At The Crossroads with Jurassic 5

Somewhere on the corner of progressive thought and peril lies the soul of the genre known as hip-hop. From its birth hip-hop has always been at odds with itself. At times it has represented good time, party music. At other instances it has been a political manifesto. Rapper Chuck D. once referred to rap as the Black man’s CNN. At present time the genre is at a musical crossroads stuck between a bling bling mentality and true progressive thought. The tale of hip hop and rap can be seen as a tale of two cities. On one end of the spectrum materialism, bravado and excess rule the world of mainstream rap while the actual music seems to take a back seat. The other end of the spectrum has more than a handful of hip hop groups who shun this lifestyle of “bling” in favor of articulate rhymes, raps, and complex beats and rhythms. At the epicenter of this crossroad is the LA group Jurassic 5. Since 1993 LA’s own Jurassic 5 have paved the way for a more progressive hip hop movement. While today’s hip hop groups simply use whole songs J5 still works with the idea of taking bits and pieces of tunes to create something new. While most modern day mcs have a penchant for writing about Kristal, Courvoisier and gold grills, J5 still get a charge out of writing about the issues of the day. By combining bass heavy, funky beats, an old school rap feel with a new school vibe, Jurassic 5 have stood at the forefront of elevating the status of hip-hop to a cultural art form. J5 is back after a three year absence with a new disc (Feedback), a new lineup (dj Cut Chemist is no longer with the group) and the same forward thinking style of beats and rhymes. As the first leg of The Feedback Tour got underway I had the pleasure of getting a chance to chat with dj Nu Mark and mc Charlie Tuna about their three year long hiatus, their new lineup and how they deal with hip hop’s great divide.

One of the more interesting things about the J5 crew is that although they have always been praised by the media and critics and have a wide fan base thanks to relentless touring, there has always been a small contingent in the hardcore hip-hop community that has criticized the group for well… being too nice, for lack of a better phrase! The group has been labeled barbershop hip-hop thanks to their penchant for four-part harmonies. In a genre that prides itself on “keeping it real”, Jurassic 5 in some circles are just not street enough or real enough (or maybe just too articulate) for the hardcore contingent. This type of criticism is addressed on the new disc in the song entitled “Where We At”. “We are just representing who we really are”, claims Nu Mark. “I mean a lot of the stuff you see in these hip hop videos is fake. The gold, the diamonds…a lot of that stuff is rented! People get caught up in what they are seeing and not understanding it…The mcs in this group grew up in South LA and have seen the violence there first hand. It’s not something we as a group want to glorify.” When asked if folks in the “biz” have ever asked J5 to try and change up their style to appease some of their rap critics the answer is an emphatic NO! “We have always had 100% creative control”, states Nu Mark. “We respect our fans too much to do something that would be so out of character for us.” Charlie Tuna adds, “It would totally sound contrived if we tried to do that.” “No matter what we do we will always have to deal with some type of criticism. I love the song Where We At because it actually takes a satirical look at that type of criticism that we get…the way it’s written it’s as if a mirror is being held in front of the critical voice, really getting the person to see and hear what they sound like. Personally I try not to focus on it too much…as an artist you are gonna get feedback some of it will be good and some of it will be bad.” Another tune on the disc that is sure to illicit some feedback is the lead off single “Work it out” which features Dave Mathews singing the chorus. “When we toured with the Dave Mathews Band (on the Vote for Change Tour) we discovered that we actually shared an audience and we also found out he was a fan of ours,” says Nu Mark. “I had this beat and it was actually (mc) Marc7 who said he thought that Dave would sound great singing on it. We showed it to him and he dug it.” The single has already garnered airplay on alternative rock stations leading one to ask the question if it will see the light of day on rap radio. “I’m not sure what is going on with rap radio”, bemoans Charlie Tuna, “It seems like the rap stations keep rotating the same eight most popular songs over and over again…they find out what is popular and just keep playing the same thing…The rock stations seem to be more open to new things…at the end of the day you can’t pick and choose your audience. Whoever gravitates to you is gonna gravitate to you. For now I am just happy that folks are hyped about the fact that we have a new disc and we are back! It’s a blessing.” Nu Mark makes no bones about his take on rap radio. “Do I want rap stations to play our single? Yes! If it doesn’t happen that’s ok. My expectations are put on me and myself. I can’t control who is gonna like it or not. Are we a legit rap group? Yes we are!! Do we tour sometimes with rock groups and as a result get played on rock stations? Yes we do and again, that’s ok.”

When asked if hip hop music needs a bit of a renaissance at this stage of the game both group members pause and offer their own thoughts on the genre they represent. Tuna states, “Man that’s a broad question…I just believe that there is room in the hip hop world from everyone. I can’t say what motivates people to gravitate to the bling or the hardcore music…to be honest I don’t really get caught up in that. I am just focused on what we do as Jurassic 5, trying to take this music to the farthest reaches of the world.” “I like what is happening on the business end of the music,” Chimes Nu Mark. “The business end of the music is really thriving but I truly miss the days of the past when being different in hip-hop was a good thing. People were into pushing different sounds…you had Public Enemy you had X-Clan, you had Cold Crush…it was all hip hop but it was all so very different. Nowadays you see eight or nine rap videos in a row and they are just interchangeable…there is no diversity in the music…I guess I have two answers to the question. On one hand I like the business end and how things are going there but I would like to see a shift in what is happening musically.”

When the duo is pressed to explain why it has taken three years for a follow up to their last disc, “Power in Numbers”, Charlie Tuna states, “We had a lot of business stuff to deal with. We also used the time to find ourselves and to do our own thing…some group members ended up putting out mixtapes and solo efforts, others wrote screenplays and started acting...it was just a time to do our own thing”. Nu Mark adds, “The other aspect of why it has taken so long is that we really wanted to take our time with this disc…this one has been the toughest one to create…we were on the road a lot for the last record. It was like we never stopped touring but we also wrote 35 songs to make sure we got the fifteen songs we really liked for the disc.” One aspect it seemed the J5 hiatus yielded was the departure of dj Cut Chemist. Tuna and Nu Mark are both quick to explain that although Chemist is no longer a member of the group, he is indeed still part of the J5 family. “Cut Chemist is still family even though he is not with us anymore. He may have been a bit overwhelmed in trying to do our disc and his solo disc. Who knows what the future will bring?” says Charlie Tuna. Nu Mark also states, “We are still tight with Cut Chemist but for now he really wanted to put his solo effort out and he just couldn’t do both.” When asked to explain how that affects Nu Mark now that he is shouldering most of the load for the group, the dj simply sighs and says, “You know the making of the album was a bit of a stressful process. Some stuff became easier while other things became harder. Onstage is where it will become really challenging for me.” Both Tuna and Nu Mark are quick to add that Cut Chemist’s departure had nothing to do with J5 going outside the family for help production wise on their new disc. This time around J5 worked with hit maker Scott Storch and also Salaam Remi to enhance their sound. Tuna explains, “It was time to step out of the box on this disc…we were really open minded about working with other producers.” “Everyone was ready for it,” claims Nu Mark. “With this being our 4th release, it was time for us to branch out and it was fun.”

As the group proceeds with their North American tour they have a hectic schedule ahead of them. “We will be going all over the US and Canada and then heading to Europe and Australia”, states Charlie Tuna. “We will also release the single Brown Girl in the middle of the touring,” adds Nu Mark “But we will be on the road for a while promoting the new disc.” Charlie Tuna stated that he felt truly blessed to see so many folks excited about new Jurassic 5 music but in actuality it is the hip hop community that is blessed to have this articulate rap group back in the mix armed not with gats and 36 inch rims but with beats, and articulate, intricate rhymes. Only time will tell which camp of hip hop artists will win over the hearts and minds of its listeners. While there maybe room for everyone and every style in hip hop and rap, keeping street and real seems to have the edge over keeping it thoughtful and articulate at this stage of the game. J5 along with hip hop are at the crossroads at a pivotal time in the music’s history. If there is to be a cultural renaissance of sorts for the genre (and one is desperately needed) there is no doubt that leading the army of change on the corner of progress and peril will be the multiracial collective known as Jurassic 5.

By

David Carr