Sometimes I think Dr. Dre is The Chronic (1992), and his G-Funk was always leaning too much on the P-Funk, so to speak. But here is some of his production work from 1988, J.J. Fad's "Supersonic," an old school Boom bap girl group sound produced to perfection; reached 22 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Duly noted in collaboration with Dj Yella and the Arabian Prince but, at any rate, it is Dre with a crafty minimalist model of early '80s rap and NOT The Chronic. The J.J. Fad trio look underage but they show up later in the video as older ladies, appearing proud of the legacy of their song, "Supersonic," as they should be. They still perform too or did on the internet as middle age looking ladies, a girl group trio having fun on stage at a karaoke bar. I'd just arrived in Seattle in 1988 and I at first thought J.J. Fad were from Seattle and this was a promotional number for the local NBA team the Seattle SuperSonics, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. I could swear the song was used in Sonic promotions around that time but I can't find any evidence for that on the internet. At any rate, the hiphop-ya-don't-stop gleeful nonsense purity of "Supersonic" bubbles over with the vitality of "Rapper's Delight" and all the best rapping in the early 1980s; heretofore to be known as Hip Hop or rap before RunDMC or RBRD. Sugar Hill, Tommy Boy, Enjoy! Turning out the disco on the block, plug and play, turntables, sampling, drum machines, the rhyming is bold, seductive, full of braggadocio and swagger and often very funny. Turns out J.J. Fad were really from LA and "Supersonic" an early Dr. Dre production masterpiece, if late to the RBRD party and still refining the retrosheen that would become his bread and butter. "Supersonic" is a Hip Hop classic, anyway you slice it. J.J. Fad, MC J.B. (Juana), Baby-D (Dania), and Sassy C (Michelle), on the mic, 1988. Party in the House. Meanwhile, the SuperSonics, Bernie Bickerstaff's version of the '88 Sonics, finished 3rd in the Pacific Division that year and traded away Scottie Pippen for Olden Polynice in the draft. We need those Secret Base Dorktown guys to do one of their historical docs on the Seattle SuperSonics. Even so JJ Fad's "Supersonics" were a positive force vibe with that Supersonic team in '88, X-Man, Michael Cage, Dale Ellis, Nate McMillan, Derrick McKey, Avery Johnson, so much potential on that team! Not to be. But there will always be JJ Fad's "Supersonic."
How does it feel to be on your own? Sifting through the rubble, bringing up the dead, reassembling history from below.
"Soul Flower," The Pharcyde (1992)
Overlooked. Indomitable party jam from 1992. Now is the time of year to try it on.
Pharcyde a west coast branch of the De La Soul/A Tribe Called Quest school of Native Tongue golden age hiphop. That's my golden age, anyway, Run-D.M.C. to Pharcyde, 1984ish to 1992ish. I've always felt like The Chronic in '92 changed everything, not for the better. It set the blinged out gangster stage that ended in the violent deaths of Biggie and Tupac Shakur. I kept up with and liked the G-funk singles but something felt lost in the imperial chart busting warlord melodrama of the hiphop world after '92. But much bigger authorities than I consider, by contrast, the whole 1990s the real golden age of hip hop, and the second half even better than the first half.
I'm not ready to draw that conclusion yet but admit one reason I can't is because I wasn't listening to as much hiphop after 1992. Why? I got married. Playing blustering raps about "niggas" and "bitches" when hanging out with the wife didn't work. I tried a few times on car trips. The Wu-Tang Clan was too much cursing.
So I'm still learning about a huge explosion in local underground hip hop after the Chronic that goes way beyond what I knew. Just in Seattle. Vitamin D. Tribal Productions. 14 Fathoms Deep. Do The Math (1996). I'm sure the herb helps but the laidback grooves, the warped late night soul classics vibe, the cut-up funk of the serious hiphop DJ head, works for me. I dig, as we used to say.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, bumped into Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde again recently. It is Daisy Age hiphop gold and not to be missed by fans of the genre. Pharcyde keep that funky group music making thang going; Sly and George Clinton proud godfathers. And there's more than "Soul Flower" on the album: "Officer," "Ya Mama," "Passing Me By," "I'm That Type of Nigga" (which I usually don't go for, as I've already established, but they are so funny and on the nose).
Here's a version with The Brand New Heavies featuring The Pharcyde from the same year, '92, but maybe came out before Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde: