GEARED UP 12

Now then Leeds, I'm DJ Wax On AKA Wax Bygraves, bringing you some knowledge and insight into the world of DJing and funky beats. Today I'm assuming the role of the Alan Whicker, and looking at an album which looks on the bright side of life.

At the start of the 90's, West Coast hip hop the dominant force in rap music, namely through the Dr Dre-pioneered G-Funk sound. Be it Warren G, Snoop Doggy Dogg, NWA or others, the heavy P-Funk (Parliament/George Clinton/Funkadelic) samples, mixed with drum machines and high pitched synthesizers couldn't be stopped. It would take a brave West Coast hip hop act to go out and try to get noticed with a different sound at this time. And that's exactly what The Pharcyde did.

Bizarre Ride has a sound which is strongly dominated by samples from 60's and 70's jazz, much like New York acts such as A Tribe Called Quest had been using for the past couple of years, but with the more funky drum loops used by West Coast artists such as NWA, and they fused this with live instrumentation.

Lyrically, the music couldn't be any different from the dominant G-Funk, which was very much either about the "gangster" lifestyle, or socio-political commentaries on the situations of the day. Pharcyde brought the fun back to West Coast rap, in the way that acts like De La Soul had done on the other side of the country. On "Oh Shit", the topics are drunken endeavours and sexual situations, whilst "Yo Momma", unsurprisingly, is a four minute lesson on how to insult a friend's mother in style. In contrast to this, " Passing Me By" is a smooth, summer sounding affair about the woman that got away, whilst Otha "Fish" gives advice on how to get over her.

This album, along with Freestyle Fellowship's "To Whom It May Concern" amongst others, paved the way for alternative hip hop artists such as Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, People Under The Stairs and others, so if you're a fan of any of these artists, make sure to check this album out.




If you want to get in touch with any disagreement or abuse due to my over opinionated prose, visit www.djwaxon.com or www.myspace.com/djwaxon