Phi-Life Cypher

DJ Nappa, Life MC and Si Phili (left to right)

Phi-Life Cypher, often abbeviated as PLC, is a British hip hop group based in Luton composed of two MCs, Si Phili (Simon Philbert) and Life MC (Martin Smith), and producer DJ Nappa (Craig Thomas Knapper). The trio was formed on 1996, and have gained fame as some of the best UK undergroud rappers and sucess on the circuit. They are best known for their accomplished stage presence, impressive freestyle abilities and frenetic rhyming.

Role in Gorillaz

Phi-Life Cypher provided the rap parts for the original version of the Gorillaz song "Clint Eastwood", later titled "Clint Eastwood (Phi Life Cypher Version)", during early 2000. However, Damon Albarn and Dan the Automator decided to use the version of the song by Del The Funky Homosapien (who was, at the time, working with Dan on the group Deltron 3030) instead for the single release. Their version's verses were based around the concept of them being three spirits possessing the band's drummer, Russel Hobbs, which is even adressed by name there, and permanent members of the band, but that idea was changed for there to be only one ghost, Del the Ghost Rapper, and during Phase 1 only. This version of the song was then included as a B-side track to Del's version's single release and was later featured on the compilation album G-Sides.

Despite this, the group was originally supposed to be featured on Gorillaz' debut album, Gorillaz, as Damon wanted various British rappers on the album, and not just one, with them having had even recorded a commercial for the album. However, according to them on an interview for the Hallelujah Monkeyz podcast, they were removed from the album by Dan the Automator shortly before its release, and only found out about it when they saw it on stores by themselves. Another song they recorded for the album was the original and previously unreleased version of "Starshine", commonly known as "Starshine (Phi Life Cypher Version)", before it was discarted and reworked into the album version, being left unmastered and unmixed. This version of the song was publically released for the first time on Phi-Life Cypher's official SoundCloud account in 2011, with the name "Starshine ft Gorillaz".

They did, however, perform their version of "Clint Eastwood" with Gorillaz during the BRIT Awards in 2001, but with some differences to their original one (this time with Damon/2-D's vocals as well and without their last strophe), as Del The Funky Homosapien was unavailable to do so during the time. The group also participated in many live tracks with Gorillaz, such as during the Gorillaz LIVE tour, the BBC Radio 1 Session in 2001, and performed live their own versions of "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House", commonly referred to as "Rock the House (Phi Life Cypher Version)" during the Live at Scala and Live at the Forum concerts. Cass Browne made a remix of "Rock the House" during the backstage of the band's first tour, which would later evolve into a proper studio track named "The Sounder". This song, which would later be released as a B-side track to the single release of "Rock the House" and be featured on G-Sides as well, featured main vocals by Life and Si Phili. Despite this, it was originally meant to be recorded with the rap group D12 instead, according to Cass Browne also on the Hallelujah Monkeyz podcast, before it was changed to PLC after D12 recorded the song "911" with them. Fittingly, Phi-Life Cypher also provided their own rap parts for "911" when it was performed live with them once at the Isle of MTV Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2002.

Musical Career

The group has had a huge influence on British Hip Hop since their beginning. Their first commercial relase was the single/EP "Baddest Man", in 1998. They have released a total of three studio albums: Millennium Metaphors (2000), Higher Forces (2003) featuring rapper Skit-Slam and Playback (2006), alongside the LP The Instrumentals (2000).

Phi-Life Cypher made it to the final of Tim Westwood's Talent 2000 competition and ripping the mic on DJ Skitz's seminal posse cut 'Fingerprints of the Gods' projected them to the upper realms of the UK hip hop scene. They have performed at various high profile Hip Hop events and festivals such as Hip Hop Kemp (Czech Republic), Peace Not War (London), The Brighton Hip Hop festival, Depurcussion (Manchester) among many others. Si Phili achieved the status of "one of the best MCs in the UK" alongside with his rhyming partner Life MC and producer DJ Nappa on the mid-2000s.

The group has appeared live on the BRIT Awards in 2001 with Gorillaz, toured with them and have been voted Best Live Act at Cambridge Kings College, along with being featured on tracks by Gorillaz themselves, Skitz, DJ Vadim and others. Thy broke up in 2013 after disputes between its members, and each one of them has since then followed their own carrers, solo or in groups, but have since made various collaborations with one another, being active to this day.

Trivia

• Both "The Sounder" and their version of "Rock the House" contained adapted and re-worked lyrics from their unreleased version of "Starshine".
• When asked if their version of "Rock the House" had been recorded on studio or if they provided vocals for any other Gorillaz song at the time, Si Phili answered that, while they did many live sessions of "Rock the House", they never recorded their version on studio.