Jurassic 5

We can and will change at any moment.

“We never tried to be old school,” the distinctive baritone voice of Jurassic 5 MC Chali 2na echoes down the phone line. “That’s just what we did then”.

“Then” was in 1992 when Los Angeles’ Jurassic 5 emerged with an acclaimed debut EP featuring the now classic song ‘Concrete Schoolyard’ that promised to take hip-hop back to its roots of “original beats / real live MCs / playground tactics”. Now, one of the most popular alternative rap groups are set to release their third full length album, ‘Feedback’, that sees them take a significant step away from their signature old school sound. There’s the Boney M meets dancehall of ‘Brown Girl’, a soulful collaboration with US rock star Dave Matthews on ‘Work It Out’, while ‘Gotta Understand’ is a glitzy LA take on the East Coast sound.

“The sound is bigger and it comes from us learning how to use our equipment better,” laughs 2na. The group’s DJ and main producer NuMark sees it as a growing process for the band. “As we say, we can’t stay size medium forever.” But it’s not just Jurassic 5 who have grown, so too has hip-hop. Once derided as a short-term fad and attacked on issues of sample theft, violent lyrics and graffiti, hip-hop is now a global cultural phenomenon whose methods and motifs have become part of the establishment and reap vast economic rewards.

“My son doesn’t know life without hip-hop,” says 2na. “It’s the music that his parents listen to so he’s got a different perspective on it. I saw hip-hop as a liberating force. Growing up in Chicago where there was always shootings and drug-related violence, hip-hop felt like a secret society that showed me a whole other world. Now you have ad firms using graffiti to sell products, but we used to get arrested for that.”

A lot had changed even by the early 90s when 2na moved to LA and started rapping with Marc 7 and DJ Cut Chemist as Unity Committee. Regular performers at the city’s now legendary Good Life Café, they teamed up with another popular crew Rebels of Rhythm, composed of NuMark with MCs Zaakir and Akil, to form Jurassic 5. By then the old school sound of their debut EP with its rough samples and rugged breaks was so at odds with the pervasive style of highly produced gangster rap they were a breath of fresh air. They followed this with a full-length album ‘Quality Control’ that established their popularity not only amongst hip-hop fans but with an alternative rock audience as well, though they were not without their critics. Their adherence to the old school template was derided by some people while their positive life-affirming outlook and socially conscious lyrics have been mocked by bling-touting hip-hop rivals.

Both these issues are tackled on ‘Feedback’. ‘Where We At’, featuring guest vocals from Mos Def, is a blistering assault on their critics born out of “anger at how people perceive us”, according to 2na. “Too many people in hip-hop are doing it just for the money and not necessarily because they love the sport. It’s like people playing basketball as a way out of the ghetto, instead of just super-duper loving it.”

The album also completes a process begun on their second album ‘Power In Numbers’, that has shifted their sound into new areas. “We wanted to try every idea that came to mind,” explains NuMark. “We recorded about 35 songs for the album – some of them were like the old J5 stuff, other stuff went too far the other way.” There was also a change in the internal dynamic of the group as ‘Feedback’ doesn’t feature any significant contributions from Cut Chemist, who took time off to concentrate on his own solo album. Instead the record sees a number of guest producers like Scott Storch and Salaam Remi, who produced the Fugees album ‘The Score’, add a commercial edge to their songs. There is a risk the group might alienate their old fans but NuMark insists it’s not something they can allow themselves to think about. “We respect our fans, but we don’t cater to them.” 2na agrees, “We are artists so we can and will change at any moment. We aren’t scared to be different.”

We are artists so we can and will change at any moment. We aren’t scared to be different.

Another new feature is a more contemplative approach to their lyrics, with songs like ‘Baby Please’ and ‘End Up Like This’ talking about love and personal issues. “We haven’t touched on an introverted type of project before,” say 2na. “Don’t get me wrong, a song like ‘Contribution’ [from ‘Quality Control’] is born from our past experiences as children in single parent households and uses that to discuss the social issue, so there is personal in the political. But on ‘Feedback’ we wanted to show our human side.”

It’s a theme that Chali 2na is looking to pursue on his long-mooted solo project ‘Fish Out Of Water’. The record was due for release this year but has been put off while the group embark on a world tour to promote ‘Feedback’. “We felt it was more important to make the foundation of Jurassic 5 solid before we do solo work. My album will come out when it makes the most sense.” After Cut Chemist’s possible permanent defection from the group could ‘Feedback’ be their last album? “We were happy for Cut when he told us he was doing his album,” says NuMark. “My gut feeling is he probably won’t be back. But we’ll go on. I don’t have a solo album in me at the moment. I’d like to at some point but right now I’m not inspired.”

So Jurassic 5 will be around for some time yet, and if they continue to grow and evolve as they have on ‘Feedback’, they can ensure they won’t become hip-hop dinosaurs.

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