(Chapter One/Shogun)

In the early to mid 90s The Pharcyde were hot. Bugged out themes, funky as beats and weed fuelled fun flows. Their debut is highly revered, and the follow up spawned arguably their biggest hits. If you loved them back then, best leave this release on the shelves and let the memory live on.

First things first, Pharcyde 2005 is a much different animal than Pharcyde circa 1993. Gone are the skills of Fat Lip and Slim Kid, leaving only two original members – Imani & Bootie Brown – plus ring-ins SpaceboogieX and Smoochie. Also sadly missing is the wit, originality and seemingly talent that made their early works a must own for all hip hop fans.

Humboldt County is a part of California where weed is legal for medicinal purposes, so you get the general gist of nearly all (I’m talking like 80%) of the lyrics featured over 22 tracks here. I really don’t know what has happened, perhaps too much sampling of the album’s title product, but this is not the Pharcyde I loved. Gone is the vibe of four MCs having fun, replaced with 3 MCs talking about weed with simple single bar rhymes and zero track presence. By about the 5th track I wanted to yell at the stereo - alright I get it you smoke weed! I don’t know if maybe my ears are more jaded, but to me the entire Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde album was innovative and fresh, and singles like Drop and Runnin from their second album still stand up when played today, compared to that this entire release is lyrical filler.

On to the beats - these are the album’s highlight, but again for me it’s kind of the lesser of two evils. Recycled boring drum patterns are matched with Casio keys and really basic sampling. I don’t know, perhaps I am unfairly judging against their past releases, but consider that’s the fan base this will appeal to I think it’s a fair thing to do! Harking back to the first two albums, the drum patters were tight, the live instrumentation was innovative, and as such gave the lyrics a platform to star on. On Humboldt Beginnings the beats are ok but there isn’t a single feature to set them apart from the myriad of other releases coming out weekly.

For me Humboldt Beginnings was a disappointment from start to finish. SpaceboogieX has some potential production wise, but the MCs need to either rethink their style or hang up the mic. Definitely not one for old skool fans of The Pharcyde, but give a listen if you have never heard of the group, your virgin ears may find some enjoyment.