Friday, August 7, 2009

Crate Digging: The Chalice

by Billy Woods
This solo album from one-half of the Super Chron Flight Brothers is a masterful piece of work. Woods is definitely on some next level with his writing - the songs here are as much spoken word poetry as they are rap. He switches up his tempo and style on a number of tracks - some are very hard, while others are more reflective and poetic.

As usual, his lyrics demonstrate a well-read individual, with songs about smoking weed sitting next to others about the situation in Iraq.

Production on this album is mostly by Bond (007), although some of the other Backwoodz mainstays make appearances on the beats. It's mostly a minimalist album, with very little provided to distract from Woods' lyrics. Appearances are by the usual crowd too: Thrill Gates, Priviledge, Mighty Joseph, Kong, and of course, Vordul Mega.

This isn't an easy album to find, but it's well worth tracking down.

2 comments:

uncle Bengi said...

Flat out one of the best pieces of music ever made. I love everything Woods touches, but this album has been his pinnacle to this point.

Anonymous said...

Great album but Camouflage is a little more cohesive as an LP to me. And as far as his best rapping I would have to go with Emergency Powers. Dont get me wrong though, the Chalice has major joints.