The Pharcyde :: Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
Hailing from South Central Los Angeles, California, the same atmospheric area that brought you legendary groups like N.W.A., South Central Cartel (SCC), and Cypress Hill, to name a few, The Pharcyde, featuring members Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson), who attended high school together as dancers, and Fatlip (Derrick Stewart), who they later met, established perhaps one of the most influential hip hop groups of their generation in the early 1990s. Bravely bridging the gap between jazz and the juxtaposition of rhythmic revolution, the group carved out their own poetic path in the world of gangster rap by carefully applying alchemical elements to a liberating landscape that would soon take sonic shape as a new era of meditative hip-hop melodies began. East Coast groups like Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr, Black Star, and Public Enemy, to name a few, lit the trepidatious torch of “conscious hip-hop,” changing contemporary culture as we know it. Carefully capturing the evolutionary essence of the group’s magic in 1991 with a fierce demo, which contained the cultural classic “Passin’ Me By,” the collective quickly found themselves soaring to the outreaches of the iconic industry within the "Daisy Age" that was eagerly established by De La Soul and the Native Tongues Posse in the mid to late 1980s. While budding into their own self-pollinating profession of polished prose and perfected phrasing, The Pharcyde began working with legendary producer John "J-Swift" Martinez, whom the group met during the early days of an after-school music program called South Central Unit, on what would eventually become the group’s monumental debut “Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde.”
“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”
Photo: Bob Berg | Credit: Getty Images
A brilliant expedition into the rhythmic reality of telepathic tone and comedic correspondence, the album’s overall concept and artistic approach act as a blueprint within the genre. After relocating to Inglewood, California, where the collective shared a home known as the “Pharcyde Manor,” the band eagerly established their legendary language and liberated an entire generation with its tempestuous tongue. Having signed to Delicious Vinyl, an LA-based label operated by the album’s executive producer, Mike Ross, the band recorded the album within a year, before experiencing personal politics within the creative realm. The album remained incomplete upon its worldwide release in late November 1992, but continues to inspire and intoxicate the merciless masses over three decades later with its sophisticated samplings from the likes of Roy Ayers, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, the Meters, and several other legends who previously paved the way for the gigantic genre to take shape in a cultural climate that needed it most. For most folks, The Pharcyde represents the never-ending bliss of nostalgia and artistic contemplation. At the same time, major key elements of their sonic success would continue to grow and eagerly expand over the years, with tracks like "On the DL," "Return of the B-Boy," "Ya Mama," and the group’s atmospheric anthem "Passing Me By" acting as these iconic investments into the ultimate human expression.
