As we continue to celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary throughout 2023, the next major act to bring their tour through Toronto would be a group of west-coast legends, The Pharcyde. The Los Angeles-based group originally consisting of emcees Slimkid3, Fat Lip, Imani and Bootie Brown has undergone several changes over the years, with different members leaving to focus on their solo careers at different points in the group’s history, and having never really fully reunited after their first two albums. Now celebrating the 30th anniversary of their critically acclaimed debut, Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, the occasion has warranted a reunion between 3/4 of the group’s original members for a world tour, giving fans the rare opportunity to celebrate The Pharcyde’s music with most of the original members.

The Pharcyde seems to have experienced a lot of internal conflict over the years, as it’s been rare for fans to see the group united for a concert, and even following them on social media can be tricky, with @thepharcyde having the authenticated blue checkmark on most platforms but then the group saying live on stage that the account they really use is @thepharcydelives. Some might say the lack of unity has caused the group to go underrated over the years, but those in the know recognize that The Pharcyde is responsible for some of ’90s Hip-Hop’s most influential essentials. On a Thursday night, Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre would be filled with what looked like several day-one fans, but also a ton of under-40 fans like myself who may have only now been getting their first chance at a Pharcyde live experience.

The night would start off with Brampton native Raz Fresco warming up the stage, performing in front of a hometown crowd for the first time since touring through Europe earlier this year. Raz would get a good reaction out of the crowd during his set, getting fans to throw their hands up as he performed songs like “Rain,” “Windows of Your Soul,” and a new 2023 joint called “Hollow Heads.” He’d also preach positivity throughout the set, paying it forward by giving an up-and-coming 18-year-old rapper a chance to share the stage with him and spit an acapella freestyle, looking to give the next generation some shine after having been doing this for a decade.

You could tell that Raz is sharp with the pen, as his rhymes were well structured and he had punchlines that stood out during his performance. His set would have some technical issues though, with the beats sometimes drowning out his vocals early on, and the DJ not being able to play one of the songs Raz took some time to hype up by giving the crowd a deep explanation of the lyrics in the hook. Regardless, Raz was able to recover by getting the crowd involved with some call-and-response routines, and with The 6th Letter joining in for songs like “S.I.N.” and the Pete Rock-produced “Signs Of The Times,” Raz Fresco had a solid homecoming that got the crowd warmed up for The Pharcyde.

The Pharcyde’s tour DJ would get his gear set up, and would warm up the crowd by playing some classic ’90s Hip-Hop before getting into a hype introduction skit recorded by Lil’ Jon. You could hear some of the crowd reacting to the Lil’ Jon skit by shouting out his classic “What?!” and “Yeahhhh!!!!” adlibs; clearly we were crunk and ready to turn up!

Starting things off right from day one, The Pharcyde would come out performing the very first single off of their Bizarre Ride album, “Ya Mama,” with the crowd immediately reacting and joining in on the natural call-and-response in the track. Fatlip could be seen repping the hometown by wearing a Drake t-shirt designed in a vintage ’90s style as he kicked off the song with the lyrics: “ya mama’s sooo fat…” and the crowd responded like we were in a middle-school playground: “how fat is she?!” Even after all these years, The Pharcyde are still bringing fans back to that childish sense of humour we had as kids. The fun vibes would continue as they performed “Drop” and brought back memories of that innovative music video, getting the fans to emulate the Beastie Boys sample in the hook.

Besides “Drop” being from their sophomore album, Labcabincalifornia, the bulk of The Pharcyde’s setlist was dedicated to their classic Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde. Getting the light crew to turn all of the lights red to fit the theme, they’d perform a bunch of the deep album cuts, doing “4 Better or 4 Worse” with Fatlip shouting “I don’t wanna get cancelled!” mid-verse to censor some of his more extreme horror-themed lyrics, and got the crowd jumping to the bouncy “I’m That Type Of N—-.” The good vibes would continue as they performed “Soul Flower (Remix),” showing no love lost as they covered Bootie Brown’s opening verse despite his absence.

The Pharcyde would have multiple elements of Hip-Hop on display, as they’d be in the background getting their b-boy on and breakdancing when it wasn’t their turn to rap, Imani especially showing off crazy flexibility and athleticism for his age. This would continue throughout the entire set, as they got the crowd involved and chanting along to the opening track of the album, “Oh Shit,” and had the light crew change the lights to green for the weed anthem “Pack The Pipe.” Adding even more Hip-Hop elements to the equation, they’d get their DJ to chop up some breakbeats in some Funk records as they did an energy check with the crowd, testing to see which side of the club could make the most noise. The crowd was definitely on-point with the call-and-response, giving a ton of energy back to the group and getting them hyped for the next song.

Of course we all know the DJing element of Hip-Hop evolved into sampling records to make entire songs, and so The Pharcyde’s DJ would play a Jazz record that was sampled to make one of their beats, and would smoothly transition it into what ended up being arguably the group’s biggest hit, “Passin’ Me By.” The crowd got fully turned up for this one, singing along to Bootie Brown’s hook and covering his classic opening verse word-for-word acapella before the DJ brought the beat back in for the other three emcees to spit their own verses to. It was definitely one of the most energetic moments of the night, and the show would keep the celebrations going, continuing in the album’s sequence with Slimkid3’s solo track “Otha Fish.”

The song “Otha Fish” of course shows off Slimkid3’s vocal range and Jazz-influenced cadences, as he treats his voice like an instrument (think saxophone) as he sing-raps his verses, and they’d let him go acapella on the second verse to really show off. The standout moment on the album wasn’t the only reason to celebrate Slimkid3 on this particular night, as it also happened to be his 53rd birthday, and the group would pause the show to bring out a birthday cake and get the fans to sing happy birthday for him. After blowing out his candles, Slimkid3 would give a speech reflecting on how he did a lot of “heavy lifting” for his family in his 20s, and gave his younger fans the advice to not take things so seriously in their younger years, to make sure to go out and have fun while they can.

On that note, the group would pay tribute to the late Detroit legend J Dilla, who of course produced a good chunk of their second album, including some of the group’s biggest hits. Continuing to give the birthday boy some shine, Slimkid3 would stand out yet again as they performed the song “She Said (Jay Dee Remix),” with Slim singing into two microphones at once to capture an echo effect on his vocals. With the birthday boy shining the most with the hook on that last song, the group decided to use that moment to the leave the stage on a high note. The fans knew they had at least one more hit in the bag they could rock though, and so we chanted for an encore, and the group came back out dancing to another Jazz record that would eventually evolve into the J Dilla-produced classic, “Runnin’!”

The crowd all turned up as soon as we recognized the string sample in the Jazz record, and the energy got high once the “Runnin'” beat dropped! The fans would all sing along with Slimkid3 to that iconic hook and each of the three emcees would nail their verses with a ton of energy, leaving the crowd hyped and in a good mood. This would be the true end of the show, as the group would then make their way to the merch booth in the VIP lounge to sign autographs and take pictures.

While the concert was short as expected for a mid-week show, with much of The Pharcyde’s older fan base having to work the next day, it was still an action-packed celebration of the group’s most iconic work. The Pharcyde performed the bulk of Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, only leaving out three songs along with the skits, plus they added in their biggest hits off of Labincalifornia, giving the late J Dilla his flowers. As a first-time Pharcyde concert-goer, I was blown away by how they capture multiple Hip-Hop elements in their show, making this 30th anniversary tour that much more fitting for the 50th year of Hip-Hop. Each emcee will take turns rapping their verses, but then the others will be backing them up on the adlibs while showing off their b-boy skills and breakdance moves at the same time, keeping the crowd engaged for the whole show. The fans were all enthused by the performance and it was good vibes all around.

The Pharcyde continue their 30th Anniversary Tour with stops throughout Canada, USA and Europe over the next couple months. Follow @thepharcydelives on social media for the latest.

Special thank you to F7 Entertainment for granting this blog access to review this concert.

Check out the SYpherSights Youtube channel for more concert videos.

Also follow SYpherSights on social media below:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram