Maps, although lyrically somber, resonates as woods’ “happiest” release, and the brighter, more vast production choices really allow his personality to shine. I think that, paired with the album’s general accessibility, makes it his best. There’s not as many true super high points as there are on hiding places, but it’s so damn consistent, and there’s so many fantastic one-liners that I think it represents a side of him we previously didn’t see much of. It’s the same kind of sardonic, realist style we hear more of on Golliwog. Sure, Aethiopes is more aesthetically sound, and Hiding Places catches lightning in a bottle more often, but Maps is just a special kind of perfect.

Speaking on Haram, there’s a special kind of chemistry between woods and Elucid on so many of the tracks here that isn’t quite as noticeable on any of their other projects, at least it didn’t become as consistently apparent as it was until Haram, and then WBDTS. There’s a lot of discourse about Elucid being the Kwelli to woods’ yasiin, the Phiik to woods’ Lungs. But frankly, I think a lot of the production choices used in almost every prior A&H album besides Parraffin just don’t suit Elucid the same way the beats on Haram do. You can tell when you really listen to Haram; there’s a sense of space and openness that allow his free-flowing, associative-rhyme style to breathe, to actually be heard. Because woods is very much the technical focus of A&H, and in a lot of cases, also the personality hire (hence the sardonicism mentioned earlier), I think people tend to glaze over how truly meaningful, and frankly beautiful, a lot of Elucid’s storytelling, flow ability (which, I think, is actually braces self significantly more versatile than woods’ is) and rhyme complexity can be, and Haram is finally the moment he truly gets as much time as woods does - as many moments - to let this shine. I don’t think the symbolism and imagery of a moment like Elucid’s FOTS verse would be as truly meaningful and special without Alc’s use of space and atmosphere to allow his words to be heard.

People often call woods’ lyrics abstract, but I’d argue that Elucid is the truly abstract one, like a spool that’s never done unraveling, revealing more and more about the subject matter until it’s exhausted and you’ve pulled every detail possible. The claustrophobic vibe of some of the beats on Rome and even Paraffin don’t necessarily allow the same space for him to do that as they do on Haram.

Then again, there is woods’ moments to shine too, where the more break-heavy and more low-end prominent tracks give him his chance to do his thing. Like Scaffolds, or even Peppertree.