Editor’s Note: AllHipHop.com is all about the Wild, Wild West! This month, we’re profiling the prolific impact that the country’s left-hand side has had on Hip-Hop music and culture. There’s something distinctly different and wonderful about West Coast rap and the characters who have held it down over the years.
First, we ponder The Pharcyde, a decidedly eclectic clique that emerged in the early ’90s with a look and sound that was light-years from what their gangster peers were pushing at the time. Dopeness.
Before there were hipsters in Hip-Hop and non-gangster rappers on the West Coast – there was The Pharcyde. Comprised of rappers Fatlip, Slimkid3, Bootee Brown, and Imani along with producers J-Swift and L.A. Jay, the Los Angeles collective brought a fresh and unique style and perspective to Hip-Hop during a time when the genre was ruled by gun-toting gangsters. Led by the strength of their single “Passing Me By”, The Pharcyde’s 1992 release, Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, on Delicious Vinyl Records is considered by many to be a classic Hip-Hop album.
Over the years, the group has had well-documented struggles, such as in-fighting and drug habits, and they have gone through several breakups. Nowadays, B##### Brown and Imani travel on their own performing as a duo, while Fatlip, Slimkid3, J-Swift, and L.A. Jay are back working with their longtime label, Delicious Vinyl (Yes, they are still around).
In a fun and bizarre interview, AllHipHop.com caught up with Fatlip, J-Swift, and L.A. Jay at the Delicious Vinyl offices in Hollywood, California, to talk about the group being an influence on today’s style of MCs on the West Coast and lots of other things. Don’t let this video feature “pass you by”!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IqfveXApvs]
Follow on Twitter (@whatsupfatlip), (@slimkid3), (@DeliciousVinyl), and check their website!
Come back for more ‘Caaaaaalifornia Love’ this month on AllHipHop.com!