The Pharcyde Is Suing The Pharcyde?

Being a member of a legendary hip-hop group like the Pharcyde is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because of the legacy that the group leaves behind after a lengthy career. The music is timeless, and the fans never forget. However, the curse of being a member of a legendary group is that a solo artist will almost always get swallowed up in the shadow of the group's legacy. Sure, there are exceptions such as Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest or Sean Price from Heltah Skeltah, but these exceptions are few and far between.

As a result, you have incidents such as today's revelation that two members of The Pharcyde, the classic west coast rap group, sued the other two members of the group for breach of contract, trademark infringement, and unfair competition. Apparently, in 1997 the whole group signed a contract which granted the "names, likenesses, and other identifying material" of The Pharcyde to Bootie Brown Romye) and Imani. In short, this means that only those two guys are allowed to call themselves "The Pharcyde."

Brown and Imani are accusing the other two members, Fatlip and Slimkid3, of trying to book concerts as official "The Pharcyde" shows, which they are not legally allowed to do. Neither Fatlip nor Slimkid3 have publicly responded to the lawsuit; however, Slimkid3's Twitter profile says the following: "formerly of The Pharcyde."