PHAROAHE MONCH: Doing It His Way

By Chris Penrose

It really doesn’t seem like Pharoah Monch has not released an album in four years. After three certified classic Organized Konfusion albums with his partner Prince Po, Pharoah’s solo venture Internal Affairs solidified his position as one of the most talented, and underrated rappers in game. Known most widely for his club banger “Simon Says,” we have gotten drips and drops from appearances on Soundbombing, Lyricist Lounge Volume One and Two, soundtracks like Training Day and Save the Last Dance, as well as themes for the ESPN series “The Life” and EA Sports video games – all of which have kept his voice, if not his face, alive in our consciousness.

Speaking on his decision to make a solo venture, Pharoah goes back to 1998. “We (Organized Konfusion) had completed 3 albums and all three were pretty critically acclaimed, especially the first two. The last one was the first one on a major label situation like Priority. And they were used to having artists that had been broken already like Ice Cube and Master P and we still needed to be broken. We did a really experimental album. I was pretty much exhausted after that album. When we were released, it was a perfect opportunity to relax. I didn’t owe anybody any records or anything. I approached Prince and was like I want to take a hiatus and maybe just work on some things on my own. He gave me the nod to do that.”

Speaking on the possibility of a reunion, Pharoah sounds positive; however, he indicates that there is another mystery rapper in the equation. On why it hasn’t happened yet, Pharoah wisely espouses that, “It’s not just going in the studio and doing an album, it’s about the direction and the commitment and what is this album gonna be about. There needs to be a bigger picture of what this album’s gonna be about. Just to make it for the sake of making it, won’t do any of us any good, and I don’t think the fans will appreciate it. We’re just sitting back, like really analyzing what’s good about hip hop and what’s wrong with Hip Hop and how a new record would make it’s mark. That’s the reason we became a group in the first place. We were like what can we bring to the table that nobody else does.”

Pharoah, as a part of Organized Konfusion or solo, definitely brings a lot to the table that can not really be found elsewhere. On the classic, “Stray Bullet”, Pharoah spits, “No remorse for the course I take when you pull it / The result's a stray bullet / Niggaz who knew hit the ground runnin and stay down / Except for the kids who played on the playground / Cause for some little girl she'll never see /more than six years of life, trif-le-ing”. Such an ability to create a theatrical atmosphere on what can be called a musical movie is a gift that Pharoah is aware of. “I guess some of it stems from my yearning to be a director, I very much take the film approach to writing some times and take on these characters as if I was an actor”. Monch claims creative license without apology. “When I used to listen to albums of solo artists, especially, I used to get bored. It’s the same tone, the same pitch, it’s the same guy, the same voice, talking about the same things; so when I had influences like KRS, Chuck D and Rakim, I said let me incorporate all of those things, to keep myself interested.”

Commenting on the state of Hip Hop, Pharoah cites a decline in overall sales as being rooted in people being bored. What seems like a setback to many, Pharoah sees in a positive light: “Emcee’s are going to have to differentiate themselves from each other, somebody’s going to have to do something new”. Monch also adds that, “We got away from lyricism for a minute, which is cool, cause I’m not all about lyricism. Sometimes I go more in the flow and into theatrics. I think that the cycle is about to come back around.”

Not to be simplified to a demigod worshipped by backpackers and underground heads alone, Pharoah has made records that mess up clubs and radio live-to-airs like any of the most popular rappers in the industry. He does this, however, without comprising an ounce of integrity. On the song “The Life” which featured Styles P. of The Lox, Pharoah sang with a tone of celebration and remorse combined that, “My life is all I have / My rhymes / My pen / my pad / I done made it through the struggle don’t judge me / what you say now / won’t budge me.” Undeniable is that his passion is genuine.

To speak of struggle, Pharoah actually rapping at all is a testament to his ability to shine in the face of adversity. After being diagnosed with serious asthma at the young age of thirteen months, rapping should have been out of the picture.

“My asthma was a real hindrance to me growing up, and sort of a demon, and to defeat it. When I got into Hip Hop I was like I’m not going to play into it, I’m going to play against it. Just like any obstacle, it becomes a stepping stone to do something different and something greater. You look at a character like daredevil, when he became blind, his other senses became heightened. I feel the same way with asthma. One of the things I focused on was breath control; it was like defeating that demon,”

With asthma still seriously affecting his health, Pharoah remains very health conscious, while struggling with the effects of his condition. Walking to a café to get a tea for some relief, Monch opens up about a struggle which has arisen in more recent years. Reflecting on the battles with his constantly changing label, Rawkus, he notes that, “It’s hard and it takes a lot of integrity and it’s the reason I haven’t put out an album since 1999. You have to go against the grain. I’m in a fight with my record label now because I refuse to conform to what other people were doing. It’s difficult because you’re in a major label situation and there like we want you to put Ashanti on the thing, and I’m like I just won’t come out. And you got 50 other people like why won’t you put Ashanti on your chorus. I’m just like I don’t want Ashanti on my course. I don’t have any problems with her, it’s just the music that I do doesn’t require her for my chorus. Maybe one day I might.”

With some marketing success behind him, Monch is clear about putting his art first: “If I have a sultry dark record, I’m not going to put who’s hot on the record. Maybe it’s Mystic, maybe it’s Missy; but I’m not going to do it for the purpose of selling records and people hear that. If I was to sell some records, you are going to hear integrity in there.”

Showing and proving his words to be true is his most recent single “Agent Orange,” Pharoah has foregone the flash and even support of a video and radio play to release a song close to his heart. In a post 9-11, post-war-on Iraq state where, to challenge is dissent, “Agent Orange” challenges much of what we have been fed through channels of information which all sound alike. Opening the first verse, Monch takes on the character of a Desert Storm vet who, “Pissed on the motherf’n’ white house lawn / I threw a rock (Iraq) / and then I ran (Iran) / Cause I couldn't stand anymore within the grip of the man / Y'all wanna ask me who's sane / These biological gasses are eating my brain.” His second verse opens saying, “It’s not a Vietnam song / I know women who came back from desert storm deformed”. Commenting on the song Pharoah clarifies that, “It’s not an anti-war war song, it just an expression of what I see. The observation is all over the place. It’s asking people ‘are you ready to open your eyes, are you ready to stand up?’”

To understand who Pharoah is as an artist, one can simply listen to him speak about his decisions. “With a record like “Agent Orange,” it says a lot for my career. There’s no video, no radio play. How many artists have the balls to put out a record, that they know is for the heads, for the people? I don’t expect the majority of people to understand the rhymes on that song, but I’m like f*** it because this is what I need to say. If 10 people hear and are like ‘man I think he was for real about what he was saying and I believe him on this record’, then I still have career.”

On the verge of huge success, making a dent in the areas of film and video games, and remaining pure in the eyes and hearts of the underground, Monch recognizes that, “I do straddle the fence, my kids tell me that all the time, and they commend me on that. Because there like, there’s not may artists that could perform with Redman and Musiq Soulchild on the same night. I’m proud of that, but when you’re in that middle ground, you have to be very careful who you do songs with, what songs you put out, and why you put them out.”

With a new album on the way, Pharoah is thankful and smiling with a quiet, but sturdy confidence: “I feel like Barry Bonds.” Speaking in a slow and thoughtful manner, he adds, without bragging, “The rhymes on this album are (pauses) the best shit I’ve ever written. I’m just thankful for that right now. The rhymes haven’t diminished, they’ve gotten better. I was thinking today, I’m on some real Barry Bonds shit right now.”

Go ‘head home run king. It’s a good look on you.

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