Disco de The Pharcyde: “Plain Rap”

After giving the world _Bizarre Ride II_ (a bonafide classic) and the mellow soul of _Labcabincalifornia_ (SHOULD be a classic) the third album comes out of nowhere, unfortunately sans the clever and always humble Fatlip. Thank god, there's next to nothing worth listening to in the scene today, because of "alt.metal" and endless puffy clones there's no innovation or life like there was in the scene back in the early 90s. Even the strong lads I normally count on, Wu Tang and Busta, on their latest discs basically mailed it in, but all you have to do is spark one and listen to "Network" to know what the score is - Pharcyde 3, rest of 'em 0. "Rush" is also very tight. Its even mellower and more soulful than _Labcabincalifornia_ so it may take you a few spins to appreciate the subtleties and align with the new perspective. The basic message has unchanged from day one : "Crews get together put some love back in the Network."

Imani, Tre and Booty Brown you guys bring the smoooove...and its all good. I remember you guys from when you took us on a Bizarre Ride. What's Fatlip up to? Well it doesn't matter anyway you guys hold it down any way. Even though Key group members left the Temptations they still remained and didn't loose much. This stuff that you guys are rockin is just something else. With lingering cuts like "Somethin" "Trust" this effort sounds good when I'm movin down through the hood. Its good when I'm at home and it will sound good in the club readers peep "guestlist", Hey The Pharcyde is Back and f the Source I give you 5 mics for this fantastic CD. Also the cover art and is very smart.

The Pharcyde without Fatlip is like ATCQ without Phife, it just cant work. The cd was alright though, not terrible. Trust is definetely the best song on the cd. Network is good too, and frontline is ok. The rest just uhh, sucked. Imani is a good MC and all, but I would recomend saving your $ and getting something else unless you are a hardcore pharcyde fan.

Pharcyde has been going downhill ever since their first album and it appears they have hit rock bottom with this effort. The title pretty much says it all. The raps are boring and for the most part uncreative. Very few acts have been able to do the R&B tie in with their tracks and 'Plain Rap' is certainly not one of them. They should of learned from LabCabin that their R&B ...... The beats, with exception to the remix track, sound like something a 9 year old could make with their computer. If you are looking for a great rap album go buy Bizarre Ride II. Avoid this one at all costs. Hopefuly the group will learn from their mistakes or go their seperate ways. This fan can't stand to see what they have become.

Although this album never had the impact of Bizarre Ride, it has be given its due credit. It seems like this is their most over-looked work and should be revisited. There aren't any house party anthems, but I still listen to this album more than any of their others. If you like downtempo hip hop you will love this record.