Photo:
Nine years ago we were introduced to the rap anthem ’Simon Says’, and in less than a year it was adopted by fans and tagged as a hip-hop classic. Still to this day whenever the record is played anarchy breaks out. It doesn’t matter when or where it is, it just overcomes listeners with a Hulk-like power. One minute you’re enjoying the ride and the next you’re jumping around with your fists in the air screaming like a fool. The man behind this rowdy street song is Pharoahe Monch. A lyrically potent emcee with lines for days, the man from Queens, New York has returned to bring rap justice. After label issues, side projects and a whole lot of touring, Pharoahe releases his first album in nearly ten years. Titled ‘Desire’, this new start and reintroduction to the game couldn’t have come at a better time. With half-assed projects and talent-less dudes who think they can spit popping up all over rap’s radar, Pharoahe is here to save us all. Getting in as deep as we possibly could without causing too much offence, Gigwise pulled the lyrical assassin to one side to converse about his new album, rumours of signing to Eminem, and what it’s like to ghost write for P. Diddy.
First and foremost, how’s life treating you?
“I’m great man! I’ve been touring a lot. The shows have been amazing. The U.K. is showing me a lot of love. They always do though.”
We’re here because you’ve just dropped your new album. Since “Internal Affairs” it’s the first in nine years. Why has it taken you so long to return?
“I think the biggest bulk of that hiatus was due to label politics. My situation at Rawkus and Geffen got real political especially when Rawkus lost their distribution deal and were then taken over by MCA who in turn were taken over by Geffen. That’s 3 years right there. I was just waiting on a ‘get out’. The marriage with Rawkus and Geffen just wasn’t working. They didn’t have a grasp of who I was or what kind of artist I was. They liked the music but they were kinda baffled and disgruntled by how they were going to promote me. I wasn’t happy with the way they were taking care of some of my peers so I wanted out. Fortunately I was released but at this point I wasn’t too keen on resigning anytime soon. I’ve always had the fans support so I’ve just been doing a lot touring.”
So how is the promotion and touring going?
“It’s awesome man. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m just really busy. The support has been crazy and the radio play has been phenomenal. I really couldn’t ask for anymore than what I’m getting.”
Rawkus are now back after sorting out their distribution problems. What are your thoughts on the return of the label that gave you your first shot at solo stardom?
“I don’t care! I really don’t.”
Your new album “Desire” has just hit stores. What can fans expect to hear when throwing it on for the first time?
“I thought it would be honest and true to form to try and place the emotion that the earth’s going through on the record. Not just verbally but musically. And I thought one way I could accomplish that was through vocalisation. I know a lot of these hip-hop fans hear singing vocals and think of these cheesy choruses that a lot of artists are doing now but I really wanted to reach back when darkness was needed and pull back the gothic/omen-type vocals that would invoke something dark and scary. And when the soul was needed I wanted to pull these gospel/soul vocals to invoke the emotions needed to convey the message I was trying to get out. It’s a very vocal record. This is why I tried to recruit vocalists that had an old texture. If I had hired a new sounding chick it would have sounded very candy coated. That’s why I think songs like ‘Desire’ work because I think it sounds like one big amalgamation of vintage soul mixed with classic hip-hop.”
One track in particular that seems to stand out and has garnered a lot of media attention is ‘When The Gun Draws’. How did this record come about?
“It’s real simple actually. Denaun (producer Mr. Porter) gave me the track with the chorus already on it. Now I’ve never murdered anybody, robbed a bank or sold drugs ever in my life. The gun references are on the chorus so I figured I would go back to my Organized Konfusion days, to a song called ‘Stray Bullet’, and try to write the song from a part two perspective. Only this time I tried to get a little more provocative and graphic from a social/political standpoint by talking about how guns have affected history with the fascination of the death of JFK and Martin Luther King, and also how they’ve affected music with the deaths of Biggie Smalls and 2Pac. Instead of having something there just for shock value it had a message and was full of creativity.”
As mentioned earlier you were without a deal for a while due to you not being too trusting of record labels in general. There were rumours at one point that you were offered a deal by 50 Cent to join his G-Unit camp. Is this true?
“Nah, I never had a G-Unit offer. There was however a Shady Records offer. I was hours away from signing with Eminem’s Shady Records but one of the labels I was previously involved with drew up a contract. And what they wanted out of me signing to Shady was a little bit too much for me to handle back then. I need my hands to function in life. I couldn’t give them my right hand.”
Apart from Eminem, another hip-hop mogul you worked with includes P. Diddy. What was it like being a ghost writer on the “Press Play” album and giving your lyrics to someone known more for their business front than rap skills?
“It was very interesting. I took the job as more of a challenge than anything else. I knew that working with him was gonna help me learn a lot about the business side of things. I also knew that multi-millionaires get a better selection of beats. I was blown away by the Mobb Deep stuff and the Kanye stuff. Diddy’s a Scorpio and I’m a Scorpio. I was interested to learn about different things from a weird psychotic and astrological perspective. And I felt that. It was an infiltration as well as an experience for me. It’s opened a lot of doors for me. He respected my work ethic in the studio and I realised that I need to work much harder. The 3 weeks that we were working together he slept like 2 hours a day. I think that a lot people don’t understand that with artists like 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Diddy it’s about the work ethic. It’s not always about their skills. The amount of effort they put in to a project is the reason why it proves so successful.”
