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BACKWOODZ STUDIOZ / RHYMESAYERS

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E L U C I D & Sebb Bash

I Guess U Had To Be There

BACKWOODZ STUDIOZ / RHYMESAYERS

Coloured LP

£32.99

Transparent vinyl

Cat Number

BWZ813LP-C1

Release date
Expected 13 Mar '26
Format Info

Transparent vinyl

Release date: Expected 13 Mar '26

CD

£13.99

Cat Number

BWZ813CD

Release date
Expected 13 Mar '26

Release date: Expected 13 Mar '26

Cassette

£14.99

Cat Number

BWZ813CASS

Release date
Expected 13 Mar '26

Release date: Expected 13 Mar '26

Two turntables and a microphone. There is a truth in the clarity of that simple coda, a truth that also belies the breadth of what is possible within its confines. Sometimes you gotta get reminded. 'I Guess U Had To Be There', the new album from NYC rapper ELUCID and veteran producer Sebb Bash, is one of those ones. So fresh it sounds like it was made tomorrow, but bet money you could put this on in ’89 and get heads bopping.

There are moments in music when masters of their craft cross paths at the height of their respective powers—records like Madvillainy, Liquid Swords, Dr. Octagonecologyst, and Hell Hath No Fury—where the result is more than the sum of its parts. ELUCID and Sebb Bash find themselves in this heady, seemingly effortless ephemera on 'I Guess U Had To Be There'. Everything is both familiar and groundbreaking. The beats shift and flip under ELUCID’s feet but he tightropes it all, delivery nimble as a mountain goat, producer and rapper moving in perfect synchronization. Some shining stars make memorable appearances: billy woods, Breezly Brewin, Estee Nack, Shabaka Hutchings. But this is a two-man show, and the duo keep the spotlight where it belongs. 'I Guess U Had To Be There' is a captivating, convention-defying listen and a high-water mark for two of the best artists in the genre.

TRACK LISTING

1. First Light
2. Cantata
3. Hands N Feet (feat. Estee Nack)
4. Make Me Wise
5. Coonspeak
6. Equiano (feat. Shabaka Hutchings)
7. The Lorax (feat. Billy Woods)
8. Fainting Goats (feat. Breeze Brewin)
9. I Say Self
10. Visitation Place
11. Alive Herbals
12. Parental Advisory

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Armand Hammer & The Alchemist

Haram - 2025 Repress

BACKWOODZ STUDIOZ / RHYMESAYERS

LP

u/avbl

Cat Number

BWZ807LP

Release date
7 Nov '25

Looking back more than four years later at 'Haram', it is easier to see the forest for the trees. At the time, much of the attention fell on how this outsider duo would fare under the bright lights- which was fair, Armand Hammer had never done a single producer record before- and here they were working with a living legend. Now, with a little distance, it’s easier to see how Alchemist stepped out of his comfort zone to meet them where they were, and how all three artists then absconded for parts unknown. The flashbulb energy of 'Bring The Stars Out', asymmetric drone of 'Chicharrones', fugue-bounce of 'God’s Feet', and good luck finding analogues for 'Peppertree' or 'Stonefruit'. 'Haram' doesn’t sound like anything else in the ALC discography, nor in Armand Hammer’s, for that matter. Haram was a one-shot kill that somehow contained some of the most accessible work ELUCID and billy woods had ever done, as well as some of their most experimental, and it all sounded cohesive.

Needless to say, they didn’t do this alone; KAYANA’s golden voice upps the wattage on 'Black Sunlight', while Fielded’s sultry alto gets chopped and screwed on 'Aubergine'. Earl Sweatshirt’s cameo on the sun-soaked 'Falling Out the Sky' is already a classic. Curly Castro, Amani, and Quelle Chris all turn up the heat when called upon.

But since we are talking about retrospect here, the thing about 'Haram' isn’t that it still sounds as good as it did when it came out. The amazing thing is that it actually sounds even better than it did then. You don’t have to take our word for it either, run it up one time, with the lights low and something on ice, see if it doesn’t take you somewhere new, again.

TRACK LISTING

1. Sir Benni Miles
2. Roaches Don’t Fly
3. Black Sunlight Featuring KAYANA
4. Indian Summer
5. Aubergine Featuring Fielded
6. God’s Feet
7. Peppertree
8. Scaffolds
9. Falling Out The Sky Featuring Earl Sweatshirt
10. Wishing Bad Featuring Curly Castro & Amani
11. Chicharrones Featuring Quelle Chris
12. Squeegee
13. Robert Moses
14. Stonefruit

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Armand Hammer & The Alchemist

Mercy

BACKWOODZ STUDIOZ / RHYMESAYERS

LP

u/avbl

Cat Number

BWZ808LP

Release date
7 Nov '25

Armand Hammer and The Alchemist build worlds. Their first was 'Haram' and it remains locked in orbit, equal parts lush and foreboding. Their new one is called 'Mercy' and it’s made out of blood and empire, children’s laughter, unpaid parking tickets, and things that haven’t happened yet.

Rappers ELUCID and billy woods are joined on the mic by Earl Sweatshirt, Quelle Chris, Cleo Reed, Pink Siifu, Kapwani, and Silka. The Alchemist did everything else.

TRACK LISTING

1. Laraaji
2. Peshawar
3. Calypso Gene (feat. Silka & Cleo Reed)
4. Glue Traps (feat. Quelle Chris)
5. Scandinavia
6. Nil By Mouth
7. Dogeared (feat. Kapwani)
8. Crisis Phone (feat. Pink Siifu)
9. Moonbow
10. No Grabba
11. U Know My Body
12. Longjohns (feat. Quelle Chris & Cleo Reed)
13. California Games (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)
14. Super Nintendo

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Preservation & Gabe 'Nandez

Sortilège

Backwoodz Studioz / Rhymesayers

Indies Exclusive LP

£32.99
Usually ships within: 2-10 days

Cat Number

BWZ809LP

Release date
10 Oct '25

Sortilège is the new album from esteemed producer and DJ Preservation and ascendant talent Gabe ‘’Nandez. The two artists first linked on Aethiopes, Preservation’s 2022 collaboration with billy woods, where Nandez was featured alongside Boldy James on one of the album’s standout tracks. “Sauvage” became the catalyst for Sortilège, as the New Orleans-based producer and New York-based rapper gradually began exchanging ideas—first long distance, then in February 2024, when Nandez flew to New Orleans for two weeks, ready to work.

“It was smooth, very synergetic,” ‘Nandez explains. “We listened to mad music—Boot Camp Clik, Scaramanga, Cuban Linx—and I was asking questions about all types of shit, trying to soak up game and history, which I did.”

The two also bonded over their shared francophone ancestry: Preservation is half French and ‘Nandez is half Malian. These connections made their way into the music as well, via both aesthetics and sample sources, and that sort of exchange courses through Sortilège, bridging the generational, geographical, and cultural gaps between the two artists with a record that feels a world unto itself. Esoteric, yet blunt and uncomplicated as a fistfight, Sortilège erases the line between urbane and urban. It’s a movie in a lucid dream, A Clockwork Négritude projected against the wall of a construction site. Mixed-use residential.

Tracing this arc, fellow travelers Armand Hammer, Koncept Jack$on, Ze Nkoma Mpaga Ni Ngoko, and billy woods all make appearances. Oh, and there are drums everywhere: drums that will rattle a hooptie and drums that whisper threats. Somehow, over the course of 14 tracks, Preservation seems to find his way to every instrument imaginable—yet each beat has room to breathe. Amidst this breakbeat symphony, ‘Nandez’s unmistakable baritone glides purposefully, ever forward, a bristling warship in troubled waters. Every time the bass thumps, ‘Nandez counterpunches. This is a record for heavyweight speakers and clunky headphones.

TRACK LISTING

1. Harmattan
2. Spire
3. Shadowstep
4. Muay Sok
5. Bascinet
6. Morning Star
7. Hierophant (feat. Koncept Jack$on)
8. War (feat. Billy Woods)
9. Ball & Chain
10. Nom De Guerre (feat. Ze Nkoma Mpaga Ni Ngoko)
11. Respected Calligraphy
12. Mondo Cane (feat. Armand Hammer & Benjamin Booker)
13. Kurtz
14. Lotus Flower

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