by Damian Garde
Daily Lobo
Eight years ago, Bill Clinton was president, "Family Guy" was funny and listening to Limp Bizkit was considered socially acceptable. Obviously, a lot has changed.
And no one knows better than Pharoahe Monch, who released his last album in 1999.
Fresh from his acclaimed group, Organized Konfusion, Pharoahe tailored his debut as the midpoint between his backpacking brethren at Rawkus and the gun clapping rhymers of the mainstream. His first single, "Simon Says," became a surprise radio hit, and Monch seemed to be on the verge of a platinum breakthrough. But then, of course, Rawkus fell apart at the seams, and "Simon Says" was pulled from the album due to sample clearance issues. And back to the underground he went.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
That is, until now. After countless botched contracts, never-ending delays and a stint ghostwriting for Diddy to pay the bills, Pharoahe has returned with Desire.
Saying Monch is a skilled lyricist is a moot point - with his multisyllabic flow and dictionary-bounding vocabulary, Pharoahe can best be described as Kool G Rap with a college degree. Songs like "Desire" and "Let's Go" find Monch fully in his element, kicking quotables like Tony Snow, as they say. "Still get it popping without artist and repertoire, because Monch is a monarch, only minus the A&R," he raps on "Desire."
But flexing tongue-twisting prowess doesn't make for a cohesive album, and thus, the best moments on Desire come as Pharoahe gets topical with his poison pen. "When the Gun Draws" finds Monch rapping from the perspective of a bullet in a song serving as a sequel to the Organized Konfusion track "Stray Bullet" - which is where Nas bit the concept for "I Gave You Power," for those of you who skip your homework assignments. "My attitude is cold and callous. Killed kings in Tennessee, presidents in Dallas," he says, lamenting his unsavory job. Pharoahe-as-bullet succinctly sums up his life with, "Come through your city, I'm hot. Whether you're jiggy or not, whether you're Biggie or 'Pac."
Whether touting his role as "young Eastwood, just trying to eat good," or tendering pleas to humanity as a whole, Pharoahe remains among the few rappers whose bookshelf outweighs his gun rack - though he's always within reach of both.
Monch embodies the solution to all of the wordy criticisms recently levied on hip-hop, and you angry Tipper Gores out there would be nothing but hypocrites for not picking up Desire. You whippersnappers with your torrents and RapidShare accounts may be apt for piracy, but actually fork over that $15, and maybe you'll learn something this summer.
