Rating:
  Review Date: July 11, 2007
  Website: Flight Brothers Website
  Label: Backwoodz Studioz

Super Chron Flight Brothers “Emergency Rations: The World Tour” Album Review
If creativity was a drug, I’d be higher than a motherfucker right now homie, probably stretched out on my couch, zoning out at the TV with one of those inch-long un-ashed Newports in between my fingers. If creativity was a drug, I wouldn’t be able to get on a plane carrying a copy of the “Emergency Powers: The World Tour” CD without being run up on by drug sniffing dogs and TSA agents. And if creativity was a drug, Priviledge and Billy Woods of The Super Chron Flight Brothers would be looking at around eight to fifteen, for possession with intent to distribute.

Let’s face it … despite what you hear on the radio or see on the television, the majority of hip-hop, especially that out of the underground, is socially and politically conscious. So there’s nothing new about The Super Chron Flight Brothers talking about real shit. However, what is unique and different about this duo of talented emcees is their ability to talk about real shit in a creatively pragmatic way, as if they just got done puffing some of that “super chron” and took on each topic with a marijuana-induced open-mindedness. They achieve this effect by utilizing different sets of perceptions, delving into a wide array of individual psyches, and using keen senses of wit coupled with satirically comical observations to critique the events and situations that surround them.

Live From …
For example, half of the tracks on “Emergency Powers: The World Tour” are co-titled “Live From Somewhere,” and give Priviledge and Billy Woods the opportunity to rhyme about any given situation as if they were actually in attendance. European Safari, co-titled Live From The Caucasus Mountains, places Super Chron in the mountainous region that vaguely separates Europe and Asia following a European rampage that ended with “Vladimir Putin in the trunk.” To Catch A Thief, co-titled Live From Wall Street, NYC, places Super Chron in the financial capital of the world to contemplate economic gaps, criminal activity and white-collar crime. Guy Fawkes, co-titled Live From Baidoa, Somalia, places Super Chron in the capital of Somalia’s clan-controlled administrative district to track how invisible outside investors historically feed off of, and often help sustain, war torn areas in selfish quests to profit from death.

Dirtweed, co-titled Live From The 4th Circuit, Court Of Appeals, Richmond VA, places Super Chron in the midst of a high-level federal judiciary hearing to plead the absurdity of the drug war and substance-related violations of the law. A Million Little Pieces, co-titled Live From the Oprah Show, places Super Chron on primetime television to give an animated depiction of the ever-evolving characteristics of stories and first-hand accounts of events. Soweto Nightclub, co-titled Live From Brixton, United Kingdom, places Super Chron in London’s unofficial capital of Jamaican, African and Caribbean communities to discuss globalization and gentrification. And Adamantium, co-titled, Live From The Cannabis Cup, Amsterdam, places Super Chron in the middle of the world’s biggest marijuana festival to proclaim the concept of indestructibility in relation to evolution, progression and law-related loopholes.

The tracks that are not meant for specific locations are no less impressive. Drought gives the listener a modern-day introspective drug dealer narrative story. Slaughterhouse is a candid observation and questioning of several realities of current events significance, which provides criticism of warmongers, asking “if his intention’s not to fight, then why did he bring a rifle?” and thuggish gangsterism, claiming that “when he says he never loves a bitch/ I see a little boy ashamed his mom’s on that shit.”

Rent Control takes a storytelling approach to explain the downfalls and shameful actions often taken to create gentrification. First Blood gives the perspectives of a Palestinian living in an occupied territory and an Al-Qaedan jihadist, and the stories of their personal evolutions toward extremist behavior, while Bob Hope gives the perspectives of soldiers loyal to the United States military and executive branch. Public Defenders allows a handful of emcees to provide their own defensive statements in a musical court-of-law dialogue. And Love & War in October verbally questions the belief that “all is fair in love and war” by telling tragic stories of both.

Emergency Powers
The production on this album is simultaneously progressive and introspective, and features notable tracks from Bond of the Backwoodz Studioz crew, Nasa of Uncommon Records, and even a gem by MF DOOM. The songs range from angry to comical, from socially significant to politically critical, and include guest appearances from heavyweights Trife Da God and Cannibal Ox. And above all, the album is among the most intellectual and satirical of the year, often leaving the listener uncertain and confused as it jumps back and forth between anticipated genius and perceived insanity.

Due to overwhelming experimentation, intellectualism and individuality, The Super Chron Brothers’ “Emergency Powers: The World Tour” is easily one of the biggest standout hip-hop albums of the year. If you like creativity blended with conscious thought and current events evaluations, it is a must have. I highly recommend picking up a copy. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Drought
2. European Safari
3. To Catch a Thief
4. Slaughterhouse
5. Rent Control
6. Panama Red
7. Guy Fawkes feat. Trife Da God
8. First Blood
9. Bob Hope
10. Public Defenders feat Hi-Coup & Hasan Salaam
11. Dirtweed
12. A Million Little Pieces feat Keith Masters
13. Love & War in October feat Whizla
14. Frontier Province feat Marq Spekt
15. High Grade
16. Soweto Nightclub
17. Adamanitum feat Cannibal Ox
18. Low Tide