th1rt3en: Review of a Magnificent Exorcism

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2021 is a year of musical anticipation. Many artists that did not drop any projects in 2020 are expected to do so this year. Nowhere on that radar of anticipation did one expect Pharaohe Monch to release an album. We’re not just talking about any album, we’re talking about an album in which Monch leaves his ‘Simon Says’-esque bubble and ventures into the narrowly tapped field of rap rock by creating the super-group Th1rt3eN and delivering their momentous debut album ‘A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism’.

Th1rt3eN is composed of Pharaohe Monch, Jack White’s drummer Daru Jones and renowned guitarist Marcus Machado. This all-star trio came together to give us the appropriately curated 13-track album that oozes gloom, darkness, and consciousness. Usually, when a theme around a number surrounds a musical movement, it is obnoxiously beaten to death. With this project, the number 13 is used in the name of the super-group, the number of songs on the album and the title of the second track. The eeriness of the number 13 and the gloomy significance it holds are being used in a way that does not detract from the value of the album by being too in your face. On the contrary, it helps highlight the album’s personality in a subconscious, subtle way.

On a more outward level, the mastery comes alive in this album from different sources. Most notably, Monch’s wordplay is evident in the lyrics of every single song. Linking back to the theme, in ‘Triskaidekaphobia’, he says:

“So I broke into your house and tossed your spouse off the roof
When you called the cell and asked her where she was at
I picked up the phone and told you she had to bounce
After she bounced she dribbled and then she crossed over
She gave me an ice grill, so I gave her the cold shoulder
Approximately thirteen seconds before she passed
Triskaidekaphobia just to be an ass”

Monch tells this emotionally heavy fictional horror story with it’s basketball puns bouncing around the verse and then switches from narrator to commentator to tell the listener that he used ‘Triskaidekaphobia’ - the fear of the number 13 - just because he feels like it. In a bigger examination we now know this was intentional all along. This clever weaving of story-telling, wordplay, and lyrical prowess is what makes this track in particular and this album as a whole serve as a proper ode to Monch’s rap roots.

Breaking out of his shell, Monch recruits the rock-centric talents of Jones and Machado for multiple purposes. Firstly, to deliver the message of the album that comes across infinitely better with rock infused attributes. Second and more fundamentally, he knew how talented and sought after those two artists were and how much empirical musical value they would add with both their hip-hop and rock chops on the drums and guitar.

Machado’s talent is on full display throughout the album, whether it comes through riffs on ‘The Magician’ or through his solo on ‘Fight’, it is glaringly obvious how his addition was instrumental to this album from a musical perspective. Similarly, Jones’ drumming is as versatile as it is powerful. From simple down beats on ‘666 (Three Six Word Stories)’ to riotous rock protest drumming on ‘Fight’ to screamo rock drumming on ‘Racist’, Jones delivers the drumming style that does its absolute best to further the desired personality of the track.

With Monch on the wordplay, Jones on the drumplay, and Machado on the guitar play, the album tackles social issues ranging from police brutality and school shootings to immigration bans and religion. ‘The Magician’ is a song about school shootings and the ways school shooters are supposedly bred in society through constant bullying, ostracizing, and outcasting. ‘Fight’ - which was the leading single on the album featuring Cypress Hill - is the track in which Monch wanted to address police brutality and the ways in which society has been desensitized to the constant portrayals of violence we see. In an interview with SPIN magazine, Monch declares, ‘While this isn’t my first song on the issue, I hope it serves to be a continued spotlight on the problem. It will not change racist minds.’ He continues, ‘Collaborating with Cypress Hill was unreal and here’s why: I have so much enjoyment in being a fan that it’s almost not fair. Whenever an artist that I envision collaborating with says “yes” the excitement is what you would imagine it would be. Cypress Hill is the only group that I imagined collaborating with on this song.’

This project was a welcome reminder that artists are still capable of delivering a message with purpose while simultaneously expanding their musical horizons. Overall, the album is a complete work of art. It delivered on content, form, planning, mixing, mastering and above all, good music.