Fatlip left the Pharcyde, one of the most intelligent and entertaining hip-hop groups to appear in the early 1990s, over three decades ago. Since then, he has released a solo album called The Loneliest Punk, achieved a little hit with his song Whats Up, Fatlip?, and even patched things up with a few of his old Pharcyde brethren emcees. Although the original Pharcyde quartet, which also includes Bootie Brown, who owns the Pharcyde trademark, hasn’t been together since a fleeting reunion in 2008, Fatlip and original Pharcyde members Slimkid3 and Imani have been performing as the Far Side.
Now that Fatlip has released a new album, Torpor, it includes the song “My Bad,” in which all four rappers appear to apologize to one another for years of animosity. Prior to the song’s release, Fatlip promoted it as the long-awaited reunion of the original Pharcyde band in a press release issued to Rolling Stone. The Pharcydes official Twitter, however, said the headlines were bogus as soon as word of the reunion spread, telling AllHipHop it had bad information and saying, adding, “It’s pretty weird people promoting something knowing I have nothing to do with it.”
While on tour with Gorillaz in Australia, Brown tells Rolling Stone that although the song is in “my voice,” it was taken from another project. I can’t even remember now. I have no idea who or from whom they obtained the lyric. I am aware that it was a side project I worked on, but I never recorded it for the use that they are making of it. I’m not sure where they got it, then.
I find that acknowledging after you’ve messed up is the hardest thing to do, Brown raps in the song. Slimkid3 offers, Sorry, I thought I was being truthful. I feel like I need some atonement, says Fatlip over a beat that resembles the Pharcydes’ breakout hit, Passin Me By.
Imani claims that Fatlips had the idea to record the song. He once held the title of Public Enemy No. 1. He was always intoxicated and was notorious for getting ejected out of events. You have your own thoughts in your head and don’t know who people are, so I had to find out who he is now. I spent every day of the last two months with this brother. I recognize him. Nobody is aware of who he is. All they have are the stories. That guy was him in the past. He is no longer that person.
Fatlip refused many attempts from Rolling Stone to address the reunion claims and address former members who questioned the veracity of the reconciliation despite the fact that the song was on his own CD. Sccit and Siavash the Grouch, the records’ producers, however, spoke with Rolling Stone.
Why don’t we get Bootie on here, we asked. Says Sccit. We attempted to contact him personally, but it was quite challenging, so we were forced to work through his manager. As soon as we started discussing money, we decided on a very hefty sum. The vocals then appeared. At this point, we thought, “It would be fantastic if we could turn this into a Pharcyde tune.” We made an effort to let the management know that we thought it would be great if we could fit four people in. We hoped that through bridging the divide, this song would bring everyone back to a place of love.
According to Siavash, Fatlip and Imani both adore the song, and Bootie seems to be growing to like it as well. He’s just trying to sort things out since there are still a lot of unanswered issues.
However, Brown refutes each of these assertions. He claims he was informed that the verse he recorded two years ago was for an upcoming emcee when it was initially intended for a song called My Fault. The cost was $1000. He can’t remember the emcee’s name, but he didn’t think it was for Fatlip. He explains, “I figured I was helping someone who didn’t have the opportunities.” I’m not saying I was giving something back, but I won’t break anyone’s bank by helping them out. I was completely ignorant.
Imani didn’t recognize the song when he first heard it this week. But he wasn’t bothered by it. Who knows since I had no idea? He claims. The magic of music is in that.
Slimkid3 tells Rolling Stone, “We have so many projects that we have been working on and are a part of that I forgot I even did it. However, I’ve just had a few listens so far, and I’m satisfied with the representation I gave for the overall. He claims that since just three of the group’s members have reconciled, it is loaded to ask about reconciliation.
Brown feels mistreated, but his main feeling is confusion. He adds, “I just find it unusual that the other group members would let that go in such a way, even if the people from the label wanted to produce “a reunion tune.” In my work, I refer to that as odd even though I’m not sure if it’s a symptom of desperation. Why they didn’t speak up and say, “Hey, you know what?” baffles me. This is a little off.
He claimed that after talking to the Fatlips team, he felt threatened. He says that they have said, “We know you don’t hold the trademark in the proper way, and we can go after it.” We then started discussing everything else. You should simply do it for the love of hip-hop, they then sort of struck me with. It’s all so unclear. In essence, I felt that no one had given their consent for this music to be utilized in the manner in which it was, even though they were attempting to assure me that they weren’t billing the song as the Pharcyde coming back together. I couldn’t understand why, if they were able to contact me now, they weren’t able to do so before they even started working on the song.
When the original Pharcyde released their debut album, 1992’s Bizarre Ride II, they were close and popular from the start. Thanks to tracks like Passin Me By and Otha Fish, they reached Number 75 on the Billboard 200. The one-liners of Ya Mama, such as Ya mama’s glasses are so thick she looks into a map and sees people waving at her, benefited from their slapdash chemistry. They had been a group since 1989. The album eventually received a gold certification, but the joy was short-lived. After the Pharcyde’s second album, Labcabincalifornia, was released in 1995, Fatlip and the band split up, citing artistic differences. A few years later, Whats Up, Fatlip? and its humorous, self-deprecating Spike Jonze-directed video became a smash hit for him.
Slimkid3 left the group around the time they released their third album, Plain Rap, therefore the group continued as a trio. After Humboldt Beginnings, which was released in 2004, Bootie Brown and Imani continued to collaborate. At this point, the Pharcyde brand appeared to have reached steady state. The musicians mostly worked alone, with the exception of a 2008 reunion with all four members.
Following the 20th anniversary of Bizarre Ride a decade prior, Fatlip and Slimkid3 went on tour with J-Swift and L.A. Jay, two of the album’s co-producers. Since certain performances were advertised as a Pharcyde European Tour, Bootie Brown and Imani wrote the other two members a cease-and-desist letter, according to Courthouse News Service. The ex-members were given a court order prohibiting them from using the Pharcyde moniker.
In interviews, both parties exchanged crude remarks. Slimkid3 informed HipHopDX in 2012 that they desired to destroy all evidence of past existence. They want people to think of them as the Pharcyde who never existed, much like Fatlip and I. That is not possible. Already, we have made history. We will always remain part of history.
Brown said a decade ago, via Okayplayer, that “Fatlip” can no longer tolerate being onstage with Imani because of “it” and that he “told me that he can’t stand to hear Imanis voice.” The assertion in the same article made Imani giggle, and she said, “That’s the same Fatlip guy Facebooked me, talking about, I need to come down and do the “Delicious Vinyl” show with him and get these millions!” That’s why he’s amusing! We need to go do this because he can’t take the sound of my voice, yet he’ll be the first to call me on something. Which is it then?
Imani has since put his reservations to rest and established peace with the two former Pharcyde members. He claims that while he was working with the producer Computer Jay in downtown Los Angeles, he made an effort to work with Fatlip. They began collaborating on songs, and finally Fatlip gave him the My Bad rhythm and asked him if he wanted to record on it. Tre had called me on the phone and said, “Yeah, I’m down,” Imani recalls, adding that Tre had sent his portions in from his home in Portland, Oregon. I don’t know what happened to Bootie Brown or how that issue developed. The three of them ultimately concluded they enjoyed collaborating once more.
The group renamed themselves The Far Side (Formerly of the Pharcyde) earlier this year and scheduled a tour to commemorate Bizarre Ride’s 30th birthday. They produced
