The Pharcyde

The Pharcyde is an American hip hop group, formed in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson), and Fatlip (Derrick Stewart). DJ Mark Luv was the group's first disc jockey (DJ), followed by producer J-Swift and then J Dilla.

The group's debut album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992), featuring the hit single "Passin' Me By", was highly acclaimed and has gone on to be cited as one of the greatest albums in alternative hip-hop. In 1995 the group released second studio album Labcabincalifornia to further commercial success, featuring crossover hit singles "Drop" and "Runnin'". Labcabincalifornia received mixed critical reception upon its initial release, but has since achieved retrospective critical acclaim. After Fatlip's exit from the group, the remaining members of the group released the follow up albums Plain Rap (2000) and then Humboldt Beginnings (2004). Slimkid3 left the group in the middle of the production of Plain Rap, with the group only consisting of Imani and Bootie Brown. In 2002, the group released the EP AMP with hip hop group Souls of Mischief under the title Almyghty Myghty Pythons. The group never regained its former commercial or critical success.

The group still continued to tour, release singles and be featured on songs and In 2008 all four members of the group temporarily reunited for performances at that year's Rock the Bells festival. After the 2008 reunion, legal disputes over the Pharcyde name led to various combinations of the four members touring under various names. In 2020, Imani wanted to reunite with Fatlip and Slimkid3 which led to them rejoining the group and Bootie Brown leaving it, as he was not happy with that direction. However, the four members last reunited in 2022 on Fatlip's sophomore album, "Torpor", for the single titled "My Bad" which saw them apologizing to one another over their past transgressions. The Pharcyde released the extended play Timeless in 2025.

Pharcyde group members Slimkid3 from Inglewood, Bootie Brown from Altadena, and Imani from Compton met as dancers in high school in 1989. Dancing was their main ambition as late as 1990, as Imani, Slimkid3 and Romye were in a dance group called "242" alongside their friend Robert Vincent, who later left the group to pursue a career of his own. The dance group appeared in the TV-show In Living Color and in an Herb Alpert music video. Imani and Slimkid3 were childhood friends, who were also good friends with Bootie Brown. Brown knew Fatlip, which was his introduction into the group. Around this time, Imani and Slimkid3 were in a group called "Two for Two", later in a group called"As Is" and then a group called the "Play Brothers", while Bootie Brown was a backup dancer for Fatlip, with Fatlip being the last member to join the group. Bootie Brown recalls that their earlier dancing careers influenced their rapping – "sometimes the way I rap is almost like the way I used to dance". The group met Reggie Andrews, a local high-school music teacher who worked with the Dazz Band and Rick James, and who was a major musical influence on their debut album. The group also met producer J-Swift around this time at SCU (South Central Unit), as he was Reggie Andrews's "star pupil" according to the book Check the Technique. Before group settled on the name "The Pharcyde", they were almost called "The Rappers" and "True Jiggaboo", with the latter serving as inspiration for their interlude "It's Jiggaboo Time".

The Pharcyde recorded their first demo in 1991, which contained the songs "Passin' Me By", "Ya Mama", and "Officer", and hired a manager, Paul Stewart, who had worked for Cypress Hill, De La Soul, and House of Pain. Mike Ross of Delicious Vinyl heard the demo and the group was signed to the label in the summer of 1991. They were first featured on the British jazz and punk band's Brand New Heavies's album Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, on the song "Soul Flower", released by Delicious Vinyl in August 1992. That became their first ever released song.

The group, along with producer J-Swift, recorded their first album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, which was released in November 1992. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1996. The album was highly acclaimed, and became one of the most praised and influential alternative hip hop albums of the 1990s. Their second single "Passin' Me By" became a Billboard hit, peaking at No. 52 on the Hot 100. The song was later featured in the hit movie Big Daddy and is often critically acclaimed for being one of the best hip hop songs of all time. The album featured a couple of guest MCs, including Bucwheed (known then as Buckwheat, formerly of the alternative hip-hop group The Wascals) on the tracks "On The DL" and "I'm That Type of Nigga". The album consisted a new updated version of "Soul Flower". Problems between the group and producer J-Swift began during the recording of the debut, with infighting and "personality conflicts". That led to J-Swift being dropped as their producer before the album even came out. The album appeared on the best hip hop albums lists of outlets Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Hip Hop Golden Age.

About the group's sense of humor, Imani was quoted in a 1993 interview saying, "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." Before the success of Bizarre Ride, the group moved to Inglewood, California, where they shared a home dubbed the Pharcyde Manor. Lew of Dirt magazine reports of the Manor, "...you can tell their laid-back style meeting rapid-fire rhyme delivery is a product of the virtual telepathic rapport that only comes from eating, sleeping and breathing under the same roof." The group is widely known for not using profanity and swearing in their works. Bootie Brown explained that Delicious Vinyl pushed them into not using it for radio play aspects, but that the members tried to push it as far as they could go. The four members are known for their different kinds of flows and styles. Fatlip is known for having an unusually deep voice while Bootie Brown is known for having a very light and high voice.

The group released the song "Pork" as a B-side release on an "Passin' Me By" single in March 1993. After the Bizarre Ride album was released, the group began touring with A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, culminating with an appearance at the Lollapalooza show in 1994. In 1994, Pharcyde appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time. They were also featured on the song "Phat-T" on the On Anotha Level album by Anotha Level in April 1994. In November 1994, the Pharcyde appeared with their new song "The Rubbers Song" on the album Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. As well in December 1994, the group did a soundtrack to the film Street Fighter, with the song "Pandemonium".