The Pharcyde's 1992 debut, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, was a revelation, balancing sunny moments like the sappy “Soul Flower,” the slapstick “Oh Shit” and “Ya Mama” and the wistful “Passin'Me By” with the dark “4 Better or 4 Worse” and the caustic “It's Jigaboo Time.” Bizarre Ride stoked many imaginations, but the moment for a breezy, carefree rap outfit, even one hailing from South Central Los Angeles, would be brief. Later that year Dr. Dre released The Chronic, and soon Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and the Notorious B.I.G. would recapture the flag for a grimmer, tougher New York.

By the time of the Pharcyde's second album, 1995's underrated Labcabincalifornia, the quartet had less time for play. They had replaced J-Swift, the gifted young producer of Bizarre Ride — last seen chronicling his drug addiction in the shocking doc 1 More Hit — with Detroit's Jay Dee (later known as J. Dilla). The standout single “Runnin'” — built on Dilla's genius looping of a Stan Getz record — contained sentiments that wouldn't have been out of place on Bizarre Ride: fear, loathing, bruised manhood. “My pappy never taught me how to knock a n—a out,” a grizzled Fatlip raps,… read more »