Pharoahe Monch: Desire
Jeff Weiss, Stylus, 29 June 2007
HIP-HOP HISTORY IS LITTERED with MCs blessed with scythe-sharp flows and Byzantine lyrics who couldn't pick out a dope beat if their life depended on it (see also Kass, Ras). Now I wouldn't go as far as to lump Pharoahe Monch in with the tin-eared rabble, but over the course of five albums and 16 years, Pharoahe has produced just one single capable of cracking Billboard's Top 100. And even that lone quasi-hit, 1999's 'Simon Says', peaked at #97.
Total word count of piece: 700
