Jurassic 5 “Power in Numbers” (2002) – got it
I was introduced to Jurassic 5 through the video for “What’s Golden”
(a single from this album). I was struck by the great beat,
interesting production, smart lyrics and the chorus that manages to be
catchy without needing rely on a sample or a guest singer. The real
clincher for me was hearing Chali 2na… this group is more than one MC
but his bassy percussive rapping style was something I hadn’t really
heard before.
I picked up this album not long after that, and it didn’t disappoint.
The tracks have a lot of soul and jazz that sounds like similar to what
the Soulquarians’ were doing, though in this case that sound comes
courtesy of DJs Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark. They lay a jazzy groove
behind “If you only knew” and strings and melancholic guitar in the
Nelly Furtado-featured “Thin Line”.
I like that while there are touches of typical hip-hop braggadocio, the
group are largely humble, intelligent and kick against the misogynistic
and ‘gangsta’ norms found in some areas of hip-hop.
There is some speedy, snappy rapping on track “A day at the races”,
and in fact across the record the MCs seem able to speed it up or slow
it down to suit. They also have a really great style they deploy which
is somehow legato and staccato at the same time… like the vocal
equivalent of driving over a cattle-stop where the words flow together
but each syllable is bouncing off the previous one… ah sorry, I’m
dancing about architecture.
Essentially, it’s an album that is bursting with talent, from the core
members (most of whom have pursued solo careers) to the guests who
include Kool Keith performing the acapella track “DDT”.
J5 would go on to release one more album (2006’s “Feedback”) before
splitting up. While they have reunited for the odd show, no further
material (outside of the single "Customer Service") has been released
since then.
