It was released through Backwoodz Studioz on May 5, 2023, and features guest appearances from Elucid, Danny Brown, Aesop Rock, Quelle Chris, ShrapKnel, Benjamin Booker, and Samuel T. Herring.

[3] After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in North America and Europe, Woods undertook a crowded touring schedule, and his experiences with adjusting to this lifestyle after the pandemic informed the themes and recording process of Maps.

[1] In addition to the album's focus on travel, some critics have identified Maps as showcasing Woods' reaction to his increasingly prominent status in the underground hip-hop scene.

[12] However, NPR's Sheldon Pearce has argued that Maps still displays a form of tension, as Segal aims to portray the disorientation of being constantly on the move.

[1][14] Its instrumental incorporates "sun-drenched" acoustic guitar and "sludgy" bass,[16][14] over which Woods recalls finding moments of hope in an otherwise stressful life.

[9][22] "Soundcheck" is a "dreamlike" song where Woods seeks to escape the tedious routines of travel and unpacking, instead taking in his new surroundings through sensory experiences like watching sunsets and eating Szechuan food.

"Blue Smoke" features a beat inspired by free jazz,[1][24] over which Woods imagines his domestic disputes being surveilled and commented upon by FBI agents.

[1] The content of the song features Woods lamenting that the world is broken beyond repair,[22] and expressing his wish to see everything destroyed so that future generations can rebuild society from nothing.

[21] Reflecting on his experience of the collaboration, Woods recalls Brown arriving at the recording studio with a sizable entourage and a large amount of material prepared: When he showed up, it was memorable.

[16] On "Baby Steps", Woods narrates an incident when he had to take an interstate Uber ride to travel between tour dates;[4] he compares himself to the album cover of Future's I Never Liked You when describing his attempts to sleep through the journey.

[14] "The Layover" samples a bebop piano line[14] as Woods compares bystanders who witness police brutality to those who observed the sick from afar during the Black Death.

[17] Lead single "FaceTime", a track that has been described as the album's "emotional core",[23] features a boom bap beat upon which Segal layers saxophone, bass, and synth keyboard elements.

[7] Samuel T. Herring provides the song's chorus, which reflects on the loneliness that touring can bring;[15][8] Woods recounts a situation where, alone at a hotel, he watched concertgoers attending an afterparty.

[12] "NYC Tapwater", the album's penultimate song, sees Woods returning to his New York home, where he discovers that gentrification has transformed the neighborhood during his absence.

[1] Jeff Terich of Treble described Woods' lyrics as "profound, subtle poetry",[22] and Kearse remarked that the writing "brings people and places to life with quick, visceral strokes".

Stephen Kearse characterized it as "globetrotting", and credited Segal with using a diverse selection of beats to encourage Woods to explore "new sonic and narrative spaces".

[23] Segal's beats have been identified as employing "clear melodies that invite the listener to lean in closer",[14] but also as featuring drum lines that "lurch sideways [rather than] falling into the old head-nod patterns".