Today in Hip-Hop — November 14: Labcabincalifornia Turns 31, and Rev Run’s Name Is in the Fine Print

November 14, 1995. The Pharcyde released Labcabincalifornia, their second album, on Delicious Vinyl through Capitol. It turns 31 today. The best jewel is in the fine print. The booklet’s sample clearance for “Runnin’” lists Run-DMC’s “Rock Box,” written by L. Smith, D. McDaniels and J. Simmons. J. Simmons is Joseph Simmons, Rev Run, born November 14, 1964. So the album landed on Run’s 31st birthday, with his name in the credits. He turns 62 today.

Five Beats “Produced for Ephcy”

Three years after Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, the group came back slower, moodier and more inward: fame, groupies, things falling apart. The credits explain why it sounds that way. Jay Dee, years before the world called him J Dilla, produced “Bullshit,” “Runnin’,” “Splattitorium,” “Somethin’ That Means Somethin’” and “Drop.” The liner notes say all five were “produced for Ephcy Productions.” He also co-produced “Y?” with Bootie Brown and gets a drums credit on the “All Live” interlude.

“Runnin’” is the one everybody knows. It sets Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfá’s bossa nova “Saudade Vem Correndo” under that “Rock Box” vocal and peaked at No. 55 on the Hot 100. That was a Queens rap record from 1984 laid over Brazilian bossa nova guitar by a young producer from Detroit, for four MCs out of LA. That’s hip-hop lineage in one loop. We mapped where it sits in his catalog in our J Dilla production discography, and the group’s whole family tree in Pharcyde members.

Shaolin in the Samples, Big Boy on the Mic

Two more receipts most people miss. Fatlip produced “Devil Music,” and the clearance credits a sample from Wu-Tang Clan’s “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’,” a Staten Island record that was barely two years old at the time. And “The Hustle,” a Bootie Brown production, features Big Boy, credited as writer K. Alexander. That’s Kurt Alexander, two years before he took over the Power 106 morning show and became the morning voice of LA radio.

The album didn’t match Bizarre Ride’s sales, and a lot of critics called it a sophomore slump. Then Dilla’s name grew, and the record grew with it. In December 2025, Craft Recordings reissued it as a 30th anniversary edition.

Wear It

Thirty-one years on, Labcabincalifornia is still the album heads use to explain what Dilla did before anybody knew his name. We made a Pharcyde Labcabincalifornia tee for the ones who read the sample clearances before they press play.

Also Today in Hip-Hop

• 1964: Rev Run is born in Queens (62 today). Joseph Simmons co-wrote “Rock Box” with DMC and producer Larry Smith. It was the guitar-heavy Profile single from 1984 that Dilla reached for eleven years later. Our Rock Box in Hollis tee is the tribute.
• 2003: Jay-Z, The Black Album (23 years). It was sold as the farewell, and the release was moved up to Friday, November 14 to get ahead of an internet leak. The full story and every producer are in our Black Album breakdown.
• 2006: Akon, Konvicted (20 years). His second album turns 20, with Eminem on “Smack That” and Snoop Dogg on “I Wanna Love You.”

Stay creative — The Custom Creative Team

Jon Jones