Author Topic: Jurassic5: The Good Life (Read 94 times)

Myrealname · « **on:** December 01, 2002, 11:36:03 PM »

"In a genre where trends predicate your record sales Jurassic 5 has been able to avoid image pitfalls and continue their rise as one of hip hop’s purest acts. By spitting simple syntax the six-man clique’s second set Power in Numbers debuted at 15 on the Billboard charts. Unfazed by the ice every other rapper worships, J5 spearheads L.A.’s lyric-heavy “backpacker” scene. Allhiphop chatted with Akil, the dred-locked emcee, to find out what his crew of throwback emcees holds as golden.

AllHipHop.com: Were you guys surprised when Power in Numbers hit number 15 on the charts?

Akil: Yeah I was kind of surprised and stuff. But then again I wasn’t really surprised to tell you the truth. When people talk charts and numbers, we ain’t never really been on the charts like that. We have but not that high. A lot of people ask ‘were you surprised?’ Was I supposed to be surprised?

AHH: What would you attribute this album’s success to?

Akil: I think this album is a lot broader and more direct to where people are at right now. Where as Quality Control it kind of went over people’s heads because of the majority of people who listen to music now know nothing about that old school hip hop. Or those people who do listen, only those people got it. If you understood where hip hop came from then you understood what Jurassic 5 was trying to do on Quality. This album just speaks for itself. You don’t have to be a particular head.

AHH: You seem to be more politically vocal on this album.

Akil: It’s always been a part of J5 to say something. Some people were overclouded by our old school vibe. Most people took to the old school vibe and said ‘oh they’re on some old school shit.’ They didn’t really catch what we were saying inside of it that was political. On this album you hear it more because that’s the growth of a human being. You don’t stay at just one stage; you try to grow within our development in hip hop. You have different stages in hip hop. I like to look at our single from our first EP it was like from ‘79-’80 hip hop. Then our whole EP was like ’84. Quality was like ’87 type sound. This album is like a ’88, ’89 type of sound, where you got your Public Enemy, KRS-One, all those influential people talking about socio-conscious issues. And that’s J5, we just progressing.

AHH: How did Jurassic 5 come into existence?

Akil: We hooked up at a spot called The Good Life. It was kind of like an open mike café and a health food star. Every Thursday they would have open mike for emcees. They had a no cursing rule and they had a ‘please pass the mike’ chant if you were wack. It opened up like ’91, and from that time the thing that was known on the West was gangsta rap. The majority of emcees that weren’t gang banging in L.A. came to the Good Life. Even people like Snoop, Kurupt and Rage were up there. Then you had Freestyle Fellowship, Pharcyde. This is before Snoop got big. I was in the Rebels of Rhythm. Me, Zaakir and another brother by the name of Africa who passed away. Chali 2na, Cut Chemist and Marc 7 were in Unity Committee. We liked the way each other performed and wanted to do a song together. This was in ’93 and we didn’t do the song until ’94. We met DJ Nu-Mark at another place called Rat Races, where emcees would rhyme over live bands. It was the old jazz musicians in L.A. with the hip hoppers teaching each other new stuff.

AHH: How did Africa die?

Akil: At a club in L.A., gang bangers walked in. Somebody was messing with his family and he went to help somebody. This particular member went to jail. By the time he got out J5 had already formed. We were working him into but being on parole he couldn’t travel with us. He was actually on Quality Control. Me, personally I knew him since ’81. We had the same hip hop dream, to be out doing this. It really affects breakdance and me now that we’re here in New York and we always wanted to come here. Looking at Beat Street. It’s like you start out building a house with somebody and then the house gets built but then you’re the only one left. You started out with like four five people and then there’s like only two of you left. There’s no one here to enjoy it with. This life is not promised so you have to take each breath as they come. That’s why I don’t really get caught up. We on Interscope doing hip hop music, doing videos, of what would be a dream to anyone else but I know that this shit can end at any moment. I was in Amsterdam when we got the call that my friend got killed. He was supposed to come with us but he wanted to go meet his father, he had never met his father. He was gonna go to Atlanta to a family reunion. He never made it.

AHH: Has hip hop stopped being fun?

Akil: On a whole yep. But it’s always been a small group of people that’s been doing that hip hop that you love. Right now I don’t see that existing on a major scale. Not because of the bling-bling I just think that the youth aren’t given anything to strive for with these corporations. The radio stations and the record companies that dictate the opportunities and employment for these youth that are coming up and that wanna strive and get out of the situation they in. That energy has been belittled by the music that the radio station continues to promote. We only able to think as far as bitches, hos, guns and dope. It’s like belittling to people that think they can’t go farther than that. When you can program good music as well as that other bullshit. Because that’s the way the world is both good and bad. We live in a capitalistic society so I can’t complain in that sense, but I know that that’s the root cause of all evil. On one hand you gotta eat so what the fuck you gonna do, you know you need money. But do it for the love and your family.

AHH: Is there a distinction between commercial and so-called underground hip
hop?

Akil: That’s bullshit. From day one since Sugarhill, once they got on record. You had people that were way better than them in the streets. Of course they were mad that these people get the opportunity to make money. Since the inception of hip hop there’s always been that battle between commercial . . . like back in the days with Run-DMC and Ultramagnetic. They had made a reference to silly rhymes, little kiddy rhymes, which was talking about Run-DMC. Back then they were the streets and these guys were commercially successful but they all advanced hip hop. But I don’t see any difference. You either have good shit and better shit. N.W.A. was saying the same shit Public Enemy was saying. One was ‘Fuck Tha Police’ and the other was ‘Fight The Power,’ which is general. We say ‘Fuck The Police’ now that’s specific (laughs). The intellectual understood who the ‘power’ was but for the general nigga on the street ‘police’ government, peoples in authority. N.W.A. depicted the streets without claiming a gang, which was cleverly done. Before them you couldn’t get on record and claim to be a Crip or a Blood that was taboo. To be a gang banger wasn’t a popular thing. If somebody started Crip-walking you’d kick that person out because he’s gonna start some shit. Now people C-walking like crazy. That’s a war dance. If you don’t know anything you shouldn’t be step."
(allhiphop.com)