Y'all Know The Name, Pharoahe F!cking Monch Ain't a Damn Thang Changed...In 8 Years
Written: Jul 20 '07 (Updated Jul 20 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Absolute lyricallationalism-o-tron...Refreshing concepts, Guest Appreances are well done.
Cons: Too short (pause) for being away so long (pause)
The Bottom Line: "My mic's the gavel, When I talk courts adjourned" On 13 counts of alphabetical slaughter, and lyrical murder in the 1st degree, Pharoahe Monch is guilty...BUY THE DAMN ALBUM!
MajaFiggaz's Full Review: Desire [PA] * by Pharoahe Monch
One of the most complex lyricist of all-time, Pharoahe Monch returns with his Desire. Monch who's last album Internal Affairs was released 8 years ago in 1999, has been away from the hip-hop scene for a relatively long time (In terms of releasing albums). That album is widely regarded as a near-classic album in underground circles and a classic to some others, and featured the single "Simon Say's" which can be considered his most successful solo song commercially. Before going solo, Pharoahe Monch was partnered with Prince Po, to make duo of Simply 2 Positive and later Organized Konfusion. O.K. released 3 albums and broke up after their final album The Equinox.
Pharoahe Monch also produced and ghost-wrote a few track for P. Diddy on his album Press Play, most notably the track The Future in which Diddy essentially emulates Monch from the style, to his delivery to his wordplay. With the 8 year hiatus between albums for Pharoahe Monch it will take an extraordinary album to quench the thirst of his most devoted fans, as well as make others actually give a damn. I mean sh!t I'm 23 years old. When He last dropped I was a freshman in High School. That means most of the so-called hip-hop demographic (High School-College Age) don't know the name Pharoahe F!ckin' Monch. Is Desire enough to restore Pharoahe Monch's name in hip-hop?...Simon Says shut the f!ck up and read the review!
1. Intro - N/A - This modern spiritual (I refuse to say Negro spiritual...sh!t I just said it!) sets the perfect mood to beginning the album and go into the next track.
2. Free - $$$$$ - Monch picks up where he left off 8 years ago spitting verbal epiphanies. His extensive vocabulary is still in tact, and continues to weave a web of words so intricately the English dictionary lacks an adjective to fit me(Brother Ali), him sorry. Over a sick bass driven beat with soul claps Monch defies containment and won't be shackled down and enslaved by the hip-hop industry.
3. Desire(feat. Showtyme) - $$$$$ - To anyone who's been reading my reviews since like 2004, this isn't the same Showtyme sh!tbag that dropped the sewage-laden album Hustlen 4 Show. No this Showtyme lends Pharoahe Monch his superb vocals on the chorus. With Showtyme crooning, Alchemist on the beat and Pharoahe Monch with the bars, how can you go wrong? You cant, and the proof is in the song. With some witty braggadocio Monch attacks the hip-hop game, and with the confidence of a champion tells you "You will fell me, You will admire/(My) Struggle, (My) Hustle, (My) Soul, Desire"
4. Push(feat. Showtyme, Mela Machinko & Tower of Power) - $$$$1/2 - Anyone who has played NBA Street: Homecourt will recognize this song as the chorus was usually played after a game. The beginning of this song is a bit relaxed and a change of pace from the venom of the previous two. Pharoahe starts off singing about overcoming and continuing to strive, and push towards the light. The second verse see's the others coming together and singing as well, then when you think the third chorus will be some more laid back singing Pharoahe Monch rips into it with the intensity of a dog fighting at Michael Vick's house.
5. Welcome To The Terrordome - $$$$1/2 - Chuc...Pharoahe Monch attacks political issues on this track...Or does he? In an act seldom seen in hip-hop, and more often used in rock, Monch covers a classic song. The song being Public Enemy's...Welcome To The Terrordome. Essential it is the same first verse and then Monch ripping into more recent events on the second. One thing that does stand out is how Monch mimics Chuck D's voice and style perfectly. The beat while pretty similar to the original is a little cleaned up.
6. What It Is - $$$$3/4 - Over a dark beat with a rugged bass line, Pharoahe Monch is back to spitting his thought-provoking monstrous metaphors. The one problem I have with this track is that it is entirely too short clocking in under 3 minutes, however Pharoahe doesn't disappoint.
"Keep Snoring/
Keep sleeping, I'll keep touring/
Come back, lay in the cut like Neosporin/
Came out of the fallopian blastin'/
Pharoahe hungrier than Ethiopians fastin'/
Flies all in my teeth, stomach stickin' out/
N!ggas want dibs on the weed but ain't kickin' out/
See this is not American Idol/
This is me tryin' to eat, human survival/
Spit at your favorite rapper, take his title/
Stick needles in his eyeballs 'til his signs are no longer vital"
7. When The Gun Draws(feat. Mr. Porter) - $$$$$(1/2) - In the sequel to Stray Bullet, Pharoahe spits from the perspective of a bullet, and is assisted on the chorus by D12's Kon Artis aka Denaun Porter aka Mr. Porter. Porter's vocals on the chorus help to give this an added atmosphere and Pharoahe's lyricism here is nothing short of top-notch. He talks about hitting famous people, kids and his use in the hood. Ending it with "Fatality shot entered from the right temple/Was not fired from a six-story window/Can it be that it was all so simple/But yet remains so painful to rekindle/I come through your city I'm hot/Whether you're jiggy or not/Whether your Biggie or 'Pac/When the Gun Draws"
8. Let's Go(feat. Mela Machinko) - $$$$$($) - With the lyrical muscle on display here you'd think Pharoahe Monch played anabolic baseball with Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco. The production supplied by Black Milk is certified banger status, combining a pounding drum loop, strings and a smooth bassline, to make a masterful creation. What type of rapper would Pharoahe Monch be to get outshined by this beat? Basically anyone in the hip-hop game, but Pharoahe Monch absolutely f!cking explodes like sh!t in New York on this. His first verse is wild, but it is the second verse that just causes a cataclysm of lyrical superiority. He spits madness incorporating the names of various phones and communication devices and uses, to make bars that make sense. At the end of the song we are treated to a few parody songs included a fake 50 Cent being interviewed, a song about masturbating and one about saving trees, in the light of the QN5 All-Star's Commercial Rap from the Phila Flava compilation album A League of Our Own, Vol. 2.
9.Body Baby - $$$$$(1/2) - With a lyrical monster like Pharoahe Monch, who'd have thought one of the best songs on the album would have him singing like Elvis f!cking Pressley. With some slick bass, claps and a touch of piano and some harmonica, the whole vibe is straight 50's and makes the song that much better. Throw in the background singers and this song could have held its own against Ray Charles. I may be getting a little beside myself, but this is a hot track and Monch's creativity is almost unparalleled.
10. Bar Trap(feat. Mela Machinko) - $$$$ - Pharoahe Monch begins to mellow the album out with the next trio on songs. Here he chronicles an experience at a club. It's Pharoahe Monch's lyricism and storytelling ability that carries him through this one, with some slick wordplay "She dancin' like CeBeyon/Workin' her lady charm". Mela Machinko on the chorus is nice and the production set a lounge type setting, but nothing to spectacular.
11. Hold On(feat. Erykah Badu) - $$$$$(1/2) - In a complete contrast to the previous misogyny-laden track, here Pharoahe Monch gives an inspirational, heartfelt performance on this track dedicated to women. His tale which starts with a young African girl getting picked on who eventually becomes a beautiful woman is flawless. The production is immaculate for this type of track and Erykah Badu is...well Erykah Badu, and she gives an excellent performance.
12. So Good - $$$1/2 - On some real left field sh!t, Pharoahe changes it up samples Tweet's My Place and gives us sex on a beat with this ballad. This isn't really a bad song, and some people will find it very effective on a slow jamz tape, however it is really misplace on this album. He should have tried to hide it as a bonus track, but I understand why he would even the album with the next track.
13. Trilogy: Act I(feat. Mr. Porter), Act II(feat. Dwele), Act III(feat. Tone) - $$$$$(1/2) - Pharoahe Monch gives us the hip-hop answer to Trapped in the Closet with this epic. Ok, so maybe it isn't quite as detailed, drawn out and off the wall as Kelz's R&B epic, but this sh!t is great nonetheless. Starting off with a slight case of amnesia and his wife dead in a pool of blood. If you want to know more than buy the damn album, I'm not gonna ruin the details. However the concept of separating each part into "Acts" ala Shakespeare, or any playwright for that matter is just brilliant, and having each Act have a different beat, chorus and singer, just elevates the status of the song. Tone's performance at the end of the song along with Pharoahe Monch's shows the insanity going through this guys mind as he "transforms murder into art". As the somber instrumental fades out, this just leaves you wanting more, and then disappointed as you realize this is the beginning to the countdown to 2015, when Pharoahe Monch drops his next album.
This album is so close to a classic that it is hard for me not to call it one. Sure So Good has no place on this album but it isn't a horrible song, and I can forgive 1 song and still rate as a classic especially when it is more of an experimental concept song, and still isn't a dud. However, Pharoahe Monch fans may be disappointed in the length of the album opposed to the long wait. He almost has as many songs on the album as years between his last release. Also due to the fact that there are a few concept and experimental songs here as well as a cover, I do think he should have added maybe 3 more tracks with nothing but that raw Pharoahe Monch sh!t. I know Agent Orange is a UK bonus track, and I don't see why it isn't in the regular release, even though he goes ape-sh!t with the anti-government lyrics on that song he does so on Welcome To The Terrordome as well right? Well maybe not on that level. Desire isn't the best album to drop this year, but it isn't his fault Brother Ali decided to sh!t on the game. This is the second best album of 2007 and I don't think it or The Truth will be surpassed this year.
4.7 Stars Rounded up to 5.
Top 3 Songs 1. Let's Go
2. Trilogy
3. Hold On
Honorable Mention(s): Body Baby, When The Gun Draws, Free, Desire
Pharoahe Monch has dropped his highly anticipated sophomore album, Desire. The album features production from the Alchemist, Denaun Porter (D12), Blac...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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