Fatlip

Born Derrick Stewart, Fatlip belonged to the influential underground hip-hop collective the Pharcyde before establishing himself as a solo performer. During the first half of the 1990s he was employed at various nightspots throughout Los Angeles when he assembled the Pharcyde alongside Romye "Booty Brown" Robinson, Imani Wilcox, and Tre "Slimkid" Hardson, all three of whom had previously performed with the dance ensemble known as "242." Once the quartet reached the age of twenty-one, they secured a contract with Delicious Vinyl and went on to issue three albums whose incisive rhymes and concise beats combined mainstream appeal with a persistent underground sensibility.

Creative disagreements, personal struggles, and an urge to pursue individual projects prompted Fatlip to exit the Pharcyde soon after the 1995 release of Labcabincalifornia. Working independently, he maintained his inventive approach on the whimsical debut single "What's up Fatlip?," which appeared on Prime Cuts, Vol. 1, a Delicious Vinyl anthology spotlighting new material and roster additions. Plans for a complete album under the title Revenge of the Nerd ultimately went unrealized.