Get To Know H.E.R.

Hip hop is full of albums that for one reason or another are impossible to find at your local Best Buys and Circuit Cities. Pharoahe Monch’s (of Organized Konfusion) solo debut, is one of these such albums, and was discontinued because of a sample clearance problem. Even if you somehow manage to find one of these rarities on amazon, or ebay, chances are that you’ll pay an upward of $30-$40 to get your hands on a legit copy. Of course, I would be kidding myself if I thought that the average person would actually shell out that much money to buy a copy of this album, regardless of its quality (of course, I have a copy, but then again, I’m not your average person and sure as hell did not spend $30). That poses a bit of a problem, since I would like all of you to listen to this album, but none of you can officially buy it. Well, I figure since Pharoahe’s not get any royalties from people buying used copies anyways, what the hell. For the second time in this blog’s runtime (two days in a row at that), I give you, my readers, a link.

But first, and most importantly, a review! (One of my readers said that it was harder to follow the new review format. However, it just so happens that it helps me run my train of thought. So as a compromise, I’ll do new album reviews, which everyone seems to care about the most, in my older, easier to follow format, and everything else, in the new, paragraph review style.)

For the handful of you who have heard Pharoahe Monch’s 2007 album, Desire, be aware that his debut has a totally different sound to it. Desire, with its R&B, gospel hooks and upbeat production sounded damn near spiritual. Internal Affairs, on the other hand sounds like it would make a perfect soundtrack to hell.

The album starts with the Intro, which features Monch rapping over one of the less sinister sounding beats on the whole thing. For an intro, it’s pretty damn satisfactory. As soon as next track, Behind Closed Door, comes on, you’ll start to see what I meant with the whole hell soundtrack comment. It just sounds so damn dark. However, that’s not really a complaint, because I think Pharoahe Monch sounds his best when he’s rhyming over beats like this. For those who’ve never even heard of the man, this whole album’s gonna be a hell of a treat. Monch is an absolute legend for his so called triple jointed tongue and some of the multis and internals he spits when he raps are straight ridiculous. Don’t quite hear it yet? Well, maybe listening to Queens will open your ears a little bit. Still don’t hear it? You may need to consider listening to another genre of music, cause hip hop ain’t for you.

I’m kidding by the way, so for all of you who were about to skip right down to the comments section and call me a hater, welcome back. Anyways, Monch continues with the short, but enjoyable Rape (taken out of context, that sounds downright wrong). Afterwards is Simon Says, which was Monch’s biggest commercial hit to date. As irony would have it, this was also the song that got his album discontinued, due to the illegal Godzilla sample. Whatever. It’s a great fucking song. Pharoahe then proceeds to rhyme over a paranoiac soundscape in Official. And of course, what soundtrack to hell would be complete without an actual track named Hell? The track features Canibus and is great in its own right, but what gets me is the internet dial up sound sampled throughout the track. The internet’s come a long way since the days of AOL huh?

Next up is No Mercy, in which Pharoahe Monch and M.O.P. join forces over an ominous ass Alchemist beat. Fans of both acts won’t be disappointed, although they may start feeling inexplicably angrier than they were before. The next track, Right Here, features a hungry Monch that proceeds to rip the beat apart. This album so far seems to be full of hooks that, while they’re not suitable for any mainstream play and are packed with as much profanity as humanly possible, are down right addicting in a twisted sort of way. After Right Here comes to an end, Busta Rhymes joins Monch on The Next Shit, and the two rhyme over a Latin flavored beat that sounds almost bright and happy compared to the rest of the tracks on this album. And compared to the rest of this album, the following track, The Ass, sounds like…well, ass. Pharoahe and Apani both sound alright, but I can’t stand the beat, which had to be provided by, out of all people who I thought would never fail me, Diamond D.

At least Diamond D makes up for this misstep on The Light. This track is pretty good, even though it sounds as if it would be more at home on The Desire, and is not to be confused with the equally banging Common track of the same name. On God Send, Pharoahe Monch is reunited with Organized Konfusion rhyming partner, Prince Po. Prince Po is one of the most overlooked rappers in the history of overlooked rappers. Dude brings fire to every track and manages to outrap his more popular partner on a good number of tracks. And none of his albums are out of print, so you have no excuse not to at least check them out. Diamond D once again amends for his sins of making the beat of the Ass by lacing The Truth with a smooth but dark, depressing but enjoyable beat. It features Common and Talib Kweli, and while all three rappers do their job, it’s Common that manages to steal the show for me. The album then ends with the Simon Says Remix, which features Lady Luck, Redman, Method Man, Shabaam Shadeeq and Busta Rhymes. While I do prefer Pharoahe Monch’s verse on this to any of those on the original, I would say that overall I bump the original on a far more regular basis. Still, not a bad way to end your album.

The Good: Intro, Behind Closed Doors, Queens, Simon Says, Hell, No Mercy, Right Here, The Light, God Send, The Truth, Simon Says Remix

The Solid: Rape, Official, The Next Shit

The Bad: The Ass

Final Score: 9.5/9.0

It’s a damn fucking shame that this album is out of print. While I wouldn’t exactly label it a classic myself, I can see why some people would. Monch’s rhymes are simply nuts on most of the tracks and the ominous sound of the album fits him perfectly. This is why it took me a while to get accustomed to Monch’s sophomore effort, Desire, at first. But, that’s a story for another review. Anyways, I know I’ve labeled this album as the soundtrack to hell, but in all honesty, I don’t think hell is gonna feature any near classic hip hop albums. Too good of a sound. In my opinion, hell is gonna feature Soulja Boy’s album in constant fucking rotation.

And as promised.. the link to Internal Affairs. It’s not my rip, so if anything’s wrong with it, let me know, and I’ll find a better one. Hope you guys have winrar.

http://rapidshare.com/files/39393370/Internal_Affairs.rar