Pharoahe Monch: Hip Hop's Renegade

If life hands you lemons, make some d**n lemonade!

It’s a roll-your-eyes mantra used time and time again. But for hip hop artist Troy Donald Jamerson, bka Pharoahe Monch, it has been a motivational force behind much of his career success: For Jamerson, to stumble never means to fall, but instead, it’s a chance to move forward faster.

Let’s start with Jamerson’s name: A bad haircut in high school left him looking like a chimpanzee, so girls in Monch's class began calling him "Monchhichi,” after the popular 80s toy. He let the name stick, and later shortened it to "Monch.” Then Monch adopted “Pharoahe” after meeting Prince Poetry, his future partner in the group Organized Konfusion.

Together with “Prince Po,” Monch released three albums: The self-titled Organized Konfusion (1991), Stress: The Extinction Agenda (1994) and The Equinox (1997). All three albums received positive critical reviews, but moderate sales. In New York, Organized Confusion gained a loyal underground following for its superior production and Monch for his honest, intelligent and complex lyrics and multisyllabic rhyme schemes. Organized Konfusion came about in the early 90s, during “The Golden Age of Hip Hop,” arguably hip hop’s peak and where some of the greatest hip hop legends were conceived.

Still, after The Equinox, the group split, and Monch signed to Rawkus Records. After making several guest appearances on albums like the best-selling compilation Soundbombing II, Monch’s fan base exploded. His solo debut was highly anticipated. In 1999, Internal Affairs was released. The first single off the album, "Simon Says", was a hit, peaking at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100.  In 2000, Monch was featured with Mos Def and Nate Dogg on the hit song "Oh No" from the Rawkus compilation record Lyricist Lounge 2, a huge hit and one of his most notable singles to date.

By 2007, when he released his second solo album, “Desire,” his fan base was in its 30s and 40s, plus the direction of hip hop had switched gears entirely. The players’ pool had shrunken; and album sales hinged entirely on radio payola, social networks and digital downloads. Still, the album charted at #58 on the Billboard 200 and #13 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts.

On his most recent album, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades), released independently in March 2011, the album charted at #54 on the Billboard 200. In 2011, 20 years after his original debut, the landscape of hip hop has completely transformed, but Monch is more excited than ever. In this exclusive interview, find out what’s the big buzz around W.A.R., and also, what’s spiking Monch’s latest batch of lemonade.

BSP: How is your approach to making music different today than it was 20 years ago, when you first started?

PM: I embrace my own experience, as I evolve. I went to art school, so I approach making music as though I’m interpreting art (as opposed to creating what’s the trend). I try to involve rock, jazz R&B, vocals and singing. Right now, it’s about giving back what I’ve learned, the knowledge that I’ve obtained as a world traveler and trying to give people who may not be privy to what I’ve experienced and seen a different perspective.

BSP: So at this point in your career, do you feel you’ve finally fully matured as an artist?

PM: I think artists in general are constantly evolving, growing. You never reach a point where you know it all. You may reach your summit as far as your audience, sales or popularity, but true artists are always looking for inspiration. So I’ve embraced that as a constant mission.

BSP: How do you feel about your latest project, “W.A.R.”?

PM: “War” is an acronym for We Are Renegades. The record is selling really really well on an independent level. We just finished a 20-city tour on the West Coast, toured Europe and Australia before then. It’s a blessing that I’m doing this interview and that we have these types of outlets. Because of it, the tours have been a huge success. And the video is getting crazy hits on YouTube. From a business aspect, album sales are insane in the context of money spent, versus money earned. We’re at 30,000 sold as an independent.

BSP: The industry has changed so much. How do you deal with the fact that your original audience base has matured and may not be as plugged into the social media networks such as YouTube? I ask, because I love your music, but I do not go to YouTube to watch music videos at all.

PM: Actually there are 2 videos that are doing really well on YouTube. They’re getting so many hits on YouTube, yet so many people still don’t know. I can walk the street and people can say, “Oh my god, I’ve seen the video; it’s so provocative,” and they’ll say they’re emotionally moved by it. But at the other end of the spectrum, if you’re not watching YouTube or into that life, you may not even know I’ve made an album. But I can’t blame them. It’s a natural progression as you grow older to move away from eating Hostess Ding Dongs and things you deem as junk food and move towards those things that are more organic. The problem is, as artists, like myself, Mos Def, The Roots, Q Tip and Talib Kweli, we’ve all grown up and would moved away too. But we also understand that this is the new paradigm for the music industry, so we’re forced to embrace it and figure out ways to make it work for us.

BSP: So how do reconcile getting the people that love your music back to where you want them?

PM: In a way, it’s been a blessing, because we’re back to having to do what we used to do to market to our audiences, through tours and word-of-mouth. We’ve had to get creative because with all the noise that’s out there now on the radio, it’s just too much nonsense to weave through to find the truth. But therein lies the opportunity to build another medium. Basically where my head is at, and not to sound cliché, but I’m about being the change that I’m complaining about and being the change that I need to see.

BSP: Change in what sense? What do you think needs to happen in Hip Hop?

PM: In terms of the whole movement: Stop having the discussion and design that program or application that fills the void. If you don’t, you will lose out. Just like with Napster. People who slept on Napster ended up losing out. People are missing out on so much art they are not aware of, and I’m not just talking hip hop-- I mean, as far as plays, performances, art galleries...

There’s a lot of culture that’s missing, especially for people of color. But also, just in general. There’s a lot of stuff we’re not being exposed to that can be an incentive for us to make great sh**, to make art, because if you listen to the things that are being spoon-fed to us, you really have no incentive to be great in this era.

I get inspired to create and then spread the word, when I see great art. There’s been times when I’m so uninspired by what’s out there, I’d rather just sit in my house. But a friend will convince me to come out to some small, unknown art gallery opening that’s outside of mainstream. And I go and get so blown away by it, I’m inspired to write and do and say something great.

That’s what’s missing. We have to push each other as a community to experience more culturally and share those things that move and inspire us.  That’s what my new music is about. I infuse more musically; different influences. And I try to bring a spirit and energy to the stage that people have something emotional to connect to.

Pharoahe Monch is scheduled to perform tomorrow, July 2, 6:00pm, at Weeksville Heritage Center, 1698 Bergen Street between Buffalo Avenue and Rochester Avenue