems like he doesn't care if anyone is listening. Maybe it's because he doesn't have anything to say, not that I would know because his writing style is incredibly hard to follow and his might-as-well-be-spoken-word-because-theres-hardly-any-rhythm-at-all flow makes it hard to pay attention for 24 tracks straight. The production is varied and interesting at times but it never makes up for Billy Wood's rapping and is mostly there. It's frustrating because I can hear that the talent is there but nothing makes me want to dig deeper.

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Sonyn Apr 05 2015

Очнувшийся в 2013 году после девятилетней творческой комы рэпер Билли Вудс представил новое видение A WEAPON TO SURPASS METAL GEAR – замечательный в своей неприкрытой агрессии комментарий относительно военных преступников, алчных политиков и сумасшедших масс-медия. Альбом History Will Absolve Me можно рассматривать как манифест хлебнувшего в жизни говна ветерана с ярко выраженным PTSD, ставящего под вопрос приказы «сверху» и последствия своих собственных действий, подобно сумасшедшему проповеднику орущего на грязных улицах мегаполиса призывы задуматься о значении слов «мораль» и «гуманизм». Очень ярко это иллюстрирует потрясающий трек Pompeii, рассказывающий о цикличности зла в современном обществе по аккомпанемент гениального в своей простоте физически давящего на слушателя семпла заглавной темы Сияния.

Вместе с последовавшим через год «сиквелом» Dour Candy нынешняя пластинка, безусловно, продолжает неблагодарное дело переосмысление власти одного человека над другим, но делает это уже в куда более приглушенном, почти апатичном тоне. Today, I Wrote Nothing не громкий манифест с улиц Нью-Йорка, это засаленный блокнот с набросанными на каждой из двадцати четырех страниц неразборчивым почерком двухминутными четверостишьями, валяющийся на полу в грязной пустой квартире со старыми облезлыми обоями, хаотичной кучкой книг Джеймса Болдуина, заевшей джазовой пластинкой на столе и телом торчка в обоссаном углу, так и не узнавшем where the fuck is Wallace.

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