Pharoahe Monch
Pharoahe Monch - Desire
A lot has happened in the 8 years since Pharoahe Monch released an album. The election (and re-election) of George W. Bush, September 11th, war in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has been enough to make more than a few people paranoid about the future.
Desire is an album seemingly bred on this growing paranoia. Harsh criticisms and conspiratorial delusions abound. Lyrics with declarations about HIV laden condoms, the Catholic church's mob connections, or even a classic JFK assassination conspiracy pepper song narratives with an aura of fear. Violence is par for the course on this ingeniously contorted and complex snapshot of the American psyche that doubles as a solid radio friendly hip-hop album. Whether it's a song like "Gun Draws" told from the point of view of a bullet, or the nine minute tainted love and murder epic "Trilogy" (watch your back R. Kelly, Pharoahe Monch one upped you on the "hip-hopera") Monch has found a way to look at violence without resorting to tired out hip-hop formulas. The tone switches from dark to hopeful to comical in a way that most albums can't. Monch's incessant wordplay and rubber-voiced rhyming show an artist looking for a way to rap outside the "three minutes of glossy beats over cliche rhymes, cut, package, sell" modus operandi.
It's anybody's guess how long it will take Pharoahe Monch to record a third album, but if Desire is any indication, it will be worth the wait.
A lot has happened in the 8 years since Pharoahe Monch released an album. The election (and re-election) of George W. Bush, September 11th, war in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has been enough to make more than a few people paranoid about the future.
Desire is an album seemingly bred on this growing paranoia. Harsh criticisms and conspiratorial delusions abound. Lyrics with declarations about HIV laden condoms, the Catholic church's mob connections, or even a classic JFK assassination conspiracy pepper song narratives with an aura of fear. Violence is par for the course on this ingeniously contorted and complex snapshot of the American psyche that doubles as a solid radio friendly hip-hop album. Whether it's a song like "Gun Draws" told from the point of view of a bullet, or the nine minute tainted love and murder epic "Trilogy" (watch your back R. Kelly, Pharoahe Monch one upped you on the "hip-hopera") Monch has found a way to look at violence without resorting to tired out hip-hop formulas. The tone switches from dark to hopeful to comical in a way that most albums can't. Monch's incessant wordplay and rubber-voiced rhyming show an artist looking for a way to rap outside the "three minutes of glossy beats over cliche rhymes, cut, package, sell" modus operandi.
It's anybody's guess how long it will take Pharoahe Monch to record a third album, but if Desire is any indication, it will be worth the wait.