1/25/12: The Pharcyde: Shrine

To say I love the Pharcyde is an understatement. They were my favorite Hip Hop group in High School and I still listen to them to this day. Their infectious blend of silly skits (“Quinton’s on his way” and story telling rhymes was what Hip Hop was about in the early 90′s. They were fun, energetic..everybody knew a Pharcyde song “Ya mama so fat, HOW FAT IS SHE?”.

I saw the whole group perform several years ago at an outdoor summer festival in Chicago. This time around the four original members (Fat Lip, SlimKid3, Bootee Brown and Imani) have split up in two and are doing separate concert performances. On this evening Fat Lip and Slim Kid were blessing the stage.

The venue wasn’t very packed, which didn’t surprise me as it’s hard to get people to come and see acts that are 20+ years old, especially if they haven’t had an album or solo joints in years.
The night began with a dj set from L.A. Jay (Pharycde producer) then the duo hit the stage with J. Swift (Pharcyde Producer) and guest.

The duo came out with a lot of energy on this 20 year anniversary and full performance of Bizarre Ride II. They were lively and took the crowd back while performing hits like “Otha Fish” (one of my fav hip hop songs of all time) and “Return of the Bboy”, the crowd was straight up jamming as we did the wop from side to side. Slim and Fat Lip showed us that they still had skills when they busted out their break dance moves, taking everyone back to the days of break dancing at the park. The duo performed “She Said” the Dilla remix (also my Jam-RIP Dilla!)

It was great to see the duo still have all the energy they displayed while performing their certified Gold album. It would have been great to see all four members perform but something is better than nothing. Honestly you didn’t even realize the abscence of Imani and Bootee due to J. Swift and guest filling in.

I had a great time and thank the Pharycde for allowing me to reminisce on my high school years. Long live Hip Hop! Check out some of my footage HERE