To be extra is to be additional. To be prolific is to be abundant. The two seconds that take place on Extra Prolific’s “First Sermon” before Snupe (now known as Lee Majors) starts his verse are neither extra nor additional – neither prolific nor abundant. Seven years before Pharrell Williams was to make the technique his signature production tag, Snupe begins “First Sermon” with a four-count start. There is no looped instrumental. No easing in. No setting of expectations. Only: “yo, can I get a witness?”

It is like Snupe had an urgency to get to the point. “First Sermon” has a religious connotation and features the occasional metaphor but the verses are more a celebration of the good life surrounded with good friends while enjoying good music. Snupe states his intention (“Time to kick positivity with the quickness”), embraces non-conformity (“Be true to what you know / forget about pimps and limps”) and boasts (“Better than them, yes I am”). The chorus brings the song back to the essence of its title: “Lift your hands, to the man / don’t be shy, we’re havin’ church today.”

Snupe emerged as a member of the alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics who were based in Oakland, California. Its members tended to shun the contemporary traditional West Coast hip hop stereotypes of g-funk and gangsta rap to instead utilise jazz sounds and more generalised topics. Snupe had even more of an assimilation to make: he was not from Oakland but Houston, Texas, which had a hip hop scene ripe with its own cultural identity that was at odds with the ethos of Hieroglyphics. He partnered with his close friend, the primarily non-musical Mike G (now a comedian known as Michael Getmore), to form Extra Prolific. Snupe as a producer embraced the jazz samples but expanded it to include the deep bass grooves more suited to his hometown. Snupe as a rapper embraced the alternative stylings but expanded it to include his yearning for women; one of his earliest appearances is with a remarkably promiscuous verse on Del the Funky Homosapien’s “Catch a Bad One” and his antics on “Brown Sugar” result in one of the strongest songs in his discography.

Hieroglyphics was a harmonious unit that ideated togetherness. They were a completely in-house unit that appeared on each other’s songs and produced each other’s music. Members also received the additional benefit of appearing as part of the legendary roll call at the end of Souls of Mischief’s “93 ’til Infinity”. In the bridge of “First Sermon”, Snupe too shouts out the members of his crew by noting their attendance at church today. Yet, much of “First Sermon” evokes imagery of enjoying music and hanging out rather than worship or congregation; the music video bravely attempts to do both by combining scenes at a barbecue with shots of Tajai from Souls of Mischief preaching at a church.

The good times surrounded by his Hieroglyphics boys was sadly not to last long for Snupe. He was the first member of the collective to be dropped from Jive Records in 1994 after he made a launched a tirade aimed at the label’s executives during a release party when he felt that he was not being given the resources he deserved; the parting was to precede Casual and Souls of Mischief who were also released after their respective releases failed to achieve commercial success. Mike G left Extra Prolific sometime afterwards and Snupe was to carry the name as a solo artist for the independently released 2 for 15 in 1996. The end of the year saw his removal from Hieroglyphics over personal issues that Snupe has taken accountability for in recent interviews.

There is a moment in “First Sermon” which has always been poignant. After the bridge of shout outs, Snupe lets the instrumental ride on its own for four bars. There is no voice — no words. In a song that is uplifting and positive, the beat becomes almost melancholy when no longer anchored to Snupe’s envisioning. Its placement immediately after the mentions of a crew he was soon to no longer be accepted by is like a representation of the gap that was to soon be born when Snupe was removed from the group. It is like a moment of ponder or foreboding; a space for reflection in a song that is otherwise blissful.

Then the chorus of triumph comes back in and we remember what it is all about. For a moment in time, we were all having church today.