Billy Woods

Billy Woods was born in Washington, D.C.^[8] His mother was an English literature professor from Jamaica,^[5] and his father was a Marxist intellectual from Zimbabwe; the two met while Woods' father was pursuing a Ph.D. in the United States.^[9] During the Zimbabwe War of Independence, Woods' father lived in "political exile", but in 1980 the family moved to Zimbabwe and Woods' father entered the Zimbabwean government.^[10][11] Later in the 1980s, Woods' father died.^[8] Around a year and a half later, in 1989, Woods and his mother returned to the United States and moved to Washington D.C.^[2][10][11] Woods briefly attended Howard University before getting involved in New York's hip-hop scene.^[8] He started making music in the late 1990s,^[12] writing his "first real rhyme" at a laundromat in Kennebunk, Maine in 1997.^[10]

"Billy Woods" is a pseudonym and his birth name has never been revealed.^[13] In an interview with Jacobin, Woods explained that his pursuit of anonymity was rooted in several reasons, including his desires to remain a private individual and to avoid being associated with his family name.^[11]

Billy Woods founded the record label Backwoodz Studioz in 2003, inspired by the success of independent releases The Cold Vein and Operation: Doomsday, and released his debut album Camouflage through Backwoodz that same year.^[8][14] In the early years of his career, he was a protégé of Cannibal Ox's Vordul Mega.^[15] Throughout the 2000s, the majority of Woods' output was released through the duo Super Chron Flight Brothers, which comprised him and fellow rapper Priviledge. Woods describes his work with Super Chron Flight brothers as emphasizing "the comedy and tragedy angle".^[9] By the early 2010s, Super Chron Flight Brothers had split up,^[9] and Backwoodz Studioz had been largely unable to make a profit.^[14] Woods subsequently decided to complete another solo album, 2012's History Will Absolve Me;^[16][17] Woods intended for it to be his final release before leaving the music industry.^[9][18] History Will Absolve Me proved more successful than Woods anticipated, revitalizing Woods' career and attaining a reputation as a cult classic of underground hip hop.^[18]

In 2013, Woods released Dour Candy, which was entirely produced by Blockhead.^[19][20] In 2017, he released Known Unknowns.^[21] It was included on Rolling Stone's "15 Great Albums You Probably Didn't Hear in 2017" list.^[22] In 2019, he released a collaborative album with producer Kenny Segal, titled Hiding Places,^[23] as well as a solo album, Terror Management.^[24] 2020 brought Brass, a collaborative album with Moor Mother. Woods released Aethiopes and Church in 2022. On 27 March 2023, Woods announced his second collaboration with the producer Kenny Segal titled Maps. The album was released on 5 May 2023. It was preceded by two singles, "Facetime", which was released on 12 April 2023 and featured the Baltimore singer Samuel T. Herring,^[25] and "Soft Landing", which was released 3 May 2023.

Media has noted that Woods has his face obscured in publicity photos.^[26][27]