Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

Background High school friends "Slimkid3" (Tre Hardson), "Imani" (Emandu Wilcox) and "Bootie Brown" (Romye Robinson) began their career in the entertainment industry as dancers and choreographers under the moniker "Two For Two", making numerous appearances in music videos. Their most notable exposure came with a short stint on the television show In Living Color. While attending SCU, the group recorded their first demo tape, which included the track "Ya Mama". In 1991, the group signed a deal with Delicious Vinyl Records, following a performance of the track "Ya Mama" at an artist showcase. Soon after, the group made their first notable appearance, with the track "Soul Flower", released on the Heavy Rhyme Experience album by the Brand New Heavies. Upon leaving, he recommended them a school friend, John "L.A. Jay" Barnes. L.A. Jay helped the group with the production on the final song, "Otha Fish". Accounts differ on the duration of the recording process, with Slimkid3 saying it took nine months, while Mike Ross says it was six or seven months. The group left a song off the album called "My Man", due to it being unfinished and the label deciding to wrap the album because of inner group conflicts. According to Bootie Brown, the group intended to record four or five other songs for the album. "It wasn't a complete project", says the artist. ==Music==

Lyrical content Much of the album's acclaim was due to the eccentric, comedic content provided by the four emcees, who were described as a "pack of class clowns set loose in a studio" by Rolling Stone. with topics including masturbation and murder. On the single "4 Better or 4 Worse", Fatlip dedicates an entire verse to prank calling, in which the rapper spouts insane and psychotic threats while a confused female victim continually threatens to call the police. by artists including James Brown, Donald Byrd, Sly & the Family Stone, the Meters, Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Ayers and Marvin Gaye. Aside from the samples, Swift also provided piano, bass and rhodes on the album, and fellow producer JMD provided drum arrangements. ==Release==

Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde was released on November 24, 1992, through Delicious Vinyl. eventually peaking at number 75. Singles Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde featured four singles, all of which were accompanied by music videos. The group's debut single, "Ya Mama", originally from their 1991 demo, was released by Delicious Vinyl in June 1992, peaking at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. The song was later featured on the soundtrack to, and in Adam Sandler's 1999 film Big Daddy. The song is now considered a classic hip-hop single. The album's third single, "4 Better or 4 Worse", was released in mid-1993, and featured the stoner song "Pack the Pipe" and the throwback track "Return of the B-Boy" as its B-Side. The single did not reach any Billboard chart. The final single, the SlimKid solo track "Otha Fish", was released in late 1993. The song became the second charting single from the album, though not as highly placed as "Passing Me By", reaching only the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. In 2012, all four singles were re-released in a limited edition box set. ==Critical reception==

At the time of its release, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde received mostly positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly James Bernard called the album a "freewheeling hip-hop cabaret", commending it for being humorous. The Source Brett Johnson saw the Pharcyde as a combination of the "off-beat charm" of De La Soul and the "intense enthusiasm and energy" of Leaders of the New School. He commended the instrumentals, which he described as a blend of "soulful pianos and organs" with "head-nodding basslines", as well as the group's vocal performance, but also thought the group might struggle to gain acceptance among the hardcore hip-hop audience. "The question many will have to answer for themselves is whether a trip to the Pharcyde is a step backwards or a leap into the future?", concluded the writer. NME thought the Pharcyde created "their own sonic Utopia, a world that's by turns riotously funny, twisted, mostly right-on and brooding with noir-ish cool". The magazine placed Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde at number 39 on their 1993 year-end list of best albums, calling it a "cartoon-strip of blunt-smoking antics, sexual innuendo and unashamed political incorrectness, crammed with infectious funky beats". Charles Aaron, in his review for Spin, named Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde "one of the most musically vivid hip-hop records of the year", but added that "it's hard to hype a group so confused amused about itself". Rolling Stone placed the album on their list of the best recordings on 1993, calling it a "fusion of punchy rhythm and loopy rhyme". Retrospective In the years since its release, numerous publications have recognized Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde as a hip-hop classic. AllMusic's John Bush hailed the album for the "amazing rapping and gifted productions", "easily some of the tightest and most inventive of any hip-hop record of the era", but thought it might be challenging for new listeners due to a lack of catchy elements. Colin Larkin described it as a "multi-layered comic masterpiece" in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Ross Scarano, in his review for Pitchfork, called it "one of the most boisterous and creative acts of adolescent knuckleheadedness and confession in hip-hop history". Comparing it to other contemporaneous West Coast hip-hop albums, he called Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde "fearlessly quotidian and relatively low-stakes", adding that the group used humor to deal with anxiety and pain. RapReviews Jordan Selbo thought the group employs "style and a viewpoint deliciously and profoundly contradictory", "[s]imultaneously subtle and brazen, overtly celebratory yet deeply dark and twisted, both ephemeral and timeless in scope". He viewed Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde as a historic document that captures the experience of Black people in the US. Paul Bowler of Record Collector praised the album for its uniqueness, for being "a rare but joyous example of rap without ego". Various publications placed Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde on their best-of lists. Rolling Stone added it to the 2020 edition of their The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. It was featured in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, in which its author Robert Dimery called it "a true classic", commending the trio for "keep[ing] it original" and J-Swift for bringing "greater depth and a lush, soulful sound". Accolades (*) designates lists which are unordered. ==Legacy==

Released at the time when West Coast was dominated by gangsta rap of N.W.A and G-funk sound of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde offered an alternative to these styles, while embracing a jazz-influenced style of East Coast groups like A Tribe Called Quest. Despite its moderate commercial success, the album was hailed as a hip-hop classic by both journalists and listeners. Kanye West named Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde his favorite album. Influenced by the changes in their lives brought on by their rising popularity, the Pharcyde's second album, Labcabincalifornia (1995), featured a completely different style. Largely produced by then-unknown J Dilla, it was panned by music critics on release, However, over the years, Labcabincalifornia received critical acclaim, which the author Andrew Barker linked to the increased popularity of J Dilla. ==Track listing==

All tracks produced by J-Swift, except "Otha Fish", produced by L.A. Jay and SlimKid3. Track listing and production information is taken from the album's liner notes. == Personnel ==

All information is taken from the album's liner notes. • The Pharcyde – Co-Producer, Background Vocals, Creative Direction • Fatlip – Lead Vocals, Scratching • SlimKid 3 – Lead Vocals, Producer • Imani – Lead Vocals • Bootie Brown – Lead Vocals • J-Swift – Producer, Piano, Bass, Rhodes, Background Vocals, Scratching • L.A. Jay – Producer • Buckwheat – Vocals • Quinton – Vocals • Rahsaan – Background Vocals • Greg Padilla – Background Vocals • Brandon Padilla – Background Vocals • Cedra Walton – Background Vocals • Eric Sarafin – Engineer, Mix Engineer • Joe Primeau – Mix Engineer • Al Phillips – Additional Engineer • Doug Boehm – Additional Engineer • James Mansfield – Additional Engineer • Jim Ervin – Additional Engineer • JMD – Drums • Michael Ross – Executive Producer • Lamarr Algee – A&R • Leslie Cooney – A&R Coordinator, Background Vocals • PMP Mgt. – Management • Paul Stewart – Management • Street Knowledge – Management • Slick K2S/ Fuct – Art Direction, Artwork • Mark Heimback-Nielsen – Package Design • Block – Photography ==Charts==

Album Singles ==Certifications==