Pharcyde reunites to round out the most potent Rock the Bells lineup yet

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 21, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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It's easily the best Rock the Bells lineup ever, with Nas headlining on the release of his brilliant self-titled album that was supposed to have a different name: the word that starts with N that we can't print.

Now in its fifth year, the pre-eminent hip-hop festival is stacked with the genre's royalty, from a reunited Tribe Called Quest to a handful of Wu-Tang Clan members to De La Soul. But some of the biggest buzz is coming from the reunion of the core of The Pharcyde. Fatlip (Derrick Stewart), Slimkid3 (Tre Hardson) and Imani (Emandu Wilcox) are back in the fold.

Hardson and Wilcox spoke about the tour.

This reunion caught fans by surprise. Why now?

Hardson: The lineup was kinda dope. It goes on every year . . . I've known (emcee) Supernatural for a long time and he said "Hey, y'all should get together . . ." The time was right. With Tribe Called Quest, Nas, the whole lineup, it was just the perfect time to do it.

Wilcox: For me it's dope. For me it's Afrika Bambaataa, the beginning of hip-hop. He's on the tour, to groups like The Cool Kids, Kidz In the Hall . . . it's like a platform. A lot of eras are represented on this tour.

Any roadblocks to reforming?

Wilcox: It wasn't like anybody hated each other. Personal differences or whatever. . . . this was just a chance to see if there's going to be a chance. You gotta stop somewhere. It's like recharging the battery. We'll see where it goes from here.

Even with different lineups the name The Pharcyde has kept a thread of integrity. How did that happen?

Hardson: It's because of how we were brought up. There are certain formulas, certain respect to the energies and the spirit that bring things together. We honor that at all times. That's probably what you guys are feeling. At present we're being respectful to the spiritual side of what we have before the music. So we can get back on the good foot, you know?

Why have tours like this not worked in the past?

Hardson: I think maybe people need the proper financial backing to make something this big work. You have situations that need to be promoted properly and marketed properly. . . . they have the ability to pull their sources together to make this happen in a very good, professional and peaceful way.

Your Denver show coincides with the DNC. Was that on purpose?

Hardson: I really don't have any idea about that.

Wilcox: Things just happen like that. This is just Nas' time right now. Things are just lining up for him. It just happened to be perfect place, perfect time.

Hardson: When you think about it, right now is definitely a beautiful time for everyone in America to take on their own responsibilities and take part in a positive movement going forward.

Music has again taken a role in this election.

Hardson: Music has always been music. Music's whole purpose is to get people through what they're going through . . . it's what we do, honoring ourselves and dancing along with it.

Wilcox: When you said "again" what did you mean by "again"?

It seemed to go away from politics for a while.

Wilcox: Music having an impact, listening to artists, finding something in music that addresses society - (that) never stopped in the music. Not really. If you like the music or not . . . If it wasn't for 2 Live Crew - they had a big impact on people having freedom of speech. Every generation has someone who's going to speak up and say something . . . music don't stop. It was the Beatles, James Brown, Miles Davis. Always gonna be someone leading the generation and have an impact whether you like the music or not.

What's next for The Pharcyde?

Wilcox: We haven't been together for 10 years. The first thing is everybody says, "You should get together, you should get together." We get together and they say, "You should do an album." It's a possibility. I just wanna enjoy this . . . you can't just get back in the groove. It takes time to be around and get used to it. Tre has a way he works in the studio. We all have the way we're doing stuff. Right now we're on the Rock the Bells tour.

How has the tour been?

Hardson: Incredible. I think they're really happy, really overwhelmed. The crowd response has been really beautiful, to be honest. One thing leads to another. That's what their heart is screaming out. One of their hip-hop heroes are back in . . . what do you call the superheroes? The Justice League. Everyone's back in the game again. That's a positive.

How does the political rap of Nas and Immortal Technique affect the tone?

Hardson: It's an even balance. It's the perfect balance. A little bit of waking people up, a little bit of partying.

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A Tribe Called Quest

* You know them because: The pioneers of alternative hip-hop fused jazz with their rap and ripped off a series of genre classics such as Can I Kick It?, I Left My Wallet in El Segundo, Scenario and Check the Rhime before disbanding in 1996.

* What they've been doing lately: Q-Tip says not to expect a new album from the recently reunited group. "It will never, ever happen," he told Eurweb.com. "We don't want to be one of those groups that comes back 15 years later and puts out an album that's not that good. It's why the Beatles never got back together," he said.

Nas

* You know him because: He's been at the forefront of hip-hop with critical and commercial powerhouses such as Illmatic, It Was Written, I Am . . . and Nastradamus. He also spent a good part of this decade in a highly public feud with Jay Z - before joining forces and signing to his Def Jam label.

* What he's been doing lately: Promoting - and explaining - his latest self-titled album, a pointed creed on race relations that was originally going to be titled the verboten N word. Controversy aside, the album debuted at the top of the charts earlier this summer.

Mos Def

* You know him because: He's tasted success in both emceeing and acting, having been nominated for Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy Awards. But despite the multimedia success, Def doesn't play it safe, as he showed with the controversial (though still popular) The Rape Over that attacked the music industry.

* What he's been doing lately: He co-starred with Jack Black in Be Kind Rewind and allegedly has been putting the finishing touches on The Escapist, a long-promised and oft-delayed disc that will feature guest appearances from Talib Kweli and Q-Tip. He's been breaking out new songs while on tour this summer.

Method Man and Redman

* You know them because: Method Man's mush-mouthed roots are in the Wu-Tang Clan, while Redman hails from Def Squad; together, they've been more mainstream, with a movie (How High) and an ill-fated TV show (Method & Red) that died after just nine episodes on Fox.

* What they've been doing lately: The duo reportedly is working on its new album Blackout 2, and filming of How High 2 is set to begin in 2009.

Raekwon and Ghostface

* You know them because: They came from the projects to help helm the Wu Tang-Clan, hip-hop's quintessential conglomerate of the '90s.

* What they've been doing lately: Squabbling with RZA over the future of WTC. Also, Ghostface is allegedly working on an R&B album with a street bent.

De La Soul

* You know them because: The trio was once hailed as the future of hip-hop, thanks to its late-'80s mix of funk, soul, pop, jazz, reggae and psychedelia.

* What they've been doing lately: The trio will be among a storied group of hip-hop legends (including Naughty By Nature and Cypress Hill) to be feted at the Oct. 7 VH1 Hip Hop Honors.

Rakim

* You know him because: Entertainment Weekly once hailed his and Eric B's Paid in Full as the top hip-hop album of all time, saying it "made hip-hop a true art form, doing for rap what Bob Dylan did for rock in the mid-60s."

* What he's been doing lately: Presumably still working to release the long-awaited and oft-delayed The Seventh Seal, which is to hip-hop what Chinese Democracy is to rock 'n' roll.

Immortal Technique

* You know him because: The Harlem hip-hop pundit has cemented his reputation as a preacher of political causes, be it poverty, religion, racism or life in the projects.

* What he's been doing lately: Promoting his latest disc, The 3rd World, produced by Green Lantern as "essentially an album that's put together like a mix tape."

Rock the Bells

* When: Noon Saturday

* Where: Fiddler's Green

* Tickets: $24.50 to $74.50; VIP packages up to $174.50

* Information: 303-830-8497 or ticketmaster.com

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