The Pharcyde - Soul Flower (Remix)

So Saturday night I was heading out to a friends place in Vancouver when I got a message from another friend inviting me to go see The Pharcyde the following night. They were playing at Venue and would be performing their entire classic album Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, celebrating its 20th anniversary. Now I honestly had not listened to much Pharcyde at all but knew that I had heard them before several times from this same friend. I just felt that, even though I did not know them all that well, I should like them. Plus it was only $30 and Venue is dope so I figured it'd be a solid show. And boy was I right! 

The 2012 version of The Pharcyde consisted of original members Fatlip and Slimkid3. Then they had a big guy, who I cannot seem to find anything about yet he was excellent and probably my favourite up there lol, and J-Swift, the albums producer, filling in for the other 2 former members Booty Brown and Imani. Then LA Jay was the DJ behind them spinning all the dope beats. Fatlip and Slimkid3 were both excellent, rapping and dancing like 1992 never left. The big guy was great, taking the high-pitched rap verses and performing them with great wit and charm. J-Swift was probably the weakest member of the group; he played the keyboards brilliantly but wasn't the best rapper and not a very good singer.

They performed the ENTIRE album. This included all skits and interludes which were acted out with excellent comedic timing. Highlights included a skit on 'Yo Mama' jokes and arguing over who was the 'Nigga in charge'. The stage setup was awesome with an awesome screen in the background showing videos of everything from colourful, psychedelic images to black and white 1920's cartoon scenes to marijuana leaves. Then the band had great costumes/props; from Slimkid3's epic angry birds hat to scream masks and huge afros. They were having an absolute blast and so was the crowd. They kept telling us that it was a great crowd and one of their best in a while. I know bands always say this but it felt quite legit as they continued to say it. Highlights included the excellent "Passing Me By", a very hazy "Pack the Pipe", crowd shout/sing-alongs "Oh Shit" and "Soul Flower (Remix)", and the triple-header encore after the album of an "Apache" cover, "She Said", and "Runnin'". I went in with modest expectations, just hoping there would be at least a few songs that I liked and came out a huge fan of The Pharcyde, loving every minute of the show! Kanye West called this his favourite album of all time in 2010 and I now know why!

The opening acts were both local rappers, Emotionz and KAi Sky Walker. Emotionz was kind of goofy but still a decent rapper. It was his beats that saved him as they were insane (a sesame street beat!?!?). KAi Sky Walker is actually a friend of 2 friends of mine. He's from Surrey and went to Earl Marriot Secondary. He's a great rapper but was lacking the beats of the first guy. If only they could be combined with Emotionz' beats and KAi's rapping...

"Soul Flower (Remix)" was my favourite song from the show that I had not heard before going to it. I absolutely love the beat; great 90's old school. The lyrics are ridiculous too. From the "Eee ah ooh ah ah"'s to the crazy closing line "If magic can admit he got aids, fuck it--I got herpes". On a side note I realized that there's a part in this song that K-OS samples in his song "4, 3, 2, 1"... Just a dope song. But I also had to include probably their most famous track, "Passing Me By", one that I definitely did know before the show (and that we timed our j to ;)) Also this was only the second time that I have seen the performance of an entire album, with the first being Roger Waters doing The Dark Side Of The Moon.

The Pharcyde - Passing Me By

"Passing Me By" has a trill beat that oozes the jazz influence on much of the hip-hop in the early 90's. But its highlight has to be the great chorus that is half sung, half screamed, to the point where you truly feel his agony. Brilliant. Listen to these songs and Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde now! An absolute masterpiece!