eMusic Review 0
More than Mos Def, Talib Kweli or Sadat X, Pharoahe Monch remains the most relevant of the Rawkus-era New York City rappers, the one who has best updated his sound while maintaining his lyrical sting. The Organized Konfusion veteran already has a pair of solo classics under his belt — his 1999 debut Internal Affairs and its underrated 2007 follow-up Desire — and his latest W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) is just as strong — politically aware without pandering or taking itself too seriously.
Its concept is roughly Orwell meets movie sci-fi, with a soldier from the future dispatching messages through time and space, a government suppressing free thought, and a super-elite underground force staging an uprising. It doesn't make much sense, but serves as an effective platform to give Monch and an indie A-list cast including Jean Grae, Royce Da 5'9" and Immortal Technique an opportunity to rap their asses off. "This is a war against consciousness/ Controlling your soul, sort of a psychological dictatorship/ And we are on the front lines/ Guilty as charged if intellect is a crime," Monch spits on the title track, one of a half-dozen or so on the… read more »
