These days, only a handful of Hip-Hop artists have the magnitude to pack arenas to its full capacity. ‘Handful’ being the optimum word, because you can literally count on your right hand, or your left (considering if you’re a lefty) on how many MC’s are going to break the bank in ticket sales. As for the moment the talk of the town, and the nation for that matter is Jay-Z’s “Heart Of The City Tour” which also features the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul herself, Ms. Mary J. Blige.

Right now, the tour is currently making its rounds in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. And as guys continue to pack barbershops, for fresh line-ups, and females equally do the same; but with beauty salons and nail parlors instead-- and do so because they have no problem paying inflated ticket prices the equivalent of monthly rent for nosebleed seats. But if you look deep enough, you can still find good shows with less hassle, quality performers, and ticket prices that won’t leave you not being able to afford a decent lunch at your job the following day. 

So was the case on the night of May 7th in Manhattan’s SOHO (South Houston) district of New York. The famed nightclub S.O.B.’s opened its legendary doors to let one of New York’s native sons in Pharoahe Monch inaugurate the venue with his first performance this year in his back yard. As daytime fell to evening, the warm 68-degree b reeze continued to sweep through the posh and trendy neighborhood where S.O.B.’s is located. Outside, you could see mixed crowd of 30-sometings coming fresh from work, and college students who managed to make it out of their dorm rooms to support one of the most underrated MC’s in Hip-Hop.

As the gathering grew bigger, you could also see the horde of MC/hustlers making their way to every individual one-by-one trying to sell their music. Around 8:30, everybody finally made there way inside to watch DJ JS-1 on the stage. Becoming one with his turntables, and dressed in a vintage baseball fitted cap, blue jeans, white sneakers, and a brown t-shirt with a picture of Marvin Gaye on it, along with his name—he ran through a slew of classic Hip-Hop material followed by the original samples from the historical musicians that made those Hip-Hop songs possible to exist.

As he continued to give his musical history lesson, you could clearly see the age difference between all the patrons. The more mature half reminiscing over the old time songs about where they were, and what they were doing when the song was released; and the younger half scratching their heads, and looking confused while talking amongst themselves saying things like, “I thought Kanye [West] made that beat!” “I didn’t know he sampled that!” “Yo, Alchemist sampled that!” “I thought it was original!” “This sh*t is crazy!” Off to the left side of the stage, you could find people sitting down in the dining section drinking cocktails, and ordering exotic meals from the menu.

When 9:30 came around DJ JS-1 turned down the sound system to inform the anxious fans the show was about to begin. After a couple of opening acts warmed the crowd up, it was finally time to welcome the Queens-bred MC. He reached the staged accompanied by his gigantic bodyguard, and when he turned to view all of his supporters, he could do nothing but bare a huge smile on his face, displaying the gap between his two front teeth. Wearing a black motorcycle-type racing jacket, black army hat, black shoes, and blue jeans that were fashionably ripped on the left pant leg, he acknowledged the people as Pharoahe Monch and ran threw some songs from his most recent album Desire.

After asking the people how many of them had bought Desire, he unzipped his jacket and took off his army hat to get a little more comfortable on stage. With his trademark ‘crazy hair’ under control via cornrows, and a white t-shirt with Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain’s face on it, he gave the people the kind of lyrical presentation that helped garner him a devoted cult following despite the years of low albums sales by performing songs like, “Fuck You (I Got You),” “The Light,” and when he goes into his verse off “Oh No” (featuring Mos Def and Nate Dogg), he sticks the microphone into the sea of people so they can chant his famous line of, “Hallelujah Pharoahe Monch will do ya/maintain the same frame of mind—screw ya” instead of reciting that part himself.

During an intermission break where he takes time to wipe the ever-running sweat off his face, he also rolls up the sleeves to his shirt where a huge tattoo of a rose covers his right arm, and the Zodiac symbol of the Scorpio covering his left. He also takes a moment to reflect on the state of Hip-Hop, and tells people if they represent real Hip-Hop—let him know by putting their fists in the air.

Then he talks about a song he was invited to perform on a while back, but he’s not sure if anyone is familiar with it. At that point, Talib Kweli appears from behind the DJ booth wearing a pristine pair of white low-top Air Force One’s, denim jeans, white t-shirt with a blue tie-around scarf, a green stylish military jacket, and black army hat with white and red stripes. As the crowd continues to roar with excitement, the instrumental to “Guerilla Monsoon Rap” from Talib Kweli’s 2002 release Quality which features both MC’s and Black Thought of The Roots starts to ring throughout the massive sound system.

The two work the stage effortlessly, crossing each other going from side-to-side edging their way closer to the fans to make sure they get their moneys worth. When the song concludes, the applause is endless, and Pharoahe’s DJ tells Kweli that his work isn’t done yet. With a puzzled look, Talib turns and looks back at the DJ and at that same moment, the instrumental for Kweli’s newest single, “Hostile Gospel” from his latest album Ear Drum now echoes through the speakers.

After running through the first two verses, Kweli manages to calm down the now hysterical crowd, to give recognition to Pharaohe Monch for being a strong, powerful, and legendary MC in the game. The audience furthers the acknowledgement with screams and cheers; as Pharoahe Monch and Talib Kweli embrace each other in hug, center stage. And in a flash, Kweli disappeared from the stage in the same instance.

Continuing to soothe the people with classics, Monch goes into his melodic hook from “The Life” which Styles P from The LOX rhymes on. Once again he chooses to let his fans sing it for him, and the crowd is right on point singing in unison, “My life is all I have/my rhymes, my pen, my pad/and I done made it through the struggle, don’t judge me/what you say now, won’t budge me/cause where I come from, so often—people you grew up with are laying in a coffin/but I done made it through the pain and strife/it’s my time now, my world, my life, (my life).” When the goose bumps settle in, he instructs everybody to form their hand in the shape of a gun to introduce his song, “When The Gun Draws.”

Following that lyrical barrage, one of his people throws him another fresh towel in order to keep his face dry. Then he gives a shout-out to Detroit’s dirty district and MC/producer Black Milk in particular for helping to create “Let’s Go” which now has the people almost jumping out of their shoes with the funky production.
 
When the song is over, he puts the microphone back onto the mic-stand and jokingly says, “I’m Pharoahe Monch, and I’ve been doing this Hip-Hop sh*t for about 35 f*ckin years now!” Gaining laughs from the crowd, he goes right into the lead single from his album, which also shares the same name, “Desire.” But halfway through the song, he tells his DJ to bring it back because he’s not feeling it. Much to the delight of crowd, the DJ turns up a few more notches, and Monch starts from the top once again, while giving thanks to Alchemist for the producing the beat. The emotion and passion he puts into his music is no more evident than when he spews out every last single compound metaphor with the precision of a surgeon using a scalpel.

When the song is over, and to the chagrin of the crowd, he informs everyone that his time is up and thanks everyone for coming out. And as the lights dimmer you can see the long faces of everyone now being faced with the fact of the show being over. Then the lights come back on, followed by the instrumental track for his classic-cult hit, “Simon Says.” With the crowd now re-energized and rushing back to the stage in frenzy, Pharoahe jumps back on in front of his people and gives them what they want.

Officially ending his show with “Simon Says,” the sweat-drenched and exhausted Pharoahe Monch once again thanks everyone for supporting him and real Hip-Hop, as he makes his way off stage holding onto the shoulders of his linebacker-like bodyguard—and vanishes into a secluded dressing far away from the chaos he helped generate for the night.