[New Video] Pharoahe Monch – W.A.R @ The Pagoda (on W.A.R, Blu, & Royce da 5’9)

After doing battle with malfunctioning sound system and returning to the stage with even more energy to close out an otherwise phenomenal performance, Pharoahe Monch makes it very clear to even the most mainstream-dieted rap consumer that he is an artist of a special nature, one of which in these days of cookie-cutter formula driven rap disguised as hip hop, is extremely rare. Pharoahe Monch is not a rapper…he is…hip hop. The passion he exudes while on stage and his commitment to the fans that came to see him on this night is non-existent in most others, and while his frustration at the suffering of his performance was evident, the energy of the crowd surely made up for the failing of the speaker system. Pharoahe could have given an acapella performance and still been on point.

Interviewing Pharoahe Monch (thanks Drew!) I got to see and very humble and down to earth person, very thoughtful and introspective, and probably the “coolest” artist (tied with Blu) that we’ve done so far. After being dissed by Joell Ortiz and Co. after his show at 330 Ritch, it was refreshing to see that some artists still care about reaching out to the underground college radio stations and the like, continuing to build and acknowledge that organic fan base. Pharoahe Monch just earned a lot of respect from me…besides from giving us a very good impromptu interview!

Arman (StrongArm) Mahmoudi on the interview. We do this.

I.V League.

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