The complexities of the human mind escape most of us, but the only way to learn its capacities and capabilities is through communication, and Pharoahe Monch is willing to have that conversation. The captivating and intelligent emcee has continuously released solid, complex and conceptual projects, and his latest, P.T.S.D., is true to that pattern. Not many could simultaneously call awareness to a universal problem plaguing Americans while weaving an enthralling narrative, but Pharoahe Monch is not your average artist.

In anticipation for his show in Denver at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom on Friday, AXS caught up with the emcee and discussed P.T.S.D., his style of composition, what's next on his agenda and the number 13.

AXS: Almost all the hip-hop coming out lately is incorporating trends in production like EDM, alternative samples, etc., but you didn't in P.T.S.D. Do you feel pressure to bend to some of those trends?

Pharoahe Monch: I'm so removed from what people do in terms of trends. I don't even understand...you sound like you're talking Russian to me right now. [laughs]

AXS: [laughs] Exactly, well that's pretty apparent in your music.

PM: I understand EDM and I understand trends and what people like and the movement and business-wise and the consumer, and younger consumer and all this. But it's about art, and truthfully, if I heard something along those lines that I felt was artistic I would do it, for those reasons, but I think honesty and art and concept and those things come first, for me. And so, for me to implement you know, something popular because it's popular, pulls away from the brand.

AXS: Right. In previous projects you speak on social issues from a more broad perspective. P.T.S.D. is vastly more vulnerable, did that make this project harder to complete than previous projects?

PM: Um. It was difficult to write being that you revisit some things and you're transparent about shortcomings and difficult things to speak about, but completing it was actually simpler than other projects because I had done a lot of reading; books inspired me on how to complete the overall picture. Watched a lot of programs and theories that helped me look at the art of the story and how to complete the story. So, those things helped me understand that while I needed to be transparent and I talk about P.T.S.D. to be honest, it also told me how to do that in a very non-confrontational way and make it understandable.

AXS: That leads into my next question: P.T.S.D. is very theatrical in its composition. Did you craft a storyline before you started writing and recording, or did the narrative come together organically?

PM: Sometimes I do, because it's a challenge and that's the fun part about creative writing and what I like about film and books. A lot of my friends are accomplished writers, wannabe, aspiring writers, and even when I first started, you know, with cyphers we'd get into, our writing friends would be like 'here's an idea,' and we'd be like, 'yeah that's cool, but how does it end? And I don't care about this character and you need to build that character and your female characters are weak, and you need to do this and you need to do that.' So, for years I've been challenging myself to be like, 'how do you make this more complete and make people care?' You know because the first thing I'll say when watching a movie is 'there's not enough back story here for me to care about this person and I don't care where this movie is going, it's lost my attention and blah blah blah blah blah.' And you start stripping films down. It's the same thing with songs to me. From the opening line, if the voice is not strong enough and the words are not strong enough, the first 15 seconds are not captivating, you know, most people are like, 'ah, yeah. You've lost my attention.' To try to carry that throughout a project is an accomplishment, that's why most artists don't do it, and they just work on singles and...a bunch or singles. But to try to keep someone's attention from song one to six is an accomplishment now a days.

AXS: Absolutely! I read about pharmaceutical induced depression you were dealing with that lead to much of the composition of P.T.S.D. Do you think that calling awareness to this may help others who wholeheartedly trust their doctors to do some of their own research?

PM: It already has! That's the cool thing about putting it out there. People have already geeked out and said, 'yo, I was just going through a similar situation' or 'no, it was not because of the prescription cocktail, I actually have an imbalance, but knowing that somebody who I trust, musically, has experienced the same thing, and is being outright about it, let me dig a little bit deeper instead of pushing it aside by myself.'

A lot of times, people are not getting help, or not confronting people in their friends, family or white community or black community, they don't even confront it themselves. And they're feeling this pressure and they're crying and struggling through their day, and you know, you're suppressing the depression to the side, because why would there be something wrong? And openly want to see if my head is okay. You know, I mean, most of us below or just above the poverty line, I'm just trying to get to my vacation time and f*cking...whatever. I'm not trying to use my extra time to find extra issues, so to speak. I think, it's just not as taboo. So, I don't know if, I'm saying, it just doesn't seem to be as taboo let's say, as it was five or 10 years ago. I don't feel any way heroic or accomplished, to be quite honest with you, because that's the topic of the record, 'look what I did, I spoke out on this and helped people.' I feel great about the record because I know being honest is a way to help people in that way, whatever it is...issue wise, and actually it's therapeutic for me. Even further down the line, when it's not a monetary thing, or maybe I'm not even here anymore, this piece will be in existence for someone to discover or study or analyze, and that for me, makes me feel great about the project.

AXS: So there is the addressed connection between the progression of W.A.R. and P.T.S.D. Is there potential that you will continue this connection in future work, following your own personal journey or will you step outside of yourself again?

PM: There's been some talk about taking the study further to what the diagnosis and healing is in some of the music. But um, you know, Pharoahe is incarcerated and/or died at the end of P.T.S.D., so this next mission of music lies with my new incarnation, which is 13. And this stuff is pretty radical. [laughs]

AXS: You addressed your affinity for the number 13 in an interview with “Respect” and brushed it off as a reoccurring number that you have embraced. From mention of Triskaidekaphobia to other numerical references through each of your full length projects to even the number of letters in your name, am I reaching to say that it runs deeper than that?

PM: Ah, it's way deeper than that. I contracted asthma at 13 months of age, um, which is why the number stuck with me because people would be like 'how long have you had asthma?' And my parents would be like, 'he's had it since he was 13 months old' you know, it's always been etched in my head. A lot of other things - I'm a Halloween baby, and 31, weird things of that nature. [laughs]

AXS: For your show in Denver on Friday, can fans expect anything new or exciting from your set?

PM: Yeah, we're gonna try to do a lot more of the P.T.S.D. record, lots of joints off the new album. It's just real energy, you know, it feels good, it feels hip-hop and um, this shit is super super fun. I think people will be pleasantly surprised at a Pharoahe Monch show if they've never been.

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Catch Pharoahe Monch at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver on Friday, May 23 with appearances by Stay Tuned, Soul Pros, THC and Courier.