Chris DeLine

Blending the sounds of De La Soul with Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, last year’s Fela Soul mashup EP broke through to the mainstream where it was co-signed by the likes of MTV’s Hive, The Source and Okayplayer… not to mention NPR’s Bruce Warren who called it one of the best Bandcamp releases of the entire year. The man behind the production, Gummy Soul’s Amerigo Gazaway, is now returning with another mashup release, this time flexing his skills by combining hip hop icons the Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest.

“At a time when gangster rap ruled the airwaves, both these groups were breaking new ground musically and challenging the stereotypes of what people thought rap music to be,” explained Gazaway via email, expressing the drive to bring these two groups together. “The Pharcyde is to the West Coast what A Tribe Called Quest is to the East.”

The first taste from the album comes in the form of “Runnin’,” which features vocals from the Pharcyde’s 1995 single of the same name, while swapping J Dilla’s original production for the sounds of Tribe’s “Electric Relaxation.” The remainder of the album promises to follow suit with Gazaway combining his reinterpreted instrumentals with Pharcyde vocals. Further explaining his motivation with the project, Gazaway reflected on his roots, “My father is a jazz musician, so naturally I was drawn to ATCQ’s music from the very beginning,” he said. “And Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde was and still is one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time.

The full-length Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde will be released September 13, featuring a dozen or so brand new mashups including the likes of “Bonita Keeps on Passin’ Me By,” “We Got the Soul Flower,” and “Ya Mama and Stuff.”

[This article first appeared on Break on a Cloud.]