Labcabincalifornia

In 1992, alternate hip-hop group The Pharcyde released one of the genre’s most acclaimed albums, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. Propelled by the success of Passin’ Me By and its lighthearted lyrics and subject matter, it was essential in developing the alternate hip-hop scene on the West Coast. By 1995, however, several issues plagued The Pharcyde. The results of these hardships are transparent on the group’s second album, Labcabincalifornia.

While Bizarre Ride is known for its playful, funny subject matter and themes, Labcabincalifornia is much more introspective and somber. While there are certainly still laughs to be had, expect a lot less. The Pharcyde surprisingly adjusts to this serious persona naturally (although whether they fit it better than they do their iconic class-clown images is up for debate), most likely due to all of the conflict occurring during the album’s creation. They retain their smooth flows and fairly intricate lyrics from Bizarre Ride while still establishing a darker tone than before, which allows Labcabincalifornia to stand strong and independent from its predecessor.

The production reflects the album’s darker tone superbly. Instead of the funkier, more up-tempo production of their debut, Labcabincalifornia adopts a jazz-influenced production style, which is primarily handled by a then-unknown Jay Dee. As to be expected, the production is excellent, and it includes some of Jay Dee’s best work. The darker jazz pieces help establish the album’s darker tone, and it definitely reflects the intergroup fighting that would eventually destroy The Pharcyde.

(Disclaimer: This summarization was not written by me, comes originally from a joint review by the geniuses @Wu-Pac and @ALLCAPSification, which is a great read.)