The Pharcyde group was born in 1990, formed by high school friends Tré "Slimkid3" Hardson, Emandu "Imani" Wilcox and Romye "Bootie Brown" Robinson.
Initially, they're dancers and choreographers under another name and approach the world of music by making several appearances in the artists' music videos. Later, they meet Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart and John "J-Swift" Martinez, a prominent figure however, becomes Reggie Andrews, one of their school teachers who decides to help the kids by teaching song building and album building, supervising the writing and recording sessions in the studio: the group recorded their first demo tape after a short time and in 1991 signed a contract with the Delicious Vinyl label thanks to the demo song "Ya Mama".
The group, together with producer J-Swift, begins to record the debut album in Hollywood studios in 1991, the lyricism of the boys is youthful and playful, carefree and humorous, boasts eccentric and extravagant lyrics, on a sublime production. The bars of the young MCs are light and effortless, so much so that the album is considered a West Coast counterpart to New York's Native Tongues and a strong alternative to Los Angeles gangsta rap, featuring notable thematic diversity and technically decent delivery, compensated by an energetic, fresh, fun and smooth rapping style, very different from almost all the other artists on the circuit — in the same period, perhaps only Das EFX are at their level.
Buckwheat is the only guest on the record, and can easily adapt to the mood of the tape. J-Swift's production is among the best of the year in the field of hip-hop records: he creates smooth jazzy musical carpets with a high number of layered samples taken from a melting-pot of musical genres, including rock, funk, soul, rnb, jazz and hip-hop, playing piano, electric piano, bass and also providing some vocal background and scratches, while the drum patterns are entrusted to JMD. The musical result is powerful and crisp, jazzy boom bap with hard drum and sound, not too different from that made by producers on the other side of the United States.
J-Swift does the entire project behind the keyboard, except for one track: before the end of the recording of the project, the beatmaker argues with the other members of the group due to economic problems, believing that he was not adequately paid for the rhythms provided and stating that the group from South Central Los Angeles tried to take credit for his production. Cornered, J-Swift leaves the Pharcyde and contemplates suicide, throwing himself into crack in an attempt to kill himself. The group abandoned him and remained without a producer for the last track of the sixteen planned, deciding to rely on local beatmaker L.A. Jay to record "Otha Fish", co-produced by Slimkid3. There would be at least another half a dozen pieces to record and add to the disc, but the label gives up the songs due to conflicts within the group.
Unlike similar albums released on the East Coast, this one doesn't achieve great commercial success, but nevertheless becomes one of the first alternative West Coast groups to sell a good number of copies, reaching gold certification: distributed by Warner (via Big Beat), four singles are extracted, including "Ya Mama", which got it the contract with the label, but fails to rank. The success comes with the crossover "Passin' Me By / Pork", #1 among the rap songs. Essential, fun and dope, interspersed with several skits, it's one of the freshest albums of the year that, like every good classic, struggles in the charts, being dragged with difficulty to the certification of the RIAA by its singles.
Highlights: "Oh Shit", "I'm That Type of Nigga", "Soulflower (Remix)", "Passin' Me By".
Rating: 9.2/10.
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