Pharoahe Monch – ‘Desire’ (Universal) Released 25/06/07

With a severe lack of hip-hop albums that actually merit getting excited over these days, is it any wonder that there are those who speculate that the genre could be going through a state of emergency? While some get excited about the prospect of another Akon project, others do not. The world is changing with each passing year and with it so is hip-hop. There’s no point in denying it because change is inevitable. But this doesn’t mean that the roots and influences that have helped build the foundation on which your life is based upon should ever be forgotten. While scribes like this one can’t let go of the impact that album’s such as EPMD’s ‘Strictly Business’ and BDP’s ‘Criminal Minded’ have made on their life, hopefully Pharoahe Monch’s ‘Desire’ will make as big an impact, if not bigger, on some of today’s youths looking to surround themselves with everything hip-hop.

It’s not just Flavor Flav that knows what time it is, real hip-hop heads do too. The return of the ‘lyrical one’, Pharoahe Monch, to the microphone is as welcomed as spare change to a homeless person. Uniting fans with what they understand to be untarnished and un-****-wit-able hip-hop, the man who’s been away from the scene for almost nine years is ready to educate those who don’t know and school those who think they do. Being away from the game for as long as he has leaves the Queens emcee hungrier than ever before, and after one listen to his latest offering it’s easily recognisable that his on-point lyrics and flexible flows are a response to this hunger.   

Opening the album with a statement of independence, ‘Free’ hears Pharoahe get on the backs of those who think that because he’s signed to a major label he’s tied in to a slave contract. Spitting lines like, “You can clip my wings, shackle and chain me/Back straight standing tall, a child of God and I’m free,” whether it’s hip-hop, R&B, indie, rock or pop, no album has ever opened with as much of an impact as this one does. Igniting the flame of perfection even further, overflowing with passion and gifted wordplay, following ‘Free’ is the album’s incredible title track. Quoting lines yet again to help you understand how insane this man is when it comes to his wordplay, who else do you know that could drop lyrics like, “My book is a ovary, the pages I lust to turn/My pen is the penis, when I write the ink is the sperm,” and have your brain performing cartwheels?