Pharoahe Monch – Desire Review
4 ninja starts out of 5
Here’s the back-story… Pharoahe Monch one of the game’s best lyricists released his last album Internal Affairs 8 years ago to both critical acclaim and commercial success due largely to the Godzilla sampling lead single “Simon Says (Get the F’ Up).” Then as a result (and on the verge of going platinum) of not getting said sample cleared the album was pulled off the shelves which sent Pharoahe tumbling into a series of label disputes and almost signings (he was once rumored to be signed to Shady Records).
But now he’s back “ridin’ the baseline like Ginobili” with the aptly titled Desire (a 7 year vet returning to the game after an 8 year hiatus must either really love hip-hop or not be able to get another job) and he’s mad. And although venting about the industry is nothing new Monch makes it fresh with lines like “I get it poppin’ without Artist and Repertoire ‘cuz Pharoahe is a monarch minus the A & R”, and his take on the ambiguity of song right ownership where he states “when you sample a snare your payin’ the klan.”
Desire is not just an industry bitch session, other highlights of the album include the soulful bounce of “Body Baby”, “Bartap”, and the beautiful three part epic of murder and retaliation called “Trilogy.” The latter two which show off Monch’s highly underrated story-telling ability.
Once on the cutting edge and rivaled by only Eminem and possibly Black Thought in lyrical creativity and inventiveness (he’s still pretty damn good), nothing save of the return of some sort of religious messiah is worth waiting 8 years for but, it’s great to have him back and hopefully we won’t have to wait another 8 for his next one.
Here’s the back-story… Pharoahe Monch one of the game’s best lyricists released his last album Internal Affairs 8 years ago to both critical acclaim and commercial success due largely to the Godzilla sampling lead single “Simon Says (Get the F’ Up).” Then as a result (and on the verge of going platinum) of not getting said sample cleared the album was pulled off the shelves which sent Pharoahe tumbling into a series of label disputes and almost signings (he was once rumored to be signed to Shady Records).
But now he’s back “ridin’ the baseline like Ginobili” with the aptly titled Desire (a 7 year vet returning to the game after an 8 year hiatus must either really love hip-hop or not be able to get another job) and he’s mad. And although venting about the industry is nothing new Monch makes it fresh with lines like “I get it poppin’ without Artist and Repertoire ‘cuz Pharoahe is a monarch minus the A & R”, and his take on the ambiguity of song right ownership where he states “when you sample a snare your payin’ the klan.”
Desire is not just an industry bitch session, other highlights of the album include the soulful bounce of “Body Baby”, “Bartap”, and the beautiful three part epic of murder and retaliation called “Trilogy.” The latter two which show off Monch’s highly underrated story-telling ability.
Once on the cutting edge and rivaled by only Eminem and possibly Black Thought in lyrical creativity and inventiveness (he’s still pretty damn good), nothing save of the return of some sort of religious messiah is worth waiting 8 years for but, it’s great to have him back and hopefully we won’t have to wait another 8 for his next one.
4 comments:
PHAROAHE'S THE SHIT!
NOW THAT HE & COMMON HAVE NEW STUFF OUT, I GUESS I CAN GET BACK INTO HIP-HOP AGAIN.
Great review!
“when you sample a snare your payin’ the klan.”
What does that even mean?
writers note: it means that most artists don't own their masters and they can be bought and sold almost like stock so you never know when you are paying royalties who they're going to. For instance in the 90's before he went bankrupt Michael Jackson owned a large stake in the Beatles catalogue so if you bought a beatles album you were paying Michael Jackson
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