Pharcyde is down 1, but upbeat

The Pharcyde's Romye Robinson is here to set the record straight.
By now, anyone who follows the Pharcyde closely has probably heard that group member Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart has left the Los Angeles-based crew. But if Internet gossip speaks any truth, one is led to believe a reunion is already on the horizon.
So, what's the deal?
"It's like a real separation," says Robinson (a k a "Bootie Brown"), speaking from the group's north Hollywood studio. "It was like, "You do your thing and we'll do our thing,' because I can honestly say things were up in the air. People were fighting and all kinds of stuff. A lot of air had to be cleared."
Robinson isn't shy about clearing up some of the rumors, either. One such rumor claims that Stewart departed because he felt group mate Tre "Slimkid 3" Hardson "sold out" after making a brief cameo on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.
But that's all nonsense, Robinson says. It was a matter of musical differences.
"His directions were different in the things he wants to do compared to everybody else," says Robinson, who along with Hardson and Imani Wilcox form the trio.
Ironically, the existing members were actually the original members of a dance group, Two for Two, before hooking up with Stewart in 1992 to record the spaced-out Pharcyde debut, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. Released at the peak of "gangsta" rap's popularity, Bizarre Ride, with its comic-book-like atmosphere, shone through the monotonous gangster drivel emerging from the West Coast.
Animated singles such as Ya Mama (a song dedicated to the long line of "your mama" jokes) and the playful love ballad Passin' Me By, plus two stints on Lollapalooza, helped Bizarre Ride eventually attain gold status (500,000 sold).
But the group took folks for a different ride in 1995 with the follow-up, Labcabincalifornia. Three years older - and three years wiser - a matured Pharcyde lashed out at the shady ways of the music biz on tracks such as Devil Music:
"Everytime I step to the microphone / I put my soul on two-inch reels that I don't even own."
"It took us five years to get signed, so we were all thrilled and excited, and that's what came off on the record (Bizarre Ride)," Robinson says. "And there's not even a care of worrying about the money. But once reality sets in . . ."
In order to keep track of the greenbacks, the group has formed its own independent label. Currently, the members are in the studio recording a new album, temporarily scheduled for a January release.
Robinson admits that Fatlip's absence in the studio has had an effect on the group and may have an effect on some fans.
"All you can do is just try to hope that the person will listen to you again and say, "Well, they're kind of cool without Fatlip,' " Robinson says.
And with all of the directional differences behind the members, the Pharcyde - what's left of it, anyway - is moving forward.
"It would be foolish for me to say we're going to be the same Pharcyde working with three members," Robinson says. "It's not going to be the same, but we're the same people."

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