Electric Relaxation: Bizarre Tribe - A Quest To The Pharcyde

I haven't done a music post in a while but I heard something this week that inspired me to share it. It's a great combination of two of my favorite groups of all time that embodies how creative, fun and unique they were.

"Bizarre Tribe - A Quest To The Pharcyde" is a mixtape that mixes vocals from The Pharcyde over beats from A Tribe Called Quest. Except it's not just a pure mash-up - there's live drums, recreation of the beats, original sample sources, clips from the ATCQ documentary and mixing in different songs.

For example, "Soul Flower (We Got)" has Pharcyde's "Soul Flower" rapping over Tribe's "Jazz (We Got)" and a recreation of "Butter." The song titles give you a hint of what's going to be the main mix but be prepared to hear other Tribe songs mixed in so seamlessly. That excitement is what I love about this project.

Created by Gummy Soul, a trio of DJ/producers Wally Clark and Amerigo Gazaway along with MC Kurtis Stanley, it's great for anybody who's a fan of Tribe or Pharcyde. Gazaway was the main force behind this mix and it's obvious he respects both groups' legacy as much as I do because it doesn't seem rushed or forced together with beats that seem out of place.

Even cooler that there's a tour guide similar to the one on Midnight Marauders. I also love the last song which mixes vocals from Pharcyde's "Passin Me By", Black Moon's "How Many MC's" and Tribe's "1nce Again" for a cool finale.

I kinda like that they picked Pharcyde vocals instead of Tribe's vocals. Not because I don't love Tip and Phife, but because it reminds people how underrated Imani, Bootie Brown, Fatlip and SlimKidTre are. Many of us know Tribe's beats, rhymes and life but fewer of us know how dope Bizarre Ride and Labcabincalifornia are. It's a great reminder that despite two excellent albums and some lesser ones, the Pharcyde made a great impact on the West and in hip-hop.

In a recent interview, SlimKid said that the group hoped Q-Tip would produce their 2nd album after Bizarre's producer J-Swift was deep in his addictions. Instead, Tip sent them to this unknown guy named Jay Dee and he'd produce several tracks on Labcabincalifornia. This was one of J-Dilla's first major contributions as most of us know.

This mixtape fulfills SlimKid's dream almost. As someone who loves the Pharcyde and has Tribe Called Quest as my favorite group of all time, this mixtape is so smooth, so seamless and just so cool in representing the best of both groups. It's one of the best listening experiences I've had this year and I know you'll enjoy it too.

It's a free download too so head over to their site and get your copy. They also have a clean version as well as an instrumental mix.