Pharoahe Monch – Internal Affairs

Actual review of this release: I think this sounds awful. I know this album isn't really a hi-fi album, but it's very apparent that they didn't put much effort into this release. Especially on the Simon Says Remix, it sounds HORRIBLE (might just be my copy)

Restock on Fat Beats today for their 30th anniversary sale!

all i can say is this pressing sounds incredible. no issues just a great press.

great sounding pressing definitely worth picking up. . . .

Sound quality on this is really good, nice flat heavy weight vinyl too.
My copy does seem to have a bit of surface noise and some clicks in places but nothing too significant - fairly typical of coloured vinyls

Sounds awesome, bass is full, no major complaints on this pressing. Side C/D suffers from some inner groove distortion, but nothing too awful. Looks nice too.

Edit: Just kidding, got a new TT and apparently I had alignment issues. No distortion at all.

How's the sound quality of this release? Vinyl looks amazing but want to make sure this pressing also sounds great!

Seems a bit heavier than usual . 180gram ? Thanks for your knowledge..!

A solid debut of the legendary artist who I once read Eminem speak of the way Jay-Z spoke of Common.
"Internal Affairs" runs off the power of it's bass - rattling single "Simon Says" and continues to thrive off of the melding of comedy and seriousness from it's lead emcee. The collaboraters comprised of other respectable artists follow the Pharoahe 's lead and what results is a cohesive tale of introspection detailing the relatable ironies of the attempts to regale truth in a reality built on lies.
Though Monch sounds a little too much like Sadat-X, the bars show that the delivery on this tape is only just a homage to the golden age on the precipiss of the commercial era. That said, "Internal Affairs" serves as a bridge between not only eras, but also the self and the dabblings with the external. Probably why on Monch's albums he always reveals his eyes and not the remainder of his face, as a metaphor, that the soul is the intention of what this MC intends to bear to the public, but of course never all of it. Which ilis what makes this debut, of an artist shrouded in anonymity, so shockingly open and deep when exposed to a culture that can be easily mistaken for surface level materialism.

At the time of its release, Internal Affairs leaned too much towards (gasp!) club tastes for the indie hip-hop heads (Rawkus Records' bread and butter) inflicted with the humorless purism that was running rampant in the underground. Could our personal favorite MC Pharoahe Monch really be making mindless club jams like "Simon Says" and "Right Here"? How dare he! But after becoming older, wiser, and haggard by every self-conscious "true-school" snoozefest or god-awful Anticon platter of pseudo-experimentalism being pressed in the underground, Internal Affairs has held up MUCH better than every little snobby shit like me made it out to be at the time. It's a shame the arrogant "indie or die" mentality was mucking the atmosphere of the hip-hop underground since the cold shoulder from fickle backpackers probably did as much damage to the reception of this album as did Rawkus' regrettable spiral into irrelevance (Industry Rule #4080 at work, kids!). Regardless of whether or not the production was a little more club-ready (for the time anyway; nowadays, this record sounds positively heavy and hard compared to what the industry churns out at present), Monch ravages the microphone with a vigor and creativity even the best MC's are probably bitterly envious of. Whether waxing battle rhymes that never meander into cliché ("Behind Closed Doors," "The Next Shit") or crafting some bleak and gut-churning visuals ("Hell" and the disturbingly brilliant "Rape"), Monch crafts an album that's as varied sonically and lyrically as all the most treasured hip-hop classics. And I bet you can't find one head these days who will talk shit about "Simon Says" (a modern-day anthem among hip-hop fans; those like me who talked shit ended up eating our hats). The inclusion of some Rawkus-era teasers like "Mayor" and "WWIII" would have been a nice touch, but considering Monch's until recent label hassles, having a full-length from one of the most overlooked MC's of all-time was something to be treasured. Taking the intellectual and articulate concerns of Organized Konfusion's trilogy and infusing them with a lively club atmosphere, Internal Affairs is a near-classic in its own right.