Pharoahe Monch :: A Hip-Hop Gospel Joint

I've been really enjoying a variety of musical interludes of late, kinda like I'm rediscovering a dormant part of myself, particularly some of the good "non-commercial" hip-hop that's been on the market since the turn of the year. One of those great new releases is Pharoahe Monch. Some of you might remember the God from his Organized Konfusion (OK) days, others of you might only be acquainted with his classic "Simon Says" from the '99 release Internal Affairs.

Or you might also know that Monch has a thing for Triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number '13,' which Monch turns on its head, as he actually loves the number 13 for a number of reasons: first, as a reference to his asthma diagnosis at 13, which influenced his rhyming style, and then presumably because 13 in Judeo-Christian religious theory is a reference to the the 13 attributes of God. (Yeah, Monch is a deep dude).

Either way, you need to get reacquainted with him. Now. Pharoahe Monch is the Truth -- for real.

The new LP -- damn, did I just date myself? -- is called Desire and while it was a long time in coming -- 8 years after the release of Internal ..., it's arrival is certainly welcome. I've had the CD since its release in June, and I listened to it a few times, but I never really listened to it, until now. I decided to enjoy the whole joint again during my lunch hour, and I am glad I did.

What I found refreshing was that the production on many of the tracks had a vaguely "hip-hop gospel" and alternately "bluesy" feel. I was surprised because the pacing and sample selection gives all of the tracks an energy, different than what you might hear from many of the other releases littering your hard drive. And most importantly, this CD lacks the misogyny and self-hatred that many other releases are replete with. I'd say this album is proof positive that quality hip-hop is still for sale -- although you'd never know by the sales numbers: only 12,000 units moved in the first week the CD was available, and at this point less than 35,000 total units have sold. (Which is a shame, because If we don't support the realness, we're not going to get the good stuff -- just the constant stream of drivel we're getting from hip-hop for the most part.)

I'm moving Let's Go (the last half of which is a great parody track focusing on modern mass media), Desire, Hold On, and Free to my iPod because they are definitely the cream of the crop from this CD.

If you've been longing for some serious, conscious hip-hop, with current production, Desire is certainly worth the listen.

The sad part is that this CD has gotten far less commercial acclaim and surely less sales that the whack Puffy joint Press Play -- part of which Pharoahe ghost-wrote for Sean Combs.

Running Time: just over 51 minutes
01 Intro
02 Free
03 Desire [ft. Showtyme]
04 Push [ft. Showtyme, Mela Machinko & Tower of Power]
05 Welcome to the Terrordome
06 What It Is
07 When the Gun Draws [ft. Mr. Porter]
08 Let's Go [ft. Mela Machinko]
09 Body Baby
10 Bar Tap [ft. Mela Machinko]
11 Hold On [ft. Erykah Badu]
12 So Good
13 Trilogy (Act I ft. Mr. Porter, Act II ft. Dwele, Act III ft. Tone)