I'm That Type of N***a
cocky, aggressive, playful-menacing
A posse-cut style boast track from The Pharcyde's early catalog, built around a call-and-response taunt asking who's in charge, answered by cycling verses of pure battle-rap bravado. Each MC stakes claim to dominance through boxing-style trash talk, sexual conquest, and pop-culture flexing rather than any narrative arc.
braggadocio masculine posturing hip-hop lineage and skill claims sexual conquest as status competitive one-upmanship
Who's speaking
Multiple first-person narrators (each Pharcyde member in turn) address an unnamed rival crew and the listener directly; the voice is unreliable in the sense that boast-rap exaggeration is the whole point, not literal truth.
What happens
There isn't a plot so much as a ritual: a hype-man question repeats, and each rapper answers by claiming the throne through a barrage of comparisons, threats, and sexual brags. The 'story', such as it is, is the passing of the mic and the escalation of claims from one verse to the next.
How it's built
The song is organized as a cypher: a repeated spoken hook ('who's in charge') functions as a structural hinge between verses, with call-and-response ad-libs threaded through each rapper's block of bars. There's no traditional chorus-hook singing a melody; instead the recurring interrogative line and crowd-response shouts stand in for a chorus, giving the track its cypher, freestyle-battle feel rather than a pop structure.
Section by section
Opening hook
The spoken question that opens the track sets up the entire song's premise: a mock-serious inquiry into hierarchy that each verse answers with self-aggrandizement.
Fatlip's verse
The first rapper leans on musical comparisons and threats of humiliation, positioning himself as effortlessly superior while dismissing anyone who doubts him..
Imani's verse
Imani doubles down on smoothness imagery and predatory sexual boasts, shifting the tone toward more explicit conquest talk and a slight menace beneath the charisma.
Middle verses
Subsequent verses escalate into violent and sexual hyperbole, invoking pop culture villains and law-enforcement figures to signal ruthlessness, with the recurring hook keeping the cypher structure intact.
Closing verse
The final verse returns to musical bravado, comparing lyrical skill to physical rhythm and vocal power, before the track fades on the same self-deprecating admission of just wanting a beat to rap over..a beat.
Craft
- simile
- Rappers compare themselves relentlessly to musicians, historical figures, and objects (a jazz pianist, a soul singer, a mob boss) to assert smoothness, danger, or genius, piling comparisons for comic and boastful effect.
- hyperbole
- Claims of physical and sexual dominance are pushed to absurd extremes, a hallmark of battle-rap braggadocio that isn't meant to be taken literally.
- anaphora
- The repeated self-identifying phrase framing many boasts ('type of...') creates a rhythmic engine that lets each rapper stack claims rapid-fire.
- call and response
- The recurring spoken question and crowd ad-libs mimic a live cypher or stage battle, reinforcing the performative, communal nature of the boasting.
Reading it
Read straightforwardly, this is a showcase of raw braggadocio typical of early-90s West Coast hip-hop cyphers, where the pleasure is in wordplay, rhythm, and outdoing your groupmates rather than any coherent message. A secondary reading treats the exaggerated machismo and shock language as parody or performance of hip-hop bravado itself, consistent with The Pharcyde's generally playful, self-aware persona elsewhere in their catalog, though this track leans harder into aggression and crudeness than their more whimsical singles.
Context
The Pharcyde emerged from South Central LA in the early 90s, known for a jazzy, humorous alternative to gangsta rap conventions. This track, however, sits closer to a straightforward battle-cypher mode, possibly an early or freestyle-style recording rather than a polished single, given its loose structure, inconsistent audio transcription, and lack of a clear hook melody.
Listen for
- The recurring spoken question functioning as a structural hook between verses
- Shifts in each rapper's boasting style and comparisons to musicians, mobsters, and athletes
- The crowd-style 'what?' ad-libs punctuating punchlines
- The closing return to a plain admission of wanting a beat, deflating some of the bravado
About The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde is an American hip-hop group, formed in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. The original four members of the group are Imani, Slimkid3, Bootie Brown, and Fatlip.
1989 - present / United States
Full biography and catalogue