Mmmm..... Deeeeerooooooooppp!!!! (Labcabincalifornia - The Pharcyde)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Labcabincalifornia - The Pharcyde
Date:	07/06/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of big tunes

Disadvantages: Not as fresh as their debut

Oakland Hip Hop group The Pharcyde released the follow-up to their debut in 1995. "Labcabincalifornia" was the title given to the album, and it finds them putting more into their alternative sound as Hip Hoppers out on the West Coast.

1. "Bulls**t"

To get things underway you have a track which immediately reminds you of where they came with on the first album from them as they come with a track where they rhymes with a laid-back flows and allow Imani to do his thing to lead the group and remind you where they have come from as they get things done here.

**Five Stars**

2. "Pharcyde"

Taking things straight from the opener you have them showing that on this album they are going on this one relentlessly without any slow up in the flow with this eponymously-entitled cut. It is a very fluid one and really follows on well from the one prior to it. The way which Imani gets busy soon this one is amazing and it shows just how strong his poetic mind works.

**Five Stars**

3. "Groupie Therapy"

Here is an interesting track from them and it shows progression from them as the content of their rhymes has been effected fairly significantly since they have been exposed o more since the have come into fame and so with a three-year-long gap between albums, you see what this time has gained them as they speak on how they hope to brush off the groupies who now cling onto them. The flows are fresh and just what you want to hear from them.

**Five Stars**

4. "Runnin'"

This was a single to the album, and so it really stands out on the album as something which you are likely to remember from it as it gets them working with Jay Dee (J Dilla) on the beats, who gives them something jazzy as they perform a track which forces hem to face their problems, rather than "Runnin'" from them. The soulful vocals in the hook really stick with you long after hearing it.

**Five Stars**

5. "She Said"

This track samples the lead single from their debut, "Passin' me By" and has them do something which you really don't expect to hear as throughout the track it just doesn't seem all that right, and as they progress through it, it becomes apparent why their melodic flows are so different here as by the end it is all sung, and so displays further diversity in their music.

**Four Stars**

6. "Splattorium"

This low paced tune has them just take a step back and do thing in a different way to how you get things throughout the rest of the alum as they perform one where they confuse upon speaking of exactly how weed affects them. It is done well, and shows that with apparent minimal effort, they are able to do things just as well as ever before.

**Four Stars**

7. "Somethin' That Means Somethin'"

The Funk in this track is just too much and it takes you back as you hear the original composition from Jay Dee. It really means that it is impossible for the group to drop the standard as they go through it as if this was a simple instrumental tune it would be just as effective, but it just so happens that amongst their best work comes through on it too with some big lines getting dropped on the hardcore beats.

**Five Stars**

8. "All Live" (Lude)

9. "Hey You"

The space-age rhymes come through in this one, as in a lot of the other tracks on this album and this one really has a futuristic feel to and it pushes things along. The way that the MCs flow on it has them play around with conventions as many typical Hip Hop phrases are twisted to give new meanings in this one.

**Four Stars**

10. "Drop"

Using a sample of Ad-Rock (of the Beastie Boys) as the foundation to the track, this one has them do things in a funky way as ever as they make you consider just how they come up with the type of things which they come up with in the record as a whole. It is a fresh tune and was a great choice for a single (watch the video).

**Five Stars**

11. "Y?"

On this one you have them simple ask why is that in a conscious Hip Hop way as many things cross their mind, and they choose to share all of this with the listeners as they express concern to all the negative things which occur in this world for no apparent reason. It gets you in their frame of mind as you are forced to bop within them as they get things done effectively and have the thought-provoking words make you stop and really think.

**Five Stars**

12. "It's All Good" (Lude)

13. "Moment In Time"

In this short tune you have them doing a track which has them deal with death after having seen it first-hand. It is an emotive one, and shows more to them as they allow you right into the most emotional side of their material. They manage to push forward their funky raps in this one, surprisingly, but it means that you don't lose them.

**Four Stars**

14. "The Hustle"

This tune finds them going at things hard to show that they are just as capable of doing a general rap as they are with the more alternative work which really gets you thinking. All of the MCs do their thing here, and none of them allow the standards to slip at all as you get them doing some of the freshest work which you get within the LP.

**Five Stars**

15. "Little D" (Lude)

16. "Devil Music"

The beats in this track are big, and it means that I was drawn straight towards it as this sounds like the sort of head-bopping stuff which you would get form all the top underground MCs in the game around this time in the mid-nineties. It is a big one, and I would have to call it amongst the best which this album offers to the listeners.

**Five Stars**

17. "The E.N.D"

Just as they did with their debut, this one has them take things back in time as the way that they flow on this one has them take influence from the early days of Hip Hop. Although this one isn't a tribute to the pre-1988 revolution in the genre, it certainly has an Old School feel to it, and it means that you are livened up by its funkiness.

**Five Stars**

Personally, I wouldn't say that this album is as strong as what they came with on their first album, but this isn't to say that this one is bad at all as their original take on Hip Hop means that you have to really think about how they could have come up with concepts for their material.

Summary: The Pharcyde's second album