Music Class: The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By

playahaitian

Rising Star
Certified Pussy Poster
* There is so much real emotion in this song, a generation of hip hop fans identify with this song especially during their formative years. Lyrically on point the sample is timeless (J-Swift production) and even the damn video is a classic.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QjsPG0Kspxo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​

[Verse 1: Bootie Brown]
Now in my younger days I used to sport a shag
When I went to school I carried lunch in a bag
With an apple for my teacher cause I knew I'd get a kiss
Always got mad when the class was dismissed
But when it was in session, I always had a question
I would raise my hand to make her stand, come to my desk and
Help me with my problem, it was never much
Just a trick, to smell her scent and try to sneak a touch
Oh, how I wish I could hold her hand and give her a hug
She was married to the man, he was a thug
His name was Lee, he drove a Z
He'd pick her up from school promptly at three o'clock
I was on her jock, yes indeedy I wrote graffiti on the bus
First I'd write her name then carve a plus
With my name last, on the looking glass
I seen her yesterday but still I had to let her pass

[Hook]
She keeps on passing me by
(Never the less, I'll say it again)

[Verse 2: SlimKid 3]
When I dream of fairytales I think of me and Shelly
See she's my type of hype and I can't stand when brothers tell me
That I should quit chasin' and look for something better
But the smile that she shows makes me a go-getter
I haven't gone as far as asking if I could get with her
I just play it by ear and hope she gets the picture
I'm shooting for her heart, got my finger on the trigger
She could be my broad, and I could be her nigga
But, all I can do is stare
Back as kids we used to kiss when we played truth or dare
Now she's more sophisticated, highly edu-ma-cated
Not at all overrated, I think I need a prayer
To get in her book and it looks rather dry
I guess a twinkle in her eye is just a twinkle in her eye
Although she's crazy stepping, I'll try to stop her stride
Cause I won't have no more of this passing me by

[Verse 3: Imani]
Time for me to voice my opinion can't be pretending she didn't have me
Sprung like a chicken, chasing my tail like a doggie
She was kind of like a star, thinking I was like a fan
Damn, she looked good, down side: she had a man
He was a rooty-toot, a nincompoop
She told me soon your little birdie's gonna fly the coop
She was a flake like corn, and I was born not to understand
By letting her pass I had proved to be a better man

[Hook]

[Verse 4: Fatlip]
Now there she goes again, the dopest Ethiopian
And now the world around me be gets moving in slow motion when
When-ever she happens to walk by - why does the apple of my eye
Overlook and disregard my feelings no matter how much I try?
Wait, no, I did not really pursue my little princess with persistence
And I was so low-key that she was unaware of my existence
From a distance I desired, secretly admired her
Wired her a letter to get her, and it went
My dear, my dear, my dear, you do not know me but I know you very well
Now let me tell you about the feelings I have for you
When I try or make some sort of attempt, I symp
Damn I wish I wasn't such a wimp
Cause then I would let you know that I love you so
And if I was your man then I would be true
The only lying I would do is in the bed with you
Then I signed sincerely, the one who loves you dearly, PS Love Me Tender
The letter came back three days later: Return to Sender, damn

[Hook]
 
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xoXyO3XSIh4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​
 
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AQHtPC7OFIE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​
 
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_1XE5htzD00" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​
 
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wzkaMJT72ow" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​
 
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0-6wrIiJ9jw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​
 
* bonus

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/O0qO4XbihUs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​
 
what.... mah nigga Playahaitain taking me back once again....! aye young i was like prolly 10-11 when dis jawn dropped same time that Digable Planets was rocking the radio.....I believe deez two songs ushered in my pure love for HIP HOP..... I aint know shit about women etc etc i was wet behind the ears but I knew what deez dudes was spitting was for my soul......! high 5 my nigga I think I just shed a tear NO TYLER PERRY :lol: buwhahahhaa
 
I remember EXACTLY when and where I heard this for the first time!!! WTLC(black radio station in Indy) had a hip hop hour every night. My brother and I would fight over who got to record on the stereo, lol. My brother was recording, but he was younger and was sloppy with his pause/play/record, so he missed the first part of the song. But I remember the DJ saying he was going to play the song again, and thehen he did I was ready. That shit was straight FIRE...that weekend, I saved my lunch money and went to the record store and bought the singles and the whole tape. I was REALLY bugged when I found out that they were from Cali!! I was a East coast hip-hop fan, so I was shocked. But like the OP said, lots of emotion and memories are connected to GOOD hip-hop....
 
This was classic shit. I mean, Pharcyde was West Coast, right? Being from Cleveland we werent particular, East, West, South, whatever - we listened to it. Music was music, not all bragging and boasting. Storytelling, shit, lyrics meant something. We all had a girl we wanted to talk to that made this story realer than real. She keeps on passing me by...Raps version of "Just my Imagination" in a way.
 
Shit was nice and the layers of samples? Brilliant!!

Don't think they made much cash off it though, the clearances must have been $$$ :lol:
 
Hardest blend ever
Sons of nat turner

Pharcyde blended with das effects and Bonita applebUm
If I can only get my hand on that tape
 
truth.com

and hip hop like this is much needed

:yes:

And this came out when hardcore rap was REALLY hardcore. But Pharcyde was created their own lane and the corporate owners of radio and the label didn't block them or try to force them to conform to the shit that was already popping.
The song would hit now because it's got that r&b touch to it, something that not just popular now but a little overdone (and not always done well). These cats were ahead of their time.
 

I have never understood how somebody starts smoking crack. I'm serious. Crackheads have been a joke, & a bad one crack came on the scene in the 80's. Calling people skinny crackhead and you ugly crackhead and your mama is a crackhead, for somebody in the 90s 2000's and even now to start smoking crack for the first time must be a damn fool. Props to him for breaking it but that's the stupid stuff to even get started on. you know what the end result is going to be. You have seen it time after time after time. I'm glad I stopped with marijuana and was never even considering doing anything else
 
The art of punctuating a story. Those last bars make you want to listen again. Good shit.:dance:
 
I have never understood how somebody starts smoking crack. I'm serious. Crackheads have been a joke, & a bad one crack came on the scene in the 80's. Calling people skinny crackhead and you ugly crackhead and your mama is a crackhead, for somebody in the 90s 2000's and even now to start smoking crack for the first time must be a damn fool. Props to him for breaking it but that's the stupid stuff to even get started on. you know what the end result is going to be. You have seen it time after time after time. I'm glad I stopped with marijuana and was never even considering doing anything else

not to derail my own thread but it is usually introduced to you by someone you 'love' or in a relationship with. They see their boyfriend/girlfriend on it and they curious and want to understand them 'save' them and then they get hooked and its too late. Probably between that and heroin the WORST (meth aint no joke either)
 
not to derail my own thread but it is usually introduced to you by someone you 'love' or in a relationship with. They see their boyfriend/girlfriend on it and they curious and want to understand them 'save' them and then they get hooked and its too late. Probably between that and heroin the WORST (meth aint no joke either)

you know you're right with this. And watching the movie Ray Regina King's character did the same thing that you talked about above. I understand but just wow. I could never, but people who do this are typically and a weaker or vulnerable state of mind

back to the music, this song just bumps and the samples posted above are awesome
 
you know you're right with this. And watching the movie Ray Regina King's character did the same thing that you talked about above. I understand but just wow. I could never, but people who do this are typically and a weaker or vulnerable state of mind

back to the music, this song just bumps and the samples posted above are awesome

i hear you but thinking about it it really isn't a derail...

how could a mind that craft a classic timeless song like THIS fall victim to such a sad lonely and destructive decision?

They say the true artist has to suffer and feel pain...

(return to sender)

damn.
 
i hear you but thinking about it it really isn', I remember assembly line from the five heartbeats a derail...

how could a mind that craft a classic timeless song like THIS fall victim to such a sad lonely and destructive decision?

They say the true artist has to suffer and feel pain...

(return to sender)

damn.

the line that artist has to suffer an enure pain to become a better artist, I remember a summer line in the five heartbeats when Donald Duck Matthews heard a critique.

(return to sender)

Damn

that line was very powerful one as well. To work up the nerve as long as that takes to finally say what you're feeling in a letter work up the courage, Scour your brain for the right words naturally convey what you're mind thinking had to have it all wasted with the letter stamped return to sender - damn
 
the line that artist has to suffer an enure pain to become a better artist, I remember a summer line in the five heartbeats when Donald Duck Matthews heard a critique.

(return to sender)

Damn

that line was very powerful one as well. To work up the nerve as long as that takes to finally say what you're feeling in a letter work up the courage, Scour your brain for the right words naturally convey what you're mind thinking had to have it all wasted with the letter stamped return to sender - damn

and the fact that the line resonated with EVERYONE

especially young Black men in the hood.

who at the time were characterized as emotionless.
 
we live in a society where we are told or talk to hide our emotions. We can't cry at movies, even though I don't give a damn and I do. I was balling at best man holiday though not loudly, that was a dusty theater. many of us never learn the fine line between being tough and showing our emotions and it comes to the detriment and many of our relationships, and interpersonal relationships.we don't know what to do with our emotions because either way someone is calling us either too hard or a punk

and the fact that the line resonated with EVERYONE

especially young Black men in the hood.

who at the time were characterized as emotionless.
 
I have never understood how somebody starts smoking crack. I'm serious. Crackheads have been a joke, & a bad one crack came on the scene in the 80's. Calling people skinny crackhead and you ugly crackhead and your mama is a crackhead, for somebody in the 90s 2000's and even now to start smoking crack for the first time must be a damn fool. Props to him for breaking it but that's the stupid stuff to even get started on. you know what the end result is going to be. You have seen it time after time after time. I'm glad I stopped with marijuana and was never even considering doing anything else

Pressure. Back then, a lot of the 2nd generation of LA cat's couldn't take it.

Volume 10, The Nonce, P.E.A.C.E from fellowship a bunch of the cali 2nd generation (LA) fell prey to drugs and believing their own hype.

Shit was crazy back then. The 2nd generation was trying to distance themselves from the NWA/Ice Cube/Ice T/ DJ Quik/CMW/Snoop style and did a good job of it.

But, everyone knows once you get on, and the spotlight hits the pressure is a bitch. :smh:

Not to mention ego is a mutha fucka.

I remember Volume 10 coming to my crib to demo, then getting his deal, then saying fuck promo tour and falling off. Then back at my crib with like 10 diss songs for Ice cube sounding like he's trying to get back with the Heartbeats.

[Eddie King Jr]Pistol grip pump.....on my lap.....at all tiiiiiiimes!!!![/Eddie King Jr]

:lol::smh::lol::smh::lol::smh::lol:
 
I remember Volume 10. Back in what, 94/95. 11th & 12th grade year, man. Pistol Grip Pump was the shit. Glad I never fell prey to drugs, man. Never been one to be pressured into doing anything real bad. I had limits. Some people around me, couple cousins, got in really bad. How you go from selling it to using is beyond me. YOu see the fiends and serve to them and then become them?

Musicians get high all the time and many of them fall off because of it, even with immense talent. Some have long careers anyway (Marvin Gaye), but most end up like Volume 10 - a has been before they ever really were. I never heard another song from Volume 10 BUT Pistol Grip Pump.

&N LordSinister I AM CLOWNING the Eddie King Jr. "Pistol grip pump.....on my lap.....at all tiiiiiiimes!!!!"

Nights like this...I wish...that raindrops would fa..alll..aaallll. :lol:
Pressure. Back then, a lot of the 2nd generation of LA cat's couldn't take it.

Volume 10, The Nonce, P.E.A.C.E from fellowship a bunch of the cali 2nd generation (LA) fell prey to drugs and believing their own hype.

Shit was crazy back then. The 2nd generation was trying to distance themselves from the NWA/Ice Cube/Ice T/ DJ Quik/CMW/Snoop style and did a good job of it.

But, everyone knows once you get on, and the spotlight hits the pressure is a bitch. :smh:

Not to mention ego is a mutha fucka.

I remember Volume 10 coming to my crib to demo, then getting his deal, then saying fuck promo tour and falling off. Then back at my crib with like 10 diss songs for Ice cube sounding like he's trying to get back with the Heartbeats.

[Eddie King Jr]Pistol grip pump.....on my lap.....at all tiiiiiiimes!!!![/Eddie King Jr]

:lol::smh::lol::smh::lol::smh::lol:
 
This can't be hip hop cuz there's no cussin' (said, of course, with MUCH sarcasm).

Nikki Menage needz to b reschooled.
 
Back
Top