"Passin' Me By" is a song by American

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

group

The Pharcyde The Pharcyde is an American hip hop group, formed in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles in 1989. The original four members of the group are Imani (rapper), Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson ...

, released in March 18, 1993 through Delicious Vinyl Records. The song was the second single released from the group's 1992 debut album ''

Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde ''Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde'' is the debut album by the American hip hop collective the Pharcyde. It was released on November 24, 1992, through Delicious Vinyl. The album was produced by former group member J-Swift, and features a guest ap ...

''.

Composition

The song was produced by J-Swift. The song contains samples of " Summer in the City" by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

, "125th Street Congress" by

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

, and "

Are You Experienced ''Are You Experienced'' is the debut studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in May 1967. The album was an immediate critical and commercial success, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. It features J ...

?" by

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Lyrics

The group's four emcees,

Bootie Brown The Pharcyde is an American hip hop group, formed in South Central Los Angeles in 1989. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson), and Fatlip (Derrick Stewart). ...

Slimkid3 Trevant Hardson (born October 5, 1970), best known by his stage name Slimkid3 (Slim Kid Tre; sometimes stylized as SlimKid3), is an American rapper from Los Angeles. He is a founding member of The Pharcyde. Career Tre Hardson began his career i ...

, Imani, and

Fatlip Derrick Lemel Stewart (born March 26, 1969), known professionally as Fatlip, is a Los Angeles–born hip hop musician. He started his career in the hip hop group The Pharcyde. Career The Pharcyde As a member of The Pharcyde, Fatlip contributed ...

recount schoolboy crushes which all eventually led to heartbreak, with the chorus featuring Fatlip singing, "''She keeps on passin' me by''" against a soprano saxophone riff.

Music video

The music video (directed by Sanji) is shot in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

. The rappers are seen riding in the back seat of a car or rapping behind a

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

. Throughout the video, the group is seen upside-down in comparison to the rest of the world.

Track listing

A-Side

#"Passin' Me By" (Video Remix) #"Passin' Me By" (Video instrumental) #"Passin' Me By" (A capella)

B-Side

#"Pork" (Original version) #"Pork" (Cosby edit) #"Pork" (Instrumental)

Reception

The song peaked atop the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio statio ...

, number 52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 28 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts.

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

included the song at number 41 on their ''Top 200 Tracks of the 90s''.

Other media

"Passin' Me By" was sampled by Joe for his number one single "

Stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

". The song was featured in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the video game '' NBA 2K9'' as well as in the game '' Aggressive Inline''. An instrumental clip of the song was used in the opening of the 1999 film '' Big Daddy''. The song was remixed and called "Rinsing Quince" by

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

in 2003. In the single "

Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rapper T.I. and American musician Pharrell Williams from Thicke's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the a ...

" by

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 single " Blurred Lines" (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams), which peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, received ...

(featuring

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

and

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

), T.I. raps, "In a hundred years, not dare would I / Pull a Pharcyde, let you pass me by." In 2017, the song was featured in the Netflix Original TV series ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. The series takes place in Connecticut, and focuses on the life of 18-year-old Samuel "Sam" Gardner ( Keir Gilchrist), who is autistic. The first sea ...

'' in the season one, episode two, titled "A Human Female". The song appeared in the FX series ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

'' in the episode '' FUBU'' (season two, episode ten). In January 2019, "Passin' Me By" was featured in the Netflix Original comedy series '' Friends from College'' in the episode "Storage Unit" (season two, episode two). In October 2018, the song was featured in the film '' mid90s.'' In March 2021, the song was featured in '' Last Chance U: Basketball'', in the first season second episode "Hooper". in 2022, the song was featured in ''

Kenan Kenan (also spelled Qenan, Kaynan, Caynam or Cainan) (; ; ) is an Antediluvian patriarch first mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. The '' Sefer ha-Yashar'' describes Cainan, the possessor of great astrological wisdom, which h ...

'', in the second season episode "Moving Violations" In 2023, the song appeared in the film

Fast X ''Fast X'' is a 2023 American action film directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay written by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin, both of whom also co-wrote the story with Zach Dean. It is the sequel to ''F9 (film), F9'' (2021), the tenth main ins ...

, in a scene with Jakob and Little Brian.

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 singles 1992 songs The Pharcyde songs Music videos directed by Sanji (director) Black-and-white music videos Delicious Vinyl singles Jazz rap songs