''Plain Rap'' is the third studio album by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

hip hop group

The Pharcyde The Pharcyde (currently known as The Far Side) is an American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989, from South Central Los Angeles. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown ...

. The album was released on November 7, 2000, on

Delicious Vinyl Delicious Vinyl is an American independent record label founded by Matt Dike and Michael Ross in 1987 and based in Los Angeles, California. History Michael Ross was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles when he met Matt Dike, ...

Edel America Records Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and p ...

Slimkid3 Trevant Hardson (born October 5, 1970), best known by his stage name Slimkid3 (Slim Kid Tre; sometimes stylized as SlimKid3), is an American rapper from Los Angeles. He is a founding member of The Pharcyde. Career Tre Hardson began his career ...

(Tre Hardson) left the group after the release of the album. The album peaked at #157 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Production

The album contains production from Showbiz of D.I.T.C.,

J-Swift J-Swift is a Spanish music producer responsible for songs with groups on the Delicious Vinyl label. He has produced the hip hop groups The Pharcyde and The Wascals. Early life J-Swift was born Juan Manuel Martinez-Luis in 1971 in Madrid, Spain. H ...

, and the group themselves. It features lone guest

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called the album "uninspired," writing that the group "deliver their lyrics without much of the inflection and flair that made the group’s earlier material memorable." ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

'' wrote that "too often ... ''Plain Rap'' sounds like what ''Labcabins detractors unfairly accused it of being: mature and adult to the point of sounding hopelessly dull." ''

Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. Contributors and staff Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...

'' wrote that "it's not that the album is horrible--it just isn't going anywhere."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

listed " Trust" as a "choice cut."

Track listing

# " Trust" 4:42 # "Network (feat.

)" 5:08 # "LA" 3:24 # "Somethin'" 4:52 # "Misery" 5:10 # "Blaze" 3:33 # "Rush" 3:12 # "Sock Skit" 1:18 # "Guestlist" 3:51 # "Evolution" 4:02 # "Front Line 5:08 # "World" 5:48 # "Trust (Remix)" 4:51

Singles

References

{{Authority control 2000 albums The Pharcyde albums Albums produced by Showbiz (producer)