Organized Konfusion Stress: The Extinction Agenda CD

Additional personnel: Q-Tip, O.C. The Large Professor (vocals); D-Ave (scratches).
Producers: Buckwild, Organized Konfusion, Rockwilder.
Engineers: Antonio Smalios, D. Anthony "The Bomb" Johnson, Anton Puchshansky.
Recorded at Unique Studios and Battery, New York, New York; Power Play Studios, Long Island City, New York.
Samples include "Mingus Fingus No. 2" (as performed by Charles Mingus), "Rain Dance" (as performed by Herbie Hancock), "Melody For Thelma" (as performed by Blue Mitchell) and "Who Sey Me Dun" (as performed by Cutty Ranks).
Recording information: Battery, New York, NY; Power Play Studios, Long Island City, NY; Unique Studios, New York, NY.
After earning both BET video play and underground cred (reaching beyond the rap community) for their 1993 debut with clever and twisted rhymes delivered with unique cadence, the duo of Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po returned two years later with another classic late golden age of hip-hop record. About the only change-up on STRESS: THE EXTINCTION is hinted at in the title; there is a stronger sense of urgency on Organized Konfusion's sophomore slice. While "Let's Organize" contains some playful call-and-response, the general tone is solemn seriousness; no one would dare question the pair's commitment to change. Meanwhile, the disc confirmed Pharoahe as one of the premier voices in political hip-hop with dexterous refrains like "a driver sprayed my face with mace/she didn't know I enjoyed the taste of radioactive waste" spit in a style combining Kool Keith staccato with Chuck D sound and fury.
Like a number of ambitious rap artists and groups of the era, Organized Konfusion chose to up the ante on its sophomore effort and use the music as a springboard to explore some associated motifs and collect them together under a loose conceptual frame. Unlike the majority of those artists, OK made it work, and work exceptionally well, by keeping the concepts themselves vague while adding an extra fine-edged intricacy to its verbal licks. Pharoahe Monch and Prince Poetry are even more commanding as lyricists on Stress, spinning out stories much closer to the nuts and bolts of the street than on their debut. But in typical fashion for such gifted artists, they probe the psychological implications of urban life rather than merely relaying its superficial qualities. In response, the album's sound is less eccentric without losing any of its innovation. In fact, the duo consistently draped its words in adroit and vibrant sound amalgams, frequently employing electric jazz samples to that end, especially on the Herbie Hancock-sampled "Extinction Agenda" and Buckwild-produced "Why," which brilliantly ties together various strains of the genre. The MCs also plumbed a darker periphery on the portentous "Bring It On," where each raised the level of the lyrical game to unusual heights. Those who prefer the funky-weird Organized of the first album still have plenty to enjoy as well, particularly "3-2-1" and "Let's Organize," a party cut that also bounced off guests Q-Tip and O.C. What Stress might have lost in freshness and mirth from its predecessor, though, it gained in cohesiveness, consciousness, resonance, and, most strikingly, vision. ~ Stanton SwihartSpin (1/96, p.64) - Included on Spin's list of the `10 Best Albums You Didn't Hear In '95' - "...a potent concoction--metaphoric contortions, moody textures, snappy drums--that cemented Organized's place among the beat generation's core..."
Entertainment Weekly (9/23/94, p.70) - "...Combining rock-hard rhyming skills and a radical hip-hop critique of Christianity, the paranoid and apocalyptic visions this group expresses would be going down easier if the run-of-the-mill beats lived up to the lyrics..."
The Source (9/94, p.91) - 4 Stars - Slammin' - "...The essence of Organized Konfusion is pure lyricism. More so than any other artists out now, Monch and Prince are masters of words and phrases...they become verbal contortionists, creating moving molecules of syllables and sounds..."
Rap Pages (11/94, p.25) - 9 - "...This is a must-have LP for any aspiring lyricist, as well as for avid fans who are tired of the saturated, unexceptional, untalented, crime-related, or sexual, close-minded MCs."
Urban Latino (10/94, p.53) - "...[Organized Konfusion] create a sophisticated hip-hop style that is often as innovative as it is infectious....there's enough head-bobbing and bounce-type material here to keep the attention of even the most jaded listener..."