Okayplayer & DJ Raydar Ellis Present: The 'Pharoahe Monch Birthday Mix'
Happy birthday, Pharoahe Monch! To help us honor a living legend, we enlisted the help of DJ, producer and Berklee professor Raydar Ellis to dig deep into the crates with the Pharoahe Monch Birthday Mix - a collection of his favorite verses from the Organized Konfusion veteran. The mix follows the spring release of the PTSD LP and more recent news of the newly minted hip-hop supergroup Indie 500 - a three-man venture that finds Monch joining forces with Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder. The mix opens with an intro from comedian Hannibal Buress and features birthday wishes from DJ Premier, Lord Finesse, Jean Grae, Statik Selektah, Joey Badass and more
Widely regarded as a lyrical assassin, Pharoahe Monch has historically utilized his unmistakable flow and razor sharp wordplay to deliver seamless rhymes sporting the kind of nuance and intricate detail that could only come from a perfectionist and master of his craft. A voracious reader and insatiable spitter, he belongs to an anomalous and increasingly small class of wordsmiths that are generally immune to mediocrity and revered as the true embodiment of the term MC. Perennially prepared for battle and the most monstrous beats, Pharoahe Monch has moved crowds for decades with gems like "3,2,1", "Rapid Eye Movement", "Guerilla Monsoon Rap", "Black Hand Side", "Simon Says" and more.
This mix takes fans back to bring them forward through one of the most consistent and continually impressive catalogs in the history of rap. Check the tracks below to stream the Pharaoahe Monch Birthday Mix. Scroll down to check out the tracklist. Purchase the PTSD LP via iTunes. Catch Raydar Ellis rocking live at Barawine in Harlem on Friday November 7th from 4 to 8 PM to celebrate the launch of The Law Office of Tanya Ellis.
Pharoahe Monch Birthday Mix Tracklist:
Let's Go
Talkin To You
Queens
Oh No
Loose Ends (Sergio Mendes ft. Pharoahe Monch & Justin Timberlake)
D.R.E.A.M.
3-2-1 (Organized Konfusion)
Stray Bullet (Organized Konfusion)
Bad MF
The Mayor
Eht Dnarg Noisulli (feat. The Stepkids)
Calls (Denaun Porter Remix) (Robert Glasper ft. Jill Scott & Pharoahe Monch)
So Good
Broken Again
Push
Black Hand Side
3' O' Clock (Marco Polo ft. Organized Konfusion)
Rapid Eye Movement
Guerilla Monsoon Rap (Talib Kweli ft. Kanye West, Black Thought, & Pharoahe Monch)
Clap
Livin It Up
Right Here
Tooley Crew Personified
Ill Collabo (The Dwellas ft. Organized Konfusion)
Soundman (Organized Konfusion)
Thirteen
Shine
Tight Remix (Rah Digga ft. Pharoahe Monch & Lord Have Mercy)
The Matrix (Black Milk ft. Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price, & DJ Premier)
Simon Says