Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde is the debut album by the American hip-hop collective the Pharcyde. It was released on November 24, 1992, through Delicious Vinyl. The album was produced by J-Swift, and features Buckwheat of the Wascals on two tracks. In the years after its release, Bizarre Ride has been hailed by music critics and alternative hip-hop fans as a classic hip-hop album and has appeared in numerous publications' "best albums" lists.
Released during the dominant gangsta rap era of West Coast hip-hop, Bizarre Ride was described as "refreshing" due to its playful, light-hearted humor and lush, jazzy production. Along with albums such as To Whom It May Concern... by Freestyle Fellowship, and I Wish My Brother George Was Here by Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Bizarre Ride helped establish a new alternative scene on the West Coast, followed by artists such as Hieroglyphics, the Coup and Jurassic 5. Despite its wide critical acclaim, the album produced only moderate sales, peaking at No. 75 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1993. However, on the strength of the second single, "Passin' Me By", the album was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 28, 1996.
Conception Background High school friends "Slimkid3" (Tre Hardson), "Imani" (Emandu Wilcox) and "Bootie Brown" (Romye Robinson) began their career in the entertainment industry as dancers and choreographers under the moniker "Two For Two", making numerous appearances in music videos. Their most notable exposure came with a short stint on the television show In Living Color. While working on the show, the group met their future manager Suave, then a road manager for Candyman and Tone Loc. The trio met Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart and producer John "J-Swift" Martinez at an after-school music program called South Central Unit. The program's teacher, Reggie Andrews, taught the group about essential elements of the music industry, and later oversaw the group's writing and recording sessions. While attending SCU, the group recorded their first demo tape, which included the track "Ya Mama". In 1991, the group signed a deal with Delicious Vinyl Records, following a performance of the track "Ya Mama" at an artist showcase. Soon after, the group made their first notable appearance, with the track "Soul Flower", released on the Heavy Rhyme Experience album by the Brand New Heavies.
Recording The four emcees, along with producer J-Swift, began recording Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde in late 1991. The first sessions were held at Paramount Recording Studios, which the group disliked as they found it too large for their needs. Additionally, they had to leave frequently because renting the studio full-time was too costly. To solve this, Delicious Vinyl's founder and the album's executive producer Mike Ross rented a smaller studio, Hollywood Sounds, where the group could work on the album without interruptions. J-Swift produced 10 songs and five interludes—15 of the album's 16 tracks. Before the completion of the album, Swift had a falling-out with the group over internal problems. He claimed that he was not properly compensated for his work, and that the other group members had tried to take production credit, when he had crafted all the beats himself. Upon leaving, he recommended them a school friend, John "L.A. Jay" Barnes. L.A. Jay helped the group with the production on the final song, "Otha Fish".
Accounts differ on the duration of the recording process, with Slimkid3 saying it took nine months, while Mike Ross says it was six or seven months. The group left a song off the album called "My Man", due to it being unfinished and the label deciding to wrap the album because of inner group conflicts. According to Bootie Brown, the group intended to record four or five other songs for the album. "It wasn't a complete project", says the artist.
Music Lyrical content Much of the album's acclaim was due to the eccentric, comedic content provided by the four emcees, who were described as a "pack of class clowns set loose in a studio" by Rolling Stone. The album's wacky storytelling and light-hearted playfulness provided an alternative to the pessimistic, hardcore hip-hop that had ruled the scene at the time. Due to its light lyrical content, the album has been described as an extension of the "Daisy Age", established by De La Soul and the Native Tongues Posse. AllMusic described the group's rapping as "amazing", and stated, "The L.A.-based quartet introduced listeners to an uproarious vision of earthy hip-hop informed by P-Funk silliness and an everybody-on-the-mic street-corner atmosphere that highlights the incredible rapping skills of each member." Instead of focusing on the troubles of the inner city, the quartet use their verses to provide humorous first-person narratives, with varying topics. On the album opener "Oh Shit", SlimKid, Imani and Fatlip trade embarrassing tales about drunken antics, unusual sex partners and transsexuals. SlimKid, Imani and guest rapper Buckwheat use the song "On the DL" to vent personal stories that they'd like to be kept "on the down-low", with topics including masturbation and murder. On the single "4 Better or 4 Worse", Fatlip dedicates an entire verse to prank calling, in which the rapper spouts insane and psychotic threats while a confused female victim continually threatens to call the police. The group's debut single "Ya Mama", described by the Rolling Stone Album Guide as the album's most memorable track, calling it a "marathon game of the dozens", sees the four rappers trading comical insults towards each other's mothers.
While the majority of the album has a focus on comedic stories, the song "Officer" touches on the topic of racial profiling. "Otha Fish" finds the group rising up and moving on from their past hang-ups as described in the previous track, "Passin' Me By", the album's hit single. On the song, the four recount heartbreaking tales of school-boy crushes that had eluded them.
Production Bizarre Ride also featured the acclaimed production work of J-Swift, who provides the album with a lush, jazzy soundscape through use of live instrumentation and sampling. Swift relied on a large number of samples, by artists including James Brown, Donald Byrd, Sly & the Family Stone, the Meters, Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Ayers and Marvin Gaye. Aside from the samples, Swift also provided piano, bass and rhodes on the album, and fellow producer JMD provided drum arrangements.
Release Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde was released on November 24, 1992, through Delicious Vinyl. The album had a moderate commercial success; it debuted at number 175 on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually peaking at number 75. It was certified gold by Recording Industry Association of America in 1996, for selling 500,000 copies in the US.
In 2017, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Craft Recordings re-released Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde in multiple formats: vinyl, cassette, a double CD with bonus materials, and a five-disc vinyl set that included the album's singles.
Singles Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde featured four singles, all of which were accompanied by music videos. The group's debut single, "Ya Mama", originally from their 1991 demo, was released by Delicious Vinyl in June 1992, along with a low-budget music video. Though the song landed the group their record deal, it failed to reach any Billboard singles chart. Their first major exposure came with the release of the album's second single, "Passin' Me By". Utilizing a sample from Quincy Jones' "Summer in the City", the song became the group's biggest crossover hit, peaking at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. The song was later featured on the soundtrack to, and in Adam Sandler's 1999 film Big Daddy. The song is now considered a classic hip-hop single. The album's third single, "4 Better or 4 Worse", was released in mid-1993, and featured the stoner song "Pack the Pipe" and the throwback track "Return of the B-Boy" as its B-Side. The single did not reach any Billboard chart. The final single, the SlimKid solo track "Otha Fish", was released in late 1993. The song became the second charting single from the album, though not as highly placed as "Passing Me By", reaching only the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. In 2012, all four singles were re-released in a limited edition box set.
A number of tracks from the album were later remixed. "Ya Mama", "Soul Flower", "Otha Fish", and "Passing Me By" all featured a number of remixes, which were later included on the 2005 Pharcyde compilation album Sold My Soul: The Remix & Rarity Collection.
Critical reception
At the time of its release, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde received mostly positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly James Bernard called the album a "freewheeling hip-hop cabaret", commending it for being humorous. Similarly, a reviewer for Q magazine described the album as a combination of De La Soul's "daffy [...] invention" and the accessible humor of the Fresh Prince. Dennis Romero of The Philadelphia Inquirer also drew comparisons to De La Soul and compared the Pharcyde to the comedian Richard Pryor. "These rappers become instruments as they perform a wide range of styles", wrote the journalist. Adam Higginbotham of Select highlighted the variety of styles employed on the album. Summarizing the album, he wrote: "They are deeply unconventional and stupid in the best possible way". Describing the Pharcyde as an "unholy amalgam and simultaneous parody of America's black entertainers", David Bennun of Melody Maker praised the album. "[T]hey rap like they were a vocal harmony group who learned to talk instead of sing", he wrote.
The Source Brett Johnson saw the Pharcyde as a combination of the "off-beat charm" of De La Soul and the "intense enthusiasm and energy" of Leaders of the New School. He commended the instrumentals, which he described as a blend of "soulful pianos and organs" with "head-nodding basslines", as well as the group's vocal performance, but also thought the group might struggle to gain acceptance among the hardcore hip-hop audience. "The question many will have to answer for themselves is whether a trip to the Pharcyde is a step backwards or a leap into the future?", concluded the writer. The Source later named it one of the best albums of 1993. NME thought the Pharcyde created "their own sonic Utopia, a world that's by turns riotously funny, twisted, mostly right-on and brooding with noir-ish cool". The magazine placed Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde at number 39 on their 1993 year-end list of best albums, calling it a "cartoon-strip of blunt-smoking antics, sexual innuendo and unashamed political incorrectness, crammed with infectious funky beats". Charles Aaron, in his review for Spin, named Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde "one of the most musically vivid hip-hop records of the year", but added that "it's hard to hype a group so confused amused about itself". Rolling Stone placed the album on their list of the best recordings on 1993, calling it a "fusion of punchy rhythm and loopy rhyme".
Retrospective