The summer after freshman year I was living at home in Carrboro but commuting daily to Duke for classes, so naturally cds that came out that summer got a lot of burn. One of which was Pharaohe Monch’s Desire, probably one of my favorite albums of the last three years. Monch first came to my attention years ago with the hit “Simon Says” – featuring a sample from Godzilla and a place on the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack. “Simon Says” has been a staple of nearly every DJ set I’ve ever been to prior to a concert. Unfortunately, because the sample wasn’t cleared, Monch was sued and his road to success came to a halt.
Pharoahe Monch – “Simon Says”
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Monch would go on to ghost write for Diddy – but wouldn’t release another album until 2007′s Desire, 8 years after his solo debut of Internal Affairs. Desire is heavily influenced by soul and gospel – and a stark contrast from 1999′s “Simon Says”. Fortunately, both are good music. The album’s single, “Push”, is a great track with incredible production – which was done by Pharoahe Monch himself.
Pharoahe Monch – “Push”
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The album delves into a wide array of content, all complimented perfectly by Monch’s wordplay, delivery and production. One of my favorite verses of the album comes on “Let’s Go”. The verse starts with:
They researched my stem cells, cloned ten of me,
Sent one of em back in time just to get rid of me,
Stop Pharoahe Monch from having verbal epiphanies,
Now that’s a new definition to your own worst enemy-Pharoahe Monch “Let’s Go”
Monch continues his impressive use of word play, by putting in multiple references to cell phones (“You and your Sidekick get rid of that wack trio/Treo” – “Fire sixteen bars, wireless communication”). I just find the whole verse clever and indicative of Pharoahe Monch’s top level abilities – certainly not riddled with content, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Pharoahe Monch – “Let’s Go”
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The last song I want to mention is “When the Gun Draws” which was accompanied with a music video as well. In the track, Pharaohe Monch assumes the identity of a bullet as it tries to shed light on what he deemed “senseless violence” perpetrated by it. Both the song and the video are pretty powerful, and they provide a perspective that people don’t typically associate with hip-hop’s view on guns.
Pharoahe Monch – “When the Gun Draws”
Posted by the Groove
