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.