With Pharoahe Monch's fourth solo album PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) arriving today (April 15) on his own War Media, the MC still feels he is in a good creative space, despite having logged over 20 years as a pioneering hip-hop artist.
Evidently, his work ethic and consistency haven't gone unnoticed — only a few months ago, Eminem rapped "But I still rap like I'm on my Pharoahe Monch grind" on his The Marshall Mathers LP 2 track "Rap God." As Monch recently explained in an Exclaim! interview, he is thankful for the compliment and has nothing but respect for the rap superstar.
"I'm a big Eminem fan. Because if I were have reached that level of celebrity… I don't know, I would've drove off a fuckin' bridge," he says.
Apparently, Monch is much more comfortable operating on a low-key independent level.
"Pharoahe is so happy in his skin, man, so happy with where I'm at," says the co-owner of independent operation War Media. "The goal is when you own your stuff, when you're not compromising and you're independent and all of that stuff, is to maintain your level of artistry and to survive."
Not surprisingly, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) finds Monch adhering to his own high creative standards.
"It's cerebral but it's still really good hip-hop at the end of the day. Of course it's layered. It's not a rap album you can vacuum to [or] at the same time you're dusting and it's background music. I think background music is good music too, and we need that, but this is not that."
The album is a conceptual journey on the topic of mental trauma, but it's just one of the irons Monch currently has in the fire.
Not only did he co-produce "Dear God" for Toronto MC King Reign, but he recently appeared on "Rap Life," the first single from D.I.T.C alum Diamond D's upcoming new album. Also, along with his former Organized Konfusion partner Prince Po, Monch recorded "3 O'Clock" for former Torontonian Marco Polo's Port Authority 2 album. Monch and Prince Po also celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Stress: The Extinction Agenda album with a recent show in New York.
Additionally, Monch appeared on Prince Po's 2014 album Animal Serum.
"We got a new song ['Smash'] with O.C. on the Prince Po album that Oh No produced. We just shot a video for that. I just saw the video, it's bananas. I like it a lot."
All of this collaboration between Monch and Prince Po seems to hint at a full-blown Organized Konfusion reunion of some sort on the horizon, but Monch is non-committal on the topic. "Six words. Who knows what the future holds?" he says, before laughing mischievously.
Stream all of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) below.
Read our full interview with Pharoahe Monch here.
Evidently, his work ethic and consistency haven't gone unnoticed — only a few months ago, Eminem rapped "But I still rap like I'm on my Pharoahe Monch grind" on his The Marshall Mathers LP 2 track "Rap God." As Monch recently explained in an Exclaim! interview, he is thankful for the compliment and has nothing but respect for the rap superstar.
"I'm a big Eminem fan. Because if I were have reached that level of celebrity… I don't know, I would've drove off a fuckin' bridge," he says.
Apparently, Monch is much more comfortable operating on a low-key independent level.
"Pharoahe is so happy in his skin, man, so happy with where I'm at," says the co-owner of independent operation War Media. "The goal is when you own your stuff, when you're not compromising and you're independent and all of that stuff, is to maintain your level of artistry and to survive."
Not surprisingly, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) finds Monch adhering to his own high creative standards.
"It's cerebral but it's still really good hip-hop at the end of the day. Of course it's layered. It's not a rap album you can vacuum to [or] at the same time you're dusting and it's background music. I think background music is good music too, and we need that, but this is not that."
The album is a conceptual journey on the topic of mental trauma, but it's just one of the irons Monch currently has in the fire.
Not only did he co-produce "Dear God" for Toronto MC King Reign, but he recently appeared on "Rap Life," the first single from D.I.T.C alum Diamond D's upcoming new album. Also, along with his former Organized Konfusion partner Prince Po, Monch recorded "3 O'Clock" for former Torontonian Marco Polo's Port Authority 2 album. Monch and Prince Po also celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Stress: The Extinction Agenda album with a recent show in New York.
Additionally, Monch appeared on Prince Po's 2014 album Animal Serum.
"We got a new song ['Smash'] with O.C. on the Prince Po album that Oh No produced. We just shot a video for that. I just saw the video, it's bananas. I like it a lot."
All of this collaboration between Monch and Prince Po seems to hint at a full-blown Organized Konfusion reunion of some sort on the horizon, but Monch is non-committal on the topic. "Six words. Who knows what the future holds?" he says, before laughing mischievously.
Stream all of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) below.
Read our full interview with Pharoahe Monch here.
