billy woods & Kenny Segal - Hiding Places

Rhymesayers Entertainment brings us a reissue of billy woods and Kenny Segal’s classic 2019 album Hiding Places, to celebrate their newly announced partnership with Backwoodz Studioz. As time passes, and more of the duo’s work enters the canon, it is easy to forget what an unlikely pairing these two were in 2019. Both woods and Segal were already more than a decade into their careers, but neither had collaborated this deeply with artists outside of their coastal scenes. Kenny’s most recent projects were a couple of jazzy instrumental albums and production for Self-Jupiter, Open Mike Eagle, and Milo. For his part; woods was two years removed from his previous solo album with Blockhead. When Hiding Places happened it changed the trajectories of both artists, and Backwoodz Studioz. The original 2019 vinyl pressing was limited to 500 copies alongside a numbered run of 100 special-editions with alternative artwork by M. Musgrove. 2020 saw a new pressing that included the album instrumentals; this version had all-new artwork and was limited to just 1000 copies.

This five-year anniversary reissue brings back the iconic house cover, and also includes a gatefold with new original artwork from M. Musgrove. As for the music, while the original album description is a little quaint in retrospect, it remains accurate: Hiding Places finds both artists deep in the labyrinth. Segal’s lush soundscapes have a new edge, woods’ writing is, paradoxically, at its most direct. Hiding Places is a child’s game: funny and cruel, as brutal as a fairy tale. The album features contributions from both artists’ well of collaborators with Elucid, Self-Jupiter, and Mothermary making appearances. In 2022, just three years after its release, Hiding Places was named one of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone.