Plantlife delivers funk that feels both fresh and steeped in classic textures, no matter whether the chosen strain leans electro, hip-hop-infused, or pop-leaning, yet the group’s foundation remains locked inside conventional hip-hop structures and production methods. Late in the 1990s, producer Panda One—who had been supplying beats for West Coast indie rappers Tha Animal Pharm—and MC Jack Splash began working together in Los Angeles without any intention of issuing recordings. Disillusioned by what they saw as a stalled hip-hop scene, the pair withdrew completely, shaping tracks solely according to their own instincts. Once DJ Rashida the Beautiful, fresh from a period alongside Tricky, and additional singer Dena Deadly entered the picture, the spontaneous funk sessions could no longer stay confined to private bedrooms. The quartet’s first completed project, Remembering Back to Now…, was prepared for a 2003 release, but dissatisfaction led them to scrap it and start over. Their proper introduction arrived with the widely praised The Return of Jack Splash in 2004. Presented as an audacious frontman who blended equal parts Prince and André 3000, Jack Splash addressed themes of love, sex, and politics through a raw, gritty falsetto. Critics and musicians across genres—Mos Def, the Chemical Brothers, the Roots’ ?uestlove, and Vikter Duplaix among them—responded with enthusiastic comparisons and acclaim. The year closed on a peak when Gilles Peterson named The Return of Jack Splash Album of the Year at BBC Radio One’s Worldwide Music Awards. A comparably ambitious successor, Time Traveller, followed in 2008.
