anderswolleck

Pharoahe Monch first came onto the hip-hop scene as one half of the Organized Konfusion. They released three critically acclaimed albums from the late 80s to mid-90s before Monch and his partner Prince Poetry parted ways. Since then Pharoahe Monch has released two solo albums and his third album, Desire is dropping in April.

Check out the official website for Pharoahe Monch

Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?

Pharoahe Monch: Just up at the office doing thousands of interviews.

DRE: Whats been the hold up on Desire?

PM: Really it has been me man. We were ready to go, but I really wanted to get this Gun Draws video into the marketing plan before I put this record out. When I was coming up in hip-hop, cats used to put out a couple of singles to let people know what the vibe of the album was going to be like. The game has changed, for example the number one selling record in music for this week on Billboards charts sold 66,000 copies.

DRE: Ugh, wow.

PM: Its the lowest ever in music. It's not just a reflection on hip-hop. I think that people are reluctant to buy into things. Just by virtue of how this album is put together, I think kids are really going to want to order the t-shirt and be a part of something that has integrity. I pay so much attention to the artwork and the liner notes and the feel of the record, and trying to embrace something that would make you feel like De La Souls 3 Feet High and Rising, not in the recording but like how I felt when I bought those records. At time when I was listening to rock music, I was only wearing Led Zeppelin shirts then after hearing Public Enemy, I was like "Fuck that I want to get a PE shirt." I want to try and implement that vibe because you need to have people buy into you as a brand because people are not buying the albums. It is now all digital. The response to this Gun Draws video is fucking unparalleled, more than any other video Ive ever done, and its only online.

DRE: Did you know the video was going to be refused by television?

PM: I made the video I wanted to make. I know the rules because Ive been in the game and Ive done videos before. Theyve made me take out the word ass. So if I got actors in my video using the F word I already know what Im going to be faced with. At the same time, you got to go for the intensity get the attention of people who will then spread the word and build a forum saying, "Why did you do this? Whats your take on gun control?" and "How could you say this when most rappers have guns and they kill their parents" or whatever the case may be. I thought this would be the best way to do it and I knew that if I got blackballed because of the content of this video that would make even more people go see it online.

DRE: Was gun violence something thats been on your mind lately or was Gun Draws inspired by a specific incident?

PM: This record is actually a spin-off of a record I did with Organized Konfusion called Stray Bullet. I recorded this record like two years ago with Mr. Porter, before I had the Universal deal. But I always knew I wanted to shoot this type of video. I wanted to be vivid because Im rhyming from the perspective of a bullet so the lyrics are pretty vivid. At the end of the day, I thought it needed to be incorporated into something bigger and not just be guns for shock value. I met a guy who runs a nonprofit organization called Guns For Cameras. We talked about implementing his company into this. He survived being shot and he made it into a positive thing. Then the Sean Bell incident happened and we needed to implement that footage so I also struggled with that. No disrespect to that incident but it'll happen again, thats the nature of guns and thats the nature of violence in our society. Even on a global level you have situation where the president has banned media coverage on the coffins that are being returned from the war. Emotionally that softens Americans up to the cruelty and brutality so were not as emotional about the war as we should be. People really don't have an opinion one way or another. You have no gut feeling about whats going on politically because you don't see whats going on politically. My goal with this is to rip off the censorship and go at these kids like You stupid dumb motherfucker. You didn't know that this how many years you get if you carry a handgun? This is the actual reality of what happens and what could happen.

DRE: Desire is the name of the album so what is it a desire for?

PM: I don't want to sound corny, but it was my desire to really to work through the political shit that I had to go through in terms of getting off the record label. It is the life and job shit that everybody experiences. You got to hold fast and do what you got to do. The desire to have the will to keep recording and keep going forward is what the record title is about.

DRE: Is it difficult for you to let other people produce your stuff?

PM: I produced Push. Black Milk, a producer from Detroit, produced Lets Go, Alchemist Produced Desire and Denaun Porter produced Gun Draws. It's been easy because Ive really concentrated on arrangement and lyrics this time.

DRE: Do the producers create the music separately and then you rap over it?

PM: Pretty much. With topics like Gun Draws it was pretty much a rhyme scheme that I had already and then I was looking for the music that would be eerie enough to fit over it.

DRE: Even though you're getting really issue oriented, do you still have fun?

PM: Oh yeah. The point of Pharoahe is to not be boxed in. It runs the whole gamut from being extremely conscious of whats going on to everybody having good time and some laughs.

DRE: Howd you hook up with SRC Records?

PM: I had a couple of deals on the table but I felt this was the best one on a grassroots level to implement songs like Gun Draws. I don't think some of the other labels would really get why I wanted to do something like that.

DRE: You talk about gun violence and you've got someone from D12 working with you on the album, how did you reconcile that idea?

PM: It was really crazy. We were mixing the song that Denaun had produced, Proof had gotten shot and we were like We need to hold off mixing this record until everybody reconciles and mourns and gets over the situation. Denaun was telling me that he went down and identified the body but he was still strong enough to mix the record.

DRE: Do you feel that gun culture is still as prevalent in rap music?

PM: I really don't know what the trend is on a mainstream level. I understand why you need guns to do police movies. It is not about censorship, its about giving people the opposite side of the spectrum so that you can examine the reality of whats going on. You might be able to go to a Tarantino movie and enjoy it like I do because Im a big Tarantino fan but then leave the whole shit at the theater.

DRE: Youre working with Diddy, did you know him?

PM: Yeah, I met him in passing. He respects a lot of stuff. He pays attention to a lot of music that people don't think he pays attention to. From working with him, I stepped my level up in terms of integrity, in terms of going harder on my project. He is a person who pushes the people around him to get that extra inkling of effort. Hes a fanatic about being a perfectionist.

DRE: Have you started the tour yet?

PM: I was just discussing with [Talib] Kweli about possibly putting something together for the summer.

DRE: Talk to me about how from art school you ended up becoming an MC.

PM: I think its evident that the stuff I do is pretty visual and I incorporate art in that way. I view all art from the same perspective so if I wasn't doing this, Id definitely be trying to express myself in another way.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck