This album came out in 2000 and it is a sad reality that I missed it. 10 years later I discovered this album and I have been literally blown away. For a long time I have enjoyed hip hop. Since graduating from college I believe I could begin to refer to myself as a HipHopHead. Bands like Tribe Called Quest, De la Soul, MF Doom, DangerMouse, Goodie Mob, I could go on, get serious rotation in my car, home, life.
Jurassic 5 is on the most "must listen" lists but somehow I consistently missed them. I decided to suck it up and give them a try and boy am I glad I did.
On first listen the most obvious thing that stands out for the listener is their great use of group vocals. They sing/rap together, bleeding in and out of solo's. Next, their beats are stellar and for 2000, way ahead of their time. Severely jazz influenced but simple. Not overwhelming, but more than a simple snare and high hat.
Now, the things listed above are important. Without a beat, rap would really be fast talking and then any 12 year old girl would qualify. What sets this band apart is their incredibly intelligent lyrics. An example:
You baby MC's drink Pedialyte
My underground doesn't like you, the media might
But we the elite will change that
As we bridge gaps in this lyrical grudge match, brothers
we slug back
My underground doesn't like you, the media might
But we the elite will change that
As we bridge gaps in this lyrical grudge match, brothers
we slug back
Not only is this super clever but it is also an indictment on the overall rap genre. Often times when I tell people that I like hip hop their first inclination is to assume P. Diddy and Ludacris. To be clear I enjoy these guys, but they are not Hip Hop artists. They are rap artists. I could easily get sidetracked and list out all differences between Rap and Hip Hop, but that is for another blog post. For our purposes I believe the biggest distinguishing factor is lyrics.
What they rap about, the content.
Maybe Tribe CalledQuest can help us here. From Excursions off of Low End Theory:
You could find the Abstract listening to hip hop
My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop
I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles
The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin like Michael
My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop
I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles
The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin like Michael
Hip Hop, in the mind of the Tribe and in this authors mind is the natural progression of Mo-town. I'm a firm believer that if Ray Charles was born now, he would have a phat beat behind Hit The Road Jack.
In closing, Jurassic 5 is an exceptional band that has released an above average hip hop album. It makes me sad that bands are not releasing albums like this anymore.
Here are two Jurassic 5 songs from the album Quality Control. The first is my favorite song off of the album with no video. Listen to the lyrics, I'm not sure I've heard anything quite like it.
Second song has a video, it is the single off of the album. Great song with some stellar lines.
If I could, I would spend all of my time spreading the gospel of hip hop, but, no one is willing to pay me. Maybe I can get Diddy to put me on salary.
I just sampled Jurassic 5's stuff on itunes and they do sound good. 'Work it Out' sounds awesome. The rap is not my thing, but those beats sound pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate and understand the hip hop/rap distinction. Even in rap, there's some more nuances: e.g. gangster rap is one kind. Hip hop seems to be more conscious of culture, where rap is fixed on drugs, sex, and material stuff.
If anything, I do like their style. They sound calm and smooth. They're not yelling and crazy and obnoxious. I'm thinking of DMX - yuck!