Band: Pharoahe Monch
Album: Desire
Best song: “Free” is the clear highlights, though “Let’s Go” is also great.
Worst song: “Bar Tap” isn’t much.
The world needs polemicists.
This was a recent issue with me in the case of Julian Assange. Assange is, without doubt, a terrifyingly troubling human being. At best, he’s a really creepy dude within his online profiles and blogs. At worst, he’s a sexual predator. This is, of course, about as bad as one can be.
This isn’t meant to mean that I think he’s history’s greatest monster — he isn’t — but it’s important for much of those on the left to remember that Assange is, essentially, anti-feminist. This is, ahem, a problem.
And to hammer that point down, the Keith Olbermann/Michael Moore/Assange/Twitter thing played out exactly as it should have, largely due to polemicists. I don’t tend to be the person who protests or moves people to action; I’ve been involved in such things and I used to have bumper stickers on my car (back when I had a car). But, nevertheless, I prefer other people to do this work, as my passion isn’t always on the level of those folks.
Which is to say that I don’t necessarily agree with everything written here by Sady, but I think it’s worthwhile to remember: Rape allegations are not to be messed with. Every rape allegation needs to be taken seriously. And if someone needs to act like Michael Moore — who is, mostly, an insufferable blowhard, no matter your politics — is History’s Greatest Monster, I’m perfectly OK with that.
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Pharoahe Monch has been compared to “an eloquent linguistics professor moonlighting as a rhyme serial killer terrorist, challenging the listeners’ I.Q. while daring him or her to keep up” by none other than Kool Moe Dee. Desire shows this off pretty well, albeit in ways that mostly echo polemic.
“Free” is probably the best song on the record, and, well…
Your A&R’s a house nigga, the labels the plantation
Now switch that advance for your emancipation…
We never had a mutual relationship with Washington
Why? Because I believe they put the virus in the latex
Condoms that they sell us, call it safe sex
While Monch’s lyrics are pretty well nuts, there’s a clear thought process that is not completely insane. Monch is writing in polemic and brings up points that are not without validity. The record industry is exploitative (Albini’s famous tome about the industry reveals that in non-song form). Is it a slave/owner situation? No. Of course not. But, exaggeration is not without its uses.
Similarly, it’s easy to mock the HIV-in-condoms line, but how hard is it for an African-American to believe the U.S. government would do something like that? I mean Tuskegee, right?
This is the value of polemic: To provoke thought and move the consciousness. It’s a damned shame that Monch only releases an album every few years — his first record came out in 1999, Desire in 2007. So, maybe the next one comes in only a couple of years? — because songs like “Free” are amazingly-crafted lyrical pieces. “Let’s Go” is more of a club jam, but similarly dense. “Welcome to the Terrordome” pays homage to Chuck D. and Co. in only the way that Monch can. “Push” has the funk of a Parliament song, while album-ender “Trilogy” has the storyline of a classically concept-y song.
The production usually lacks something — because of his lower profile, Monch doesn’t seem to work with the great producers — but Monch mostly makes up for it with his lyrics and delivery. Desire remains a great record.
