![]() Monch has never consistently had the chance to rap over hip hop’s upper-echelon production, but the beats on WAR are serviceable enough to deliver his rhymes to the listener. Porter and Mela Machinko help to fill out the tracks. Other beats, like those found on “Black Hand Side” and “Haile Side Karate,” fail to impress, but background singers like Mr. Thankfully, they are mixed subtly enough that the songs avoid becoming rap-rock abominations and instead sound natural next to Monch’s righteous indignation. Heavy rock guitars are a major presence throughout, thanks to some guest riffage by Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Citizen Cope, and it’s a major change for Monch. It’s strange that a rapper as admittedly elitist as Monch would approve of such regressive content. A verse by Royce Da 5’9” on “Assassins” is uncomfortably misogynistic - unfortunate given the cleverness of his lyricism. The few featured guests on the album, including Jean Grae, Immortal Technique, and Styles P, perform admirably and are used sparingly enough to avoid guest-rapper bloat. He boasts about this on the standout “Evolve,” describing himself as “The anomaly / your mama nominated me phenomenal / I dominated without a six-pack abdominal.” The machine-gun assonance on display here is just one example of the lyrical complexity that Monch brings to the record. On his latest, Monch doesn’t waste time reaffirming his place as one of the genre’s best, frequently employing polysyllabic rhymes and repeated sounds that move beyond the simple AABB end rhymes on which many rappers lean. Thankfully, he didn’t make the world wait as long for his third solo album, WAR (We Are Renegades). Monch laid relatively low for the next eight years, releasing occasional singles and guest spots before presenting the soulful and inspired Desire in 2007. His first solo LP in 1999, Internal Affairs, was a more thug-inspired record that saw Monch making a significant move towards mainstream success, until legal battles over lead single “Simon Says” and its unlicensed Godzilla sample torpedoed its climb. ![]() Even after 20 years, the quality of his three albums with Prince Poetry (as part of Organized Konfusion) hasn’t been diminished. Hip-hop veteran Pharoahe Monch is a lyrical force of nature, with an ability to rap complex rhymes with a muscular, rhythmic, and seemingly effortless flow. ![]() Pharoahe Monch: WAR (We Are Renegades) ( Duck Down, 3/22/11) Each Monday, Beats & Rhymes highlights a new and notable hip-hop, rap, DJ, or electronic record that embraces independent sensibilities. ![]()
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