The Pharcyde is an American hip-hop group, formed in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson), and Fatlip (Derrick Stewart).Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007, p. 317 DJ Mark Luv was the group's first disc jockey (DJ), followed by producer J-Swift and then J Dilla.
The group's debut album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992), featuring the crossover hit single "Passin' Me By", was highly acclaimed and has gone on to be cited as one of the greatest albums in alternative hip-hop. In 1995 the group released second studio album Labcabincalifornia to further commercial success, featuring successful singles "Drop" and "Runnin". Labcabincalifornia received mixed critical reception upon its initial release, but has since achieved retrospective critical acclaim. After Fatlip exited the group in 1997, the remaining members released the Pharcyde's follow-up album, Plain Rap (2000). Following the release of Plain Rap, Slimkid3 also departed the group. Imani and Brootie Brown continued on and released Humboldt Beginnings in 2004. The group never again regained its former commercial or critical success.
In 2008, all four members of the group temporarily reunited for performances at that year's Rock the Bells festival. After the 2008 reunion, legal disputes over The Pharcyde name led to various combinations of the four members touring under various names for the next several years. The group reformed as a trio in the 2020s and returned to touring and releasing new music, with Bootie Brown declining to participate.
History 1989–1990: early years Pharcyde group members Slimkid3 from Inglewood, Bootie Brown from Altadena, and Imani from Compton met as dancers in high school in 1989. Dancing was their main ambition as late as 1990, as Imani, Slimkid3 and Romye were in a dance group called "242" alongside their friend Robert Vincent, who later left the group to pursue a career of his own. The dance group was featured in music videos for Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time", Herb Alpert, Tone Loc, and appeared as "Fly Guys" in the TV show In Living Color. Imani and Slimkid3 were childhood friends, who were also good friends with Bootie Brown. Brown knew Fatlip, which was his introduction into the group. Around this time, Imani and Slimkid3 were in a group called "Two for Two", later in a group called "As Is" and then a group called the "Play Brothers", while Bootie Brown was a backup dancer for Fatlip, with Fatlip being the last member to join the group. Bootie Brown recalls that their earlier dancing careers influenced their rapping – "sometimes the way I rap is almost like the way I used to dance".Edwards, Paul, 2009, How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, Chicago Review Press, p. 113. The group met Reggie Andrews, a local high-school music teacher who worked with the Dazz Band and Rick James, and who was a major musical influence on their debut album.Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007, p. 318. The group also met producer J-Swift around this time at SCU (South Central Unit), as he was Reggie Andrews's "star pupil" according to the book Check the Technique.Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007, p. 319. Before group settled on the name "The Pharcyde", they were almost called "The Rappers" and "True Jiggaboo", with the latter serving as inspiration for their interlude "It's Jiggaboo Time".
1991–1994: Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde The Pharcyde recorded their first demo in 1991, which contained the songs "Passin' Me By", "Ya Mama", and "Officer",Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007, p. 320. and hired a manager, Paul Stewart, who had worked for Cypress Hill, De La Soul, and House of Pain. Mike Ross of Delicious Vinyl heard the demo and the group was signed to the label in the summer of 1991. They were first featured on the British jazz and punk band's Brand New Heavies's album Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, on the song "Soul Flower", released by Delicious Vinyl in August 1992. That became their first ever released song.
The group, along with producer J-Swift, recorded their first album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, which was released in November 1992. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1996.Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007, p. 323. The album was highly acclaimed, and became one of the most praised and influential alternative hip-hop albums of the 1990s.Shapiro, Peter. 2005, The Rough Guide To Hip-Hop, 2nd Edition, Penguin, p. 301.Edwards, Paul. 2009, How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, Chicago Review Press, p. 332. Their second single "Passin' Me By" became a Billboard hit, peaking at No. 52 on the Hot 100. The song was later featured in the hit movie Big Daddy and is often critically acclaimed for being one of the best hip-hop songs of all time. The album featured a couple of guest MCs, including Buckwheat (formerly of the hip-hop group The Wascals) on the tracks "On The DL" and "I'm That Type of Nigga".Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007, p. 327. The album consisted a new updated version of "Soul Flower". Problems between the group and producer J-Swift began during the recording of the debut, with infighting and "personality conflicts". That led to J-Swift being dropped as their producer before the album even came out. The album appeared on the best hip-hop albums lists of outlets Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Hip Hop Golden Age.
About the group's sense of humor, Imani was quoted in a 1993 interview saying, "We find humor in things other people don't. Everyday situations. People might look at things around here and say, like, 'Damn!' We say, 'Hah, hah, hah.' We just chill out." Before the success of Bizarre Ride, the group moved to Inglewood, California, where they shared a home dubbed the Pharcyde Manor. Lew of Dirt magazine reports of the Manor, "...you can tell their laid-back style meeting rapid-fire rhyme delivery is a product of the virtual telepathic rapport that only comes from eating, sleeping and breathing under the same roof." The group is widely known for not using profanity and swearing in their works. Bootie Brown explained that Delicious Vinyl pushed them into not using it for radio play aspects, but that the members tried to push it as far as they could go. The four members are known for their different kinds of flows and styles. Fatlip is known for having an unusually deep voice while Bootie Brown is known for having a very light and high voice.
The group released the song "Pork" as a B-side release on a "Passin' Me By" single in March 1993. After the Bizarre Ride album was released, the group began touring with A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, culminating with an appearance at the Lollapalooza show in 1994. In 1994, Pharcyde appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time. They were also featured on the song "Phat-T" on the On Anotha Level album by Anotha Level in April 1994. In November 1994, the Pharcyde appeared with their new song "The Rubbers Song" on the album Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. As well in December 1994, the group did a soundtrack to the film Street Fighter, with the song "Pandemonium".
In a contemporary 2020 review for Pitchfork, Ross Scarano wrote [link added]: At a time when Los Angeles hip-hop was typified by gangsta rap as heard on Straight Outta Compton and The Chronic, Bizarre Ride is fearlessly quotidian and relatively low-stakes. Even "Officer," their irreverent homage to Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," turns the real peril of operating a motor vehicle as a Black male into a comic escapade. and went on to conclude [link added]: ... on Bizarre Ride, humor was a way of processing anxiety and pain; a tool to show self-deprecation isn't always the inverse of self-aggrandizement. Like their hero Pryor, it was a way to make themselves the larger-than-life center of attention, to give their struggles and fears their due.
1995–1997: Labcabincalifornia
By 1995, the group's producer was the critically acclaimed J Dilla ( Jay Dee). In November 1995, the Pharcyde released their second album, Labcabincalifornia. The album was originally going to be called Revelations. Prior to the that, in August 1995, the group released the first single for the album, "Drop" which peaked at number 93 on the Billboard Top 200 and at number 5 for the US Hot Rap Songs. The second single for the album, "Runnin'" released in October 1995, peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album received mixed to positive reviews upon release, perhaps due to a different musical direction from the light-hearted playfulness of their debut. The album included another big crossover hit, "Runnin", peaking at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. This single was later featured in the movie 8 Mile, as well as the More Music from 8 Mile soundtrack. Labcabincalifornia featured production from Jay Dee, who handled the majority of the production. Member Slimkid3 has stated that the group met Jay Dee by way of Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, who handed them the tape that contained some of the production that would end up on the LP. This album generated lower sales, not reaching gold status. The group also released a deluxe version of the album which featured additional songs "Just Don't Matter" and "Emerald Butterfly". A third additional song for the deluxe version, "Heart & Soul" only appeared on the Australian version of the album. A music video for the critically acclaimed J Dilla beat song, "Drop" was directed by Spike Jonze. The music video, which was filmed in backwards has gotten a lot of praise and has been called the best music video of all time. Rolling Stone called the music video the 14th best rap music video of all time. Slimkid3 said in a 2020 interview they respected Dilla a lot and said that he was a "calm, cool, collected guy". In the same interview, Tre said that they didn't want to change anything Dilla created, even though Dilla said that they should do it however they wanted and called the Pharcyde his favourite band. During the recording of "Runnin, Fatlip erased Dilla's unpredictable kick drum track and replaced it with a kick set to a standard time grid while the others were out of the studio. On their return Tre confronted Fatlip about the change leading to a fist fight. J Dilla re-recorded his version of the kick drum which ended up on the album. Both "Runnin and "Drop" are often regarded as hip-hop classics today, and some of Dilla's best ever work. The album is today considered a cult classic.
In November 1996, the group appeared with the song "Gotcha Lookin" on the album NFL Jams, which was featured with wide receiver Raghib "Rocket" Ismail.
Problems grew between Fatlip and the other members, especially Slimkid3, after this album resulting in his leaving the group in 1997. His leaving the group also had something to do with his frequent drug use and erratic behaviour, alongside the fact that he wanted to spend time in the studio over performing. In the documentary Cydeways: The Best of the Pharcyde, while the group is performing in shows they still offer their support to Fatlip, telling the crowd that if they support Fatlip on his solo career, then they support the Pharcyde and vice versa.
1997–2000: Plain Rap and Testing the Waters