Spin (p.93) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[He] demonstrates why his rapping is nearly unparalleled in diction, creativity, and storytelling."
Entertainment Weekly (p.69) - "His intricate rhymes ricochet gracefully off gospel-inspired backdrops....It's this year's rap album to beat." -- Grade: A
Uncut (p.109) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "DESIRE's lyrical broadsides coil like barbed wire round beats which call to mind the activist soul of the 1960s."
XXL (Magazine) (p.135) - "12 tracks of adamantine lyricism tempered by imaginative concepts....'Push' is a horn-driven, bluesy number produced by Monch..."
Personnel: Pharoahe Monch (vocals); Mike Chav, Rob (guitar); Arden "Keys" Altino, Bamm Davis (keyboards); 99 Fingaz (bass guitar); Sean C., LV (drums); J. Clyde, Lee Stone, T. Jamerson, The Alchemist, Black Milk (programming); Boogie Blind (scratches); Lenesha Randolph, St. Juste, Candice Anderson (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Dwele, Tower Of Power (horns); Mr. Porter (programming); Mela Machinko, Erykah Badu, Showtyme, Tone (background vocals).
The thinking man's favorite MC, Pharoahe Monch put in work in the 1990s as one half of Organized Konfusion. His exceptional 1999 debut, INTERNAL AFFAIRS (perhaps the apex of Rawkus's first wave), raised the bar for intelligent lyricism. After an eight year absence, the South Side, Queens native brings a gang of stress build-up to his sophomore release, DESIRE. Setting his sights on everything from crooked record labels to the war in Iraq, Pharoahe unleashes his lyrical fury with a barrage of head-scratching homonyms and tongue-twisted alliteration that puts Das EFX to shame. He speaks of gun violence on "When the Gun Draws," reworks PE's "Welcome to the Terrordome" for the new millennium, and gets a little crossover on "Body Baby." The beats bang thanks to the Alchemist, Denaun Porter, Sean C, Black Milk, Lee Stone, and Pharoahe himself, while Erykah Badu, Mr. Porter, Dwele, and Tone are featured. Without a doubt, DESIRE ranks among the best hip-hop albums of 2007.
