Pharoahe Monch will release his sophomore album, Desire, through a new deal with the Universal-distributed Street Records Corporation (SRC).

Due later this year, the album features a guest spot from Justin Timberlake and was produced by Lee Stone and Denaun Porter.

Steve Rifkind, who also founded the now-defunct Loud Records, formed SRC three years ago through a joint venture with Universal. According to Rifkind, SRC won a bidding war between Bad Boy, Eminem's Shady Records, and Sony over Monch's new material. 

"On a creative and business level, I've never been this excited," Monch said via a statement. "I've had the time to work on this album, and being a perfectionist, it's really come to fruition. It's very soulful, very gospel, a fresh, new sound for me. It shows so much growth spiritually, almost as if I'm a new artist. When I play the record for people, that's how they hear it."

Desire will be Monch's first album since his 1999 debut Internal Affairs.

Credit: Clover Hope