The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the third studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 29, 1987, by EMI Manhattan.

Due to prior obligations resulting in temporary personnel changes following the band's formation in 1983, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the only studio album to feature all four founding members of the band on every track: vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons.

For the album, Red Hot Chili Peppers recruited new producer Michael Beinhorn, who encouraged the members to expand their musical horizons in order to create a more diverse work.

Following the tour to promote the album, Slovak died of a heroin overdose, and shortly thereafter, Irons decided to leave the band, unable to cope with his friend's death.

Vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea hired Jack Sherman as guitarist and Cliff Martinez as drummer, and established themselves as a prominent funk rock band with their 1984 debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[5] In early 1986, the band began work on their upcoming album, and EMI gave the Chili Peppers a budget of $5,000 to record a demo tape.

The band chose to work with producer and former Public Image Ltd. guitarist Keith Levene, because he shared the members' interest in drugs.

[10] After Kiedis completed his stint in rehab, he felt a "whole new wave of enthusiasm" due to his sobriety and wrote the lyrics to a new song entitled "Fight Like a Brave" on the flight home.

I also quickly learned that [executives] at the record label actually hated the Chili Peppers, like openly reviled them so bad that they didn't even want them to succeed.

After fifty days of sobriety, Kiedis decided to take drugs again as a one-time attempt to celebrate his new music, which caused his resumed addiction.

While Slovak nearly abandoned the riff out of fear that it was too much of a departure stylistically, Beinhorn saw potential in the new melody-based style and encouraged the guitar player to turn the short tune into a full song.

[17] In the book Give It Away: The Stories Behind Every Song, author Rob Fitzpatrick writes "As far as sheer power goes, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the Chili Peppers at their most virile, most chest-beating, most unabashedly macho.

"[24] However, Kiedis recalls that during the composition of the album, Beinhorn encouraged him to step away from his improvisational speed-rap style in favor of slower, crooning vocals.

[25] On The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Slovak experimented with genres outside of traditional funk music including reggae and speed metal.

[29] "Skinny Sweaty Man" contains a rapid tempo and has been described as "hardcore garage psychedelic funkabilly", while "No Chump Love Sucker" displays punk rock and thrash influences.

[29][30] The album also features a cover of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues", which abandons nearly all of the original song's folk stylistics in favor of the band's signature funk-rock leanings.

When Slovak was under the influence, he would often wear brightly colored clothing and dance in a "shuffling" fashion, which became the inspiration for the song "Skinny Sweaty Man" from Uplift.

Kiedis described the song as a lyrical description of the conversation, about how music itself is "color-blind" but is "segregated by the media and radio based on their perceptions of the artists.

The band filmed a music video for the album's lead single, "Fight Like a Brave", but the song failed to make an impact on any Billboard charts.

"[37] Bill Meredith of AllMusic observed that "the energy of having these four friends from Los Angeles back together jumps out of the opening anthem 'Fight Like a Brave' and the experimental 'Funky Crime' ... Slovak and Irons brought things to the Chili Peppers that no one else ever has.

"[40] Les Claypool ranked The Uplift Mofo Party Plan as his favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers album, adding that the music helped influence the sound of Primus.

Kiedis recalled "During the Uplift tour I remember actually feeling a change taking place not just in the amount of people showing up at the gigs but the intensity of the fan base.

[53] Upon returning home, Slovak isolated himself from the rest of his bandmates, and struggled to resist the drug without the mutual support provided by his friends, Kiedis in particular.

To replace Irons, the group held a lengthy open audition process, and eventually chose drummer Chad Smith.

[57] All tracks are written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Hillel Slovak, and Jack Irons[34] except where notedRed Hot Chili Peppers Additional musicians Production Design