<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q3FiHJN-DsI&co ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q3FiHJN-DsI&co ... edded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Pharoahe Monch Talks W.A.R., Confirms Collaboration with the Roots
4/16/2010 By Stephen Carlick
Following the news that underrated hip-hop MC Pharoahe Monch was preparing a new LP and touring across Canada with hip-hop collective Slaughterhouse, the rapper has divulged more details on what we can expect from his upcoming W.A.R. album.
Asked for an overview of the albumגs lyrical content, Monch recently told Exclaim!, גFrom top to bottom, itגs the most cohesive record Iגve recorded so far. Itגs an honest record in the sense that everything Iגm saying I feel strongly about and honest about. From my inner struggles and revealing some of my hardships and downfalls, the sickness and asthma, and how those have affected my life, to my opinion on the industry.ג
The album, according to Monch, has been in the recording process for about a year and a half now, but it started with musical ideas that were formed during the recording of his 2007 LP Desire. The process, he adds, has been kind of hit-and-run, partly because of working in various studio environments and various guests such as the Roots.
גWeגre getting it in whenever we can,ג Monch explains. גFor the Roots, we went to Philly and some of the stuff is in the basement of well-known musicians. We had a studio we worked in on Staten Island, so itגs been all over the place, and it feels very renegade. I love to just get hit with inspiration and get a more organic interpretation rather than push it out. It feels good to me to do it that way.ג
In terms of production, the rapper assures Exclaim! that although itגs גharderג and has גmore straight-rhyme chorusesג than previous efforts, W.A.R. is still a product of Monchגs unshakeable relationship with melody and musicality.
גI can never get away from that, גcause thatגs my background, from Organized Konfusion. I think the musicality of Desire ג we stepped it up in terms of soul and in terms of instruments, cause notes, melodies and harmonies is something that was always with me cominג up listening to music, so I always implement that.ג
So why the dub the album W.A.R.? גWe went with the title W.A.R. [an acronym for גWe Are Renegadesג] because we are waging war,ג Monch says. גWe talk about war against the industry, the powers that be. I see a direct assault on art from radio and in the schools, and I always felt that art promotes opinion, and the regime, the people who want to rule, they donגt want an opinionated follower, they just want you to follow.ג
Not that Monch has ever been a follower, but heגs speaking to the fact that, having founded W.A.R. Media, heגs now on his own record label. גItגs amazing [and] empoweringג he gushed. גItגs a small business: you gotta get up in the morning, open the shop, shovel the snow. Whatever youגre gonna get out of it, youגve gotta put into it.ג
W.A.R. is still in the recording process, so at this point it is still unclear whether the album will drop this summer. In the meantime, Pharoahe Monch is still currently touring across Canada with Slaughterhouse, with a handful of dates left for the western half of the country.
the show was good. not his best, but hey, you take what you can get when dealing with the elusive genius genie that is Monchi-chi.
I got a great pic with him and gave him a copy of the SBU album "In Space, No One Can Hear You Rhyme". A dope Pharoahe Monch sample gets scratched the fuck up on track 9. He should enjoy it.
good times
