Stood at the front of London's Jazz Cafe stage, one arm raised, a defiant look on his face, legendary NY emcee Pharoahe Monch made it very clear what the venue's packed crowd could expect minutes into his one-off show."I came here tonight to represent for lyricism in Hip-Hop," the former Organized Konfusion member stated. "This is for the heads. If you're a new Pharoahe Monch fan tonight might not be for you.
"It's almost unbelievable to think that it's been 20 years since a youthful Monch debuted alongside friend and rhyme partner Prince Po, launching their brand of cerebral wordplay out of the New York borough of Queens and into the rap history books.On this particular night, it was clear Monch wanted to ensure the audience knew that the passion and love for Hip-Hop that fuelled his art two decades ago was still the inspiration behind his music today.
Accompanied by X-ecutioner DJ Boogie Blind, Pharoahe immediately launched into tracks from his current album "W.A.R", including the expert verbal explosion that is "Evolve". Reaching back to his 2007 album "Desire", Monch announced he was going to perform the three-part tale of betrayal "Trilogy" in its entirety for the first time, bringing the track's dark lyrics to life via one-man theatre (complete with a plastic gun, flowers and police tape as stage props).Vocalists Mela Machinko and Showtyme were missing-in-action this time around, but rather than take anything away from the overall performance it allowed Pharoahe to totally dominate the stage, perhaps even giving the veteran wordsmith the opportunity to perform tracks better suited to the one emcee / one deejay show format.
The playfully arrogant "F**k You" had the crowd shouting the hook alongside a gleeful Monch, whilst the anti-police brutality anthem "Clap (One Day)" was brought to a rousing finale as the asthmatic lyricist recited the track's final verse accompanied only by the sound of the audience clapping rapidly in unison.A short but effective display of turntable brilliance from Boogie Blind was met with loud appreciation, as the gifted deejay proved that practice really does make perfect by destroying LL Cool J's "Rock The Bells" with a respectful nod to the late Grandmaster Roc Raida.With Pharoahe promising to take the crowd back in time, it was slightly surprising, and mildly disappointing, that he only went as far back as material from his 1999 debut solo set "Internal Affairs", choosing not to dig into the classics contained on Organized Konfusion's three albums.Yet by the time the "Godzilla" sample from the night's obvious closer "Simon Says" sent the Hip-Hop faithful into an instant frenzy, it was obvious that nobody was going to be asking for their money back
