#482: The Pharcyde, ‘Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde’
Delicious Vinyl, 1992
The Pharcyde was the West Coast’s response to A Tribe Called Quest. Listening feels like walking in on a bunch of funny (crude) guys making funny jokes.
I flew to Utah today. I have mixed feelings about Utah. Especially as a religious person. Utah is where a lot of traumatic things happened to me in college. Capitalism feels like God here and conspiracy theories are gospel all upheld by both alternative spiritual mentors and Christian-centered tech geniuses. I don’t feel *good* about any of it.
So flying to Utah is semi-stressful. While I listened to these guys rap and tell “yo mama” jokes, I thought about all the musicians I gave time to this week. They pushed culture along, some more than others.
I don’t like this monochromatic, prosperity gospel,1000-billboards-on-one-highway town but I do love my people here. They don’t bend to cultural expectations. They are activists and organizers. They are new moms and dads working in the tech industry and talking about being part of minority communities and they hold their convictions even when they are thrown under the bus for them. They are feminists working to better understand how to increase representation and equity. They are creative, smart and kind and they always have space for me at their tables.
This tie-in might be a stretch: in an era of gangster rap, The Pharcyde went the route of alternative hip-hop and still covered big topics like police brutality, race, and the government very much in their own way. They pushed a hip-hop culture that really only existed on the East Coast but they made it all their own and still very California.
My people here in Utah are doing that and I am so grateful that they don’t bend to the prevalent culture and they create their own things, their own spaces and forsake the worship of money and focus on relationships. They are my Pharcyde...okay that is too far and doesn’t even make sense and is slightly absurd. If you listen to this album, I guarantee you will think about laughing with your friends.
Top songs: Soul Flower Remix, Officer