Get ready ‘cuz EtA is dropping another Sizzlin’ Summer Spin and this time it’s from South Central L.A where they know a lot about the hot!
The hip hop tacticians were Trevant "Slimkid3" Hardson, Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart, Emandu "Imani" Wilcox, and Romye "Bootie Brown" Robinson. They called themselves The Pharcyde. Hardson, Wilcox, and Robinson were all dancers and choreographers who met on the L.A. underground club circuit in the late '80s, worked together for a while, and served a stint in the boogie down crew of In Living Color. Stewart performed at local clubs and eventually hooked up with the others in 1990.
Not many knock it out of the park in the first release but, arguably, The Pharcyde hit it out of the stadium with Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. That ball is still flyin' somewhere out over the Pacific circling back towards L.A.! Whooooosh.
It wasn’t just a mic drop. No, it was like riding up to the doorstep of hip-hop with a dump truck, tiltin’ it wayyyyyyyy back and letting hundreds of mics spill out onto the lawn. You want a statement, you got it! The Pharcyde had arrived.
How do you follow one of the seminal records of hip hops Golden Age? How about just releasing another one and giving it a title that could barely fit on the side of a CD. Labcabincalifornia landed three years after the group’s debut and though it didn’t sell as well as the first --and I’m willing to be it’s only because it was so damn hard to ask for in the record shop--, the album has become a sleeper classic over the years.
Take a track like “Drop” with its backwards sampling. This is still worthy of a whirl in any direction. The tunes unique music video, one performed flip turned upside down and then forward, was directed by Spike Jonze and only furthered cement The Pharcyde’s creative rep.
Much like the recent releases by Craft Recordings, this album was remastered under the supervision of Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters so it sounds pristine. Listen to those scritchy scratches on “Runnin”. Sweeeeet!
Labcabincalifornia finds The Pharcyde looking inward for a more sombre spin. The album tackles themes like coming terms with fame, failed relationships, and drug abuse. Yeah, alrighty, this isn’t going to be your go to grab for a party time hip hop groove jam but that party has to end sometime, right? When it does, a little mellower mix like this might just be what you need; that and a couple of Tylenol. Just drop the needle on a track like “She Said” or “Splattitorium” and chillax.
Track list: A1. Bullshit A2. Pharcyde A3. Groupie Therapy B1. Runnin' B2. She Said B3. Splattitorium B4. Somethin' That Means Somethin' C1. Drop C2. Hey You C3. Y? C4. It's All Good! D1. Moment In Time D2. The Hustle D3. Little D D4. Devil Music D5. The E.N.D.