My experience on The Bizarre Ride to The Pharcyde

The group, The Pharcyde, was formed in 1989 from South Central Los Angeles. The group is composed of Imani, SlimKid 3, Bootie Brown and Fatlip. DJ Mark Luv was the group's first DJ, followed by J-Swift and then followed by the late producer J. Dilla. The group is known to have one of the worst fall off between the members, for i.e., J-Swift drug problems during the recording of their first album and the departure of Fatlip after the release of their second album due to problems between him and other artists of the group. The Bizarre Ride 2 The Pharcyde is the group's first album and it was release under the label Delicious Vinyl on November 24th 1992. The entire project was produced by J-Swift except for the song, "Otha Fish" which was produced by L.A. Jay and SlimKid 3. How I got introduced to The Pharcyde you might ask, well 5 years ago I first heard their song "Passin' Me By" via 93.5 KDay.

The album starts off with a smooth jazzy instrumental called "4 Better or 4 Worse (Interlude). The interlude is being followed by the song , "Oh Shit", which continues the jazz vibe from the interlude, and the lyrics were slick and the content of the song regarding their experiences hooking up and trying to sleep with girls were comical. The song has 3 verses, with SlimKid 3 first, Imani on second and Fatlip on the last verse. Then we have a skit called "It's Jiggaboo Time". The fourth song is "4 Better or 4 Worse" and is separated into 3 verses between SlimKid 3, Imani and Fatlip. The 3 rappers narrate how it is with their girlfriend until they have to say, take me for better or for worse, which means the mariage. Except for the third verse with Fatlip, where he's prank calling a woman and it goes out of control. The instrumental starts off dark and then switch up to be a little bit upbeat, and SlimKid 3 and Imani had some good and amusing verses. Next we have the track called "I'm That Type Of Nigga" featuring Buckwheat, where I found the exchange of the verses after the hook between the rappers were well done. The song was separated in 5 verses, beginning with Fatlip, Imani, Buckwheat, SlimKid 3 and Bootie Brown. We have a little break with another skit called "If I Were President". "Soul Flower" remix is more of an all-around upbeat type of song compared to the other songs of the album that were smoother. The song starts off with Bootie Brown on the first verse, followed by Imani, then SlimKid 3 and finishing with Fatlip. Now we're back on a smoother track with "On The DL (Downlow)". The rappers have some mad flow with their verses on this jazzy and relaxing instrumental.

"Pack the Pipe" is an interlude on the second half of the album. The 10th song of the album, "Officer" interpolates Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" on Fatlip verse at the beginning of the song. Bootie Brown has the second verse of the song, followed by Imani and then by SlimKid 3. The song is about getting pulled over by the police officers in Los Angeles with a suspended license. The following track has to be the funniest but yet very clever song of the album. The 4 members of the group turn a Yo' Mama jokes into a very good rap song. The song is divided into 4 verses with each members at their turns sharing mom jokes. The song is called "Ya Mama". The following track is the famous and classic song "Passin' Me By", which is a song where the 4 members rap about liking a type of girl but they either don't get the same love back or receiving a sign of existence from the girl, where at the end, they have to let go of the girl and pass on by. "Otha Fish" is a solo track from SlimKid 3. I enjoyed SlimKid's solo performance on this song, his mix of rapping and singing was good. "Quinton's on The Way" is another and the final skit of the album. The following song is "Pack The Pipe" featuring Quiton, and it's your typical Let's get High type of song. The song is divided into 5 verses and it was also featured on the soundtrack from the movie "Half-Baked" starring Dave Chappelle. "Return of The B-Boy" is the last song of the album, and what a way to finish an album by going old school hip-hop 80s style like Run-DMC or LL Cool J.

I have to say, for a westcoast album that was released in the hardcore and gangsta rap era and on the same year as Dr. Dre's The Chronic and Ice Cube's The Predator albums, The Pharcyde really did an amazing job for their first album. Despite from being from Los Angeles, I enjoy the fact that they did not talk about gang banging or selling drugs. They did rapped about sex, drugs and romance but in a amusing and comical way and their story-telling was one of a kind. I can honestly say they were the A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul of the westcoast. If you're a true hip-hop fan, and you enjoy jazz and funny themes, this is a must hip-hop album you should listen to at least 1 time in your life.

Album Grade: 4.4/5