SAMPLEDdoseone on Backwoodz: All Portrait, No Chorus is an indie rap pioneer refusing to coast
The Anticon co-founder teamed with Steel Tipped Dove for a January 10, 2025 album the label calls uncompromising — and it is.
Few rappers have a longer paper trail in experimental hip-hop than doseone. Anticon co-founder, cLOUDDEAD and Subtle member, video game composer, illustrator — the kind of artist whose influence shows up in people who have never heard his records. All Portrait, No Chorus, released January 10, 2025 on Backwoodz Studioz (opens in a new tab), is his full-length with NYC producer Steel Tipped Dove.
Why the pairing works
The label's framing is simple: Dove knew the caliber of MC he was working with, so he used every color available. Dose does not rap in bars so much as in sentences that keep folding back on themselves, and a producer who plays it safe leaves him stranded. Dove does the opposite — the beats change shape mid-song and give the writing somewhere to go.
The listening party
Backwoodz marked the release with a live listening party hosted on Bandcamp, with Andrew Broder moderating a conversation between the two artists. That format — record first, discussion second — says a lot about the audience the label has built: people who want the making-of, not just the merch.
Where to start
If you are coming in cold, treat the album as a single piece rather than a playlist. Dose has never written for shuffle. The same advice applies to most of the catalog — see how to listen to billy woods for the general approach.
Formats and streaming links live on the Backwoodz release page (opens in a new tab), and the listening party announcement is here (opens in a new tab).