According to Queens, New York rapper Pharoahe Monch, he was nearly “at a loss for words” following comments fellow lyricist Eminem made about his artistry. When asked about Eminem complimenting him on being “ahead of his time,” Pharoahe Monch offered his own praise to Em, during an interview with Vlad TV.
The rapper went on to applaud Eminem for keeping rap the focal point regardless of how popular his songs may be.
“When I saw that and I was thinking of shit to say I was almost at a loss for words because it’s obvious that Em has pushed the envelope on rap to its limits,” Pharoahe Monch said. “And still does put the focal point at rapping even on the popular songs. The execution and the things are there. And it’s so good for lyricists because it puts it still in the focal point whenever he puts a project out. It’s about—As much as it’s about how popular he is it’s still about how good he is. So, it’s like what could you say? And more so than it being in the mainstream and people who may not know who I am hearing my name. It’s even iller because I look up to dude as an emcee. To have appeal like that, shout you out. As big as he is it’s more like just dope on that level too. Emcee to emcee.”
While appearing on Sirius XM Town Hall with Sway Calloway last November, Eminem commented on Monch’s verse on Organized Konfusion’s “Bring It On.”
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“Yo, that rhyme right now would kill most rappers 99.99 percent,” Eminem said. “I must be that one little, tiny—nah. Nah, no seriously, Pharoahe Monch is incredible, man. And he has been ahead of his time since he came out.”
While speaking with Vlad TV, Pharoahe Monch recalled creating “Bring It On” and his goal to push the boundaries of “verbal gymnastics.”
“We were definitely just fuckin’ trying to push the envelope on dexterity and gymnastics lyrically,” Monch said. “It was a slow beat, so—And it was an angry ass beat, so we were just like ‘Let’s fuck around. Let’s play around with it. You know what I mean? Let’s—What can I do that I haven’t done and what hasn’t been done in terms of verbal gymnastics.’ So, at that point you’re still trying to like get your spot and etch out your voice a little bit in terms of lyricism.”
Monch later circled back to Eminem as he dubbed the Detroit rapper’s “Rap God” record “incredible” and revealed that Em’s line about him was his favorite line on the The Marshall Mathers LP 2 song.
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“It’s incredible, man…I had got wind of the song cause I’m cool with Denaun a time ago,” he said. “But I had no idea what it would sound like. It’s dope…He says it in a sense that even now he’s still getting it in. Like when he had started. So, it’s bananas.”
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