The group is perhaps best known for the hit singles "Drop", "Passin' Me By" and "Runnin''", as well as their first album, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. Pharcyde continues to tour and record, both collaboratively and in solo projects—the most recent being Hardson's collaborative EP with the award-winning DJ Nu-Mark (of Jurassic 5) released in 2014 on Delicious Vinyl.
Pharcyde group members Slimkid3, Bootie Brown, and Imani met as dancers in the late 1980s and dancing was their main ambition as late as 1990. Around this time, Imani and Slimkid3 were in a group called "As Is" and later a group called the "Play Brothers", whilst Bootie Brown was a backup dancer for Fatlip (Fatlip being the last member to join the group). Bootie Brown recalls that their earlier dancing careers influenced their rapping – "sometimes the way I rap is almost like the way I used to dance". The group met Reggie Andrews, a local high-school music teacher who worked with the Dazz Band and Rick James, and who was a major musical influence on their debut album. The group also met producer J-Swift around this time, as he was Reggie Andrews's "star pupil" according to the book Check the Technique.
Though Humboldt Beginnings is to date the last Pharcyde album, its members have since been keeping busy with various contributions and projects. A compilation of The Pharcyde was released in 2005, titled Sold My Soul: The Remix & Rarity Collection, featuring a number of remixes and rare songs. Former member Fatlip released his solo debut in 2005, titled The Loneliest Punk, and Tre Hardson's second full-length solo album SLIMKID3's Cafe was released on April 4, 2006.
2012 saw the twentieth anniversary of The Pharcyde's debut Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, and to mark the event Fatlip and SlimKid3 teamed up with the album's producers, J-Swift and L.A. Jay, as well as record label Delicious Vinyl, to play the album in its entirety at a tribute show at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. The performance was intended to be a one-off, but due to overwhelming success and reception, the group began touring the show 'Bizarre Ride Live', and, along with MC K-Natural, working on original music under the moniker The Bizarre Ride. In December of that year, The Pharcyde released the Amerigo Gazaway-produced "Still Got Love (Bizarre Tribe Megamix)" garnering significant praise. 2015 marked the twentieth anniversary of Labcabincalifornia, resulting in a similar tour through Europe and Japan. The group continued touring Europe through 2017.
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The Pharcyde Lyrics
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I tell you tell you, tell you what's up
When you sign a crossed line, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time yo it's jiggaboo time
When you're runnin out of lyrics, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time it's jiggaboo time
When you don't have a plan, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
You're rappin' for the white man, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
When you don't have soul, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
Nigga when there's pork in your bowl, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
So lts and lots of pork in your bowl, jiggaboo time
A real big bowl of fat, wait a minute wait a minute
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
Aow! Show me them teeth baby
Okay could you bug your eyes just a little bit?
Yeah, straighten that ass out
Yeah, yeah, that's cool, I mean you know, real ghetto
Okay we'll shoot the video over here
We need umm like a street area, y'know, toothless
And homeless, wearin' gold chains, all that shit
Fuck all that bullshit!
I ain't going out like no sucker
But we're all jiggaboos in our own way
So, might as well just get paid, and say, fuck it, y'know
The Pharcyde's song "It's Jigaboo Time" is a satirical take on the derogatory term 'Jigaboo,' which refers to black people who are seen as buffoonish or foolish. The song is a commentary on the music industry, the pressures of commercial success, and the ways in which black artists have been exploited for their talent. The lyrics touch on multiple themes, including the pressure to perform for money, the expectation to act a certain way in music videos, and the expectation to appeal to a white audience.
The opening lines of the song sets the tone of the entire track, “When you sign a crossed line, it's jiggaboo time.” This suggests that the moment an artist crosses a line and sacrifices their creative integrity, they become a 'Jigaboo.' The lines "When you're running out of lyrics, it's jiggaboo time" and "When you don't have soul, it's jiggaboo time" speak to the pressure that artists face to produce hit songs and conform to expectations about their identity and style.
The closing lines of the song are a commentary on the complexity of the issue, as it suggests that we're all 'Jigaboos' in our own way, and that perhaps the best way to navigate the industry is to accept it for what it is and focus on making money.
Line by Line Meaning
Aiyyo yo yo I tell you what's up
Hey, I'm about to tell you something important
When you sign a crossed line, it's jiggaboo time
If you mess up, it's going to look bad and people might think less of you
When you're runnin out of lyrics, it's jiggaboo time
If you can't think of anything to say, you're going to look like a bad rapper
Yo, when you rappin for the money, it's jiggaboo time
If you're only doing this for the money, people might not think you're sincere
When you don't have a plan, it's jiggaboo time
If you don't know what you're doing, people might think you're embarassed
You're rappin' for the white man, it's jiggaboo time
If you're pandering to a white audience, you might be seen as a sellout
When you don't have soul, it's jiggaboo time
If you're not genuine in what you're saying, people might think you're a bad artist
Nigga when there's pork in your bowl, it's jiggaboo time
Eating too much unhealthy food can make you look foolish
So lts and lots of pork in your bowl, jiggaboo time
If your actions line up with stereotypes, people might stereotype you as a jiggaboo
It's jiggaboo time, it's jiggaboo time
This situation is becoming embarassing
But we're all jiggaboos in our own way
We all have our flaws and stereotypes that people associate with us
So, might as well just get paid, and say, fuck it, y'know
If people are going to stereotype us anyways, we might as well make money off of it and not worry about what they think
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DERRICK LEMEL STEWART, EMANDU IMANI RASHAAN WILCOX, ROMYE ROBINSON, TREVANT JERMAINE HARDSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind