By Isaiah Smith/entertainment editor
Jurassic-5 busts a rap with its third studio album Feedback. This underground rap group has opened for artists like Green Day, Fiona Apple and Outkast.
“ That’s the only thing I wish,” Zaakir, one of the five emcees, said in a press release. “Can we go hard one time? Then I would feel like we got our shot.”
Unfortunately, Jurassic-5 made a classic mistake; the group did a duet with Dave Matthews. He is a good artist, but he can quickly get boring, and the replay value plummets.
At first listen, Matthews seems like the best singer ever—five plays later he really gets old.
So, the first single “Work It Out,” featuring the Dave Matthews Band, was a bad choice. If Jurassic-5 ever wants to truly make it big, the emcees need to develop their talents; banking on a big name for the first single is a little sloppy.
In addition to Zaakir, Jurassic-5 is rounded out by emcees Chali 2na, Marc 7 and Akil as well as producer/DJ Nu-Mark.
The rapping is smooth although it is old-school rap. J5 draws on Run DMC, Ice T and the Cold Crush Brothers. So this is not the modern, pop-rap on the top 40 nowadays—maybe the crew would get more famous if it modernized a bit.
“ Brown Girl,” featuring new reggae-sister artists Brick & Lace, is a possible single off Feedback. None of the songs are really made for the radio though. Not even the song “Radio,” ironically enough. Still, “Brown Girl” stands a ghost of a chance, which is better than most of these tracks.
Jurassic-5 shows some creativity on some tracks with ’70s samples in the music. “End Up Like That” has a mellow feel, at least as mellow as hard-core rap gets. The chorus is light and almost falsetto. The lyrics ask the question of how society ended up where it is today; ironically, yet again, one sect of Americans blame rap music for the downfall of social morality. So, a rap song about it is kind of funny.
The rhymes are great, for these five emcees have some awesome skills when it comes to wordplay. I wish someone could get rappers to sit down and write poetry.
“ Canto De Ossanha” grabs attention quickly with a modern samba-like beat. Although it has sparse lyrics, instrumentals can be fun.
This CD will show any wankster out there what rap was before the record companies put their spin on it. Rap fans from 20 years ago will like it most of all.
Feedback also has a Beastie Boys feel to some of the music; I doubt that was intentional. The vocal tone of the rap all sounds the same. Some rappers can rap and sound different, but these five rappers sound one way when they rap. It is good they teamed up.
Overall, Jurassic-5 is mediocre. I give Feedback three stars.
The rap … thing … is fading out, so the crew needs to reorganize its music and find a new direction.
