W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)

Pharoahe Monch | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: DUCKDOWN RECORDS
• ASIN: B003ZGMFGS
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,677 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hip-Hop for Adults, March 22, 2011

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G. Avila (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (Audio CD)

I use to be a huge fan of Hip-Hop in my youth but as I got older I found less and less in common with what it was becoming. I found great solace in more contemporary music and Jazz. That being said every once in a while a Hip-Hop album comes out that is intelligent and has production value that appeals to me as an adult. I love this record more than his prior efforts, he much like me has grown older and matured. Monch has always been and intelligent lyricist and a cut above today's commercial rappers but this time thru his maturation shows in his choice of production. This album has more live instrumentation ala The Roots and less of the sampling which has become the norm in rap music. In conclusion this record will be enjoyed by those of us who grew up with Hip-Hop but find that Hip-Hop did not grow up with us and the adults we became... 5 Stars.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Grail is a Legend no Longer, March 22, 2011

By 

Alex William McNeal III (El Paso, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (Audio CD)

Pharoahe Monch has grasped the most elusive embodiment of hip-hop music: the crafting of a perfect album. The display of skill, material, production, and timing puts this long-awaited piece into another category altogether--and that is saying quite a lot! Our genres' roster over the previous three-years, at least, has seen some truly amazing and encouraging offerings from vets, budding talents, and rookies, many of which have damn-near reinvigorated the approach of us fellow artists. Even with positing that, I have to admit there is something very different about W.A.R.--something unlike not only Monch's priors, but also very different from the overwhelming majority of lyrical-aesthetician contributions: I am calling this a flawless victory. Such high praise is usually avoided, as a rule--except for where it applies.

Some of the other reviewers have pointed out that production is a slight liability on this one, considering the titular implications. We disagree sharply! Nothing is more boring than an album full of beats, however 'hard', all sounding exactly the same, without range or creativity! Pharoahe actually has soul, folks--and that is why production goes through the moods experienced on W.A.R. (i.e., 'Black Hand Side'). Here we have an album where the emcee has balanced all of the necessary elements: confidence and strength, subtlety and nuance, melody and message, persona and depth, pathos and inspiration, vision and timing, `self'-expression and community/audience involvement (guests and supporters). Are those not attributes of what we hope to find in new releases? I can name a number of recent projects that seem to have a connection to each other, a common-thread running through them; yet W.A.R. sounds like a distillation of all those perspectives, a `Calculated Amalgamation' if you will--minus any weaknesses. Much of the style and wordplay on here, including cameos who are punching above their weight, is exhilaratingly intimidating: consider your first `WOW!'-moment in hip-hop to fully understand what I mean (i.e., 'Assassins' with Jean Grae & Royce da 5'9'').

So, while looking forward to reaching for the bar raised, I write these words not as fawning flattery or out of sugary sentimentality, but rather as salute to a legend of the culture.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars real deal, April 5, 2011

By 

J. Matheu "Anthony" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) (MP3 Download)

Put down the lil wayne and the wack khalifa and support this man... a true lyricist who knows how to flip a verse. this is what should be getting all the publicity instead of that cookie cutter garbage on the radio.