Th1rt3en is an East Coast hip hop trio consisting of Marcus Machado on guitar, Daru Jones on drums & Pharoahe Monch on the mic. The trio have been working together for a little over a year now but with Joe Biden being inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States earlier this week, it’s only right for them to come together for their full-length debut.
Things kick off with “Cult 45”, where Monch takes a well-written dig at the Trump administration over a dingy boom bap beat from Nottz. The next song “Triskaidekaphobia” gets on the horrorcore tip over a bloodcurdling instrumental from Monch himself alongside Parks of The Joe Budden Podcast while “The Magician” compares himself to such over a rap rock beat. The song “666 (3-6 Word Stories)” is a unexpected & decent recreation of the Black Sabbath joint “Hand of Doom” while the track “Goat’s Head” reminds listeners of his lyrical prowess over a beat with a crunchy ass guitar line.
The song “Scarecrow” talks about being on the yellow brick road over an anarchic instrumental from Shylow while the track “Fight” talks about racial injustice over a rock/boom bap fusion. The song “Racist” compares the skinheads to Satanists over an infernal beat while the track “Oxygen” talks about needing this woman in his life over a supernatural instrumental from Marco Polo.
The song “Kill ‘Em All Again” talks about those who can’t see the bigger picture over an impassioned beat while “The Exorcist” makes numerous references to the apocalypse & Medusa over yet another boom bap/rock fusion. The penultimate track “Amnesia” expresses his desire to hold this woman in his arms over a more unwinding instrumental & then the albums ends with “Kill Kill Kill”, where Monch talks about losing his mind some fast drumming along with a guitar & a organ.
When artists make an album stylistically departing from their signature sound, it can turn out 50/50. However, Th1rt3en knocks it out of the park. Not only do Marcus & Daru do a good job with the live instrumentation, but Pharoahe Monch comes through with some of his most political lyrics yet reflecting on all the hardships we faced in 2020.
Pharoahe Monch embarked on his solo career on October 19, 1999, with the release of Internal Affairs, marking the first time we saw him without his former Organized Konfusion partner, Prince Po. This week, the Kennedy Center will host a two-day event in celebration 20th anniversary of the classic release by way of a panel discussion and the following performance.
On Wednesday, October 16, the Kennedy Center will host “Culture Talk: The Making of Internal Affairs with Pharoahe Monch,” moderated by BET’s Jerry Barrow who oversee the discussion featuring Diamond D, DJ Scratch, and Lee Stone, all of whom produced tracks for the album along with Monch himself.
The following day, October 17, Monch will grace the Terrace Theater stage and will be joined by Prince Po, M.O.P., and Styles P.
Simone Eccleston, Director of Hip Hop Culture at the Kennedy Center, shared the following quote with us:
Internal Affairs is an important work within Hip Hop’s canon and reflects a strong solo debut by one of the Culture’s most thought-provoking lyricists. It is an honor to celebrate this incredible 20th anniversary milestone with our Hip Hop Culture Council Member, Pharoahe Monch.
Pharoahe Monch broke out on his own in 1999 after three acclaimed albums with his former group, Organized Konfusion with his debut solo album, Internal Affairs. After the album was pulled from shelves due to a sampling clearance issue, the album will be released again to streaming platforms and on vinyl to commemorate the album’s 20th anniversary.
Internal Affairs was released on October 19, 1999, via legendary underground Hip-Hop label Rawkus Records and Priority Records, bolstered by the thumping Lee Stone and Monch-produced “Simon Says” track. That song actually is the reason for the album’s disappearance from mainstream retail outlets due to the sampling of the theme music from the Godzilla films.
Taking to Instagram, Monch shared news of the rerelease to his fans along with an upcoming Kennedy Center performance in Washington on October 17.
Check out the post below and congrats to Pharoahe Monch for securing his legacy and well-deserved bag!
New York Knicks fanatics Fat Joe and Pharoahe Monch are still in disbelief. The Big Apple natives have shared their thoughts on the Knickerbockers coming up short-short on landing prized free agent Kevin Durant.
On Monday, both Joe and Monch went to Instagram with some tough thoughts on the Knicks.
According to reports, the Knicks weren’t willing to give Durant a maximum deal to join the iconic franchise.
The Knicks and owner Jim Dolan were not prepared to offer Kevin Durant a full max contract due to concerns over his recovery from the Achilles injury, league sources tell me and @wojespn. Knicks officials are in Los Angeles tonight, meeting with free agents such as Julius Randle.
The Knicks have released a statement from team president Steve Mills in the wake of missing out on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving: pic.twitter.com/z4yKVILSqi
Premiering at Ambrosia For Heads, Monch now releases “Yayo.” Even in his statement to AFH about the song, the veteran uses wordplay, “Peace. I hope everyone had a white Christmas and an exciting new year. ‘Yayo’ is my second stand-alone track, not attached to any project. ‘Yayo’ is alarming, but a giant metaphor for cocaine. Now let’s get it cracking in 2019.”
Twenty-plus-year Pharoahe collaborator Lee Stone produces the energetic song. In his conceptual bag, the MC begins “Melodic embargo / Please, you know what’s in the cargo / I ship keys, my ni**a, never eat escargot / Key a cop’s car, cop keys in Key Largo / Queens get cheese, we don’t bang / Y’all ni**as get caught with the keys and all sing / Singin’-ass ni**as be outta key, you can’t hang / The whole key to why sh*t’s f*cked up in the game / Now you lame,” before claiming that many rappers spit about what they see in Narcos and Fargo. Those works of art, as well as Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, New Jack City, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Traffic, The Hangover, Training Day, Lean On Me, and Chappelle’s Show, among others, are presented in careful sync (thanks to Milton Walker IV) with the charged-up bars of symbolism.
The lyrics are also rich with references in the delivery to artists like M.O.P., Sugarhill Gang, and Naughty By Nature. Meanwhile, Monch’s rap describes where the dope comes from, why, and who is using it—from celebrities to athletes to types of people. For an MC who is one of the finest conceptual songwriters in the genre, he starts ’19 with a rush. The song’s scratches are from veteran turntablism DJ Boogie Blind.
Premiering at Ambrosia For Heads, Monch now releases “Yayo.” Even in his statement to AFH about the song, the veteran uses wordplay, “Peace. I hope everyone had a white Christmas and an exciting new year. ‘Yayo’ is my second stand-alone track, not attached to any project. ‘Yayo’ is alarming, but a giant metaphor for cocaine. Now let’s get it cracking in 2019.”
Twenty-plus-year Pharoahe collaborator Lee Stone produces the energetic song. In his conceptual bag, the MC begins “Melodic embargo / Please, you know what’s in the cargo / I ship keys, my ni**a, never eat escargot / Key a cop’s car, cop keys in Key Largo / Queens get cheese, we don’t bang / Y’all ni**as get caught with the keys and all sing / Singin’-ass ni**as be outta key, you can’t hang / The whole key to why sh*t’s f*cked up in the game / Now you lame,” before claiming that many rappers spit about what they see in Narcos and Fargo. Those works of art, as well as Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, New Jack City, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Traffic, The Hangover, Training Day, Lean On Me, and Chappelle’s Show, among others, are presented in careful sync (thanks to Milton Walker IV) with the charged-up bars of symbolism.
The lyrics are also rich with references in the delivery to artists like M.O.P., Sugarhill Gang, and Naughty By Nature. Meanwhile, Monch’s rap describes where the dope comes from, why, and who is using it—from celebrities to athletes to types of people. For an MC who is one of the finest conceptual songwriters in the genre, he starts ’19 with a rush. The song’s scratches are from veteran turntablism DJ Boogie Blind.
Producer and DJ, J. Period has a track record that can’t be denied. He knows what joints are Party starters. He has the vernacular of musicology that in both inter generational, transcends race/ social class and sonically verbose. Alas he is the last of a dying breed of musician (yes, this writer believes djs are musicians) that can rock any crowd, but has chosen to be faithful to the cultural roots that wooed him into the soil of Hip-Hop. Without a doubt, he is unapologetically down with the classics and clearly effing with true spitkickers.
So when the announcement was made he was doing a mixtape with three of rap musical giants, Pharoahe Monch, Black Thought and Rakim, fans were certain that history was gonna be made.
And it was…
Black Moon’s dj, Evil Dee warmed the crowd up with classics during his super energized set. People from every walk of life danced and sang/rapped to the 80’s and 90’s hits as each breakbeat took you back to The Tunnel, Red Zone or the Limelight.
When the Voice of God assured the restlessly anxious audience that the show would start in 10 minutes, folk got giddy. Edging their way to the front, their faces anticipated the magic that these three emcees on one stage promised. And then it happened…. Right before our eyes the whole energy shifted (which is what concerts are supposed to do… shifted the energy of the fan).
Pharoahe Monch hopped on the stage spitting hits from his Organized Konfusion days, as well as his Rawkus tenure. Monch is one of the most underrated emcees around (people get caught in his lyricism to give him the props for being so explosive on stage). In his set, he introduced a talented goddess of a sister named Maimouna Youssef (aka MuMu Fresh) who remained on and off set all night lending her majestic vocals and rhyme styling to the magic of the evening.
As his set ended, Smif-N-Wessun took center stage. Scratch that, they took the stage and shot up the place with a furry of hits that made The Cocoa Brovaz the jewel of the Duck Down massive. Bombastic describes their performance. Bold and blatantly Brooklyn rude boy. Steele with his playful showmanship and. Tek with his rugged grasp of wordplay kept cheers intermixing w J. Period’s clever reconstruction of these classic jams.
But despite how mega Smif-N-Wessun’s set was, their moment was topped by Dres from Black Sheep who single handedly mesmerized The crowd with only two joints. Did you hear me… only two joints.
From the time that “For a second, I reckon, I got ya double checking… Then again when to your needs did I beckon?” the people lost their minds. It had been so long since anyone has seen Dres rock the mic and he did not disappoint. The sing songy verses in “Flavor Of The Month” of this 90s joint did not lose any of the razzle dazzle after 20 years. Dres also has not rusted (though noticeably grey). By the time he got to “The Choice is Yours,” the audience became orgasmic. But like a teasing lover…. he was not satisfied with how the crowd held back on their climax.
In disbelief the shouted out that the crowd was missing what was really happening… that this was history… and gave some an out for being too young to appreciate the mandatory choreography that goes with the chorus and pulled Chi Ali out to do a complete rewind. After rewinding, the start up was the blast that he was itching to get. “Engine. Engine. Number 9. On the New York transit line. If my train goes off the track… pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!” The place went crazy. The show could have ended there and we would have been happy… especially since he had a special guest hype man, an adult Chi Ali.
Sensory overload started to set in. Thank God for artist Peekaso, who right before our eyes, painted a portrait of Pharoahe Monch, Black Thought and Rakim. His gifts allowed us an organic alternative that help folk catch their breaths and collect their minds after being so caught up in the ecstatic cornucopia curated by J. Period.
Black Thought was next up on the live mixtape experience. Sans the Roots crew, he pushed out joints after joints. But what made him knock heavy was his tribute to old school forefathers that influenced. A true emcee knows when to pull those kinds of tricks out the bag to give his fans something new and innovative. There must be something in the Schuylkill Punch, because each word had the same intensity as his legendary freestyle on Flex. Plus… he was fly… them boots my “g.” Out of his performance his imitation of the late great Guru’s voice was breathtaking. As an engaged Yasiin Bey watch from behind J. Period who was getting busy on the tables and beat machines, Tariq gave a performance that displayed lyricism, showmanship and crowd control. It was so good, it should have solidified him in your top 5 greatest rappers ever.
By this time, the artist Peekaso’s masterpiece was almost complete.
This meant only one thing: Rakim is about to have church. Dressed in the most buttered blinged-out Pelle Pelle, he epitomized what we believe is 1980’s street hustle. Performing (what could be said is) the diamond dusted soundtrack of a certain segment of Hip-Hop, the venue quaked with headnodding, neck-wopping GenXers. The crowd erupted when he brought out his partner in crime, Eric B. Rakim really didn’t have to do that much work because the audience showed so much love, recited his rhymes for it. For many, just having him there was enough. People wanted to give back the love that he has give through lyric and rhyme for so many years. Rakim is said to be on everyone’s rap Mt. Rushmore. Nas has said that he influenced him. Few people will say that his rhyme pattern did not influence them. J. Period’s live mixtape showcased why. Rakim is simply the greatest rapper to ever touch the mic.
When the live mixtape drops fans who weren’t there, will experience much more than a good album. They will feel what it felt like to live through 1988 – 1999, during an era of rap when giants where born. J. Period, you did it again.
