Jurassic 5 - Quality Control
Jurassic 5 flexed serious old-to-the-new muscles in the ‘90s, beginning with their independently released single “Unified Rebelution” in
1994, and book-ending with their stellar debut full-length: 2000’s Quality Control. They walked a tightrope between underground and
mainstream hip-hop, and toured alongside rap peers as well as punk rockers on the Vans Warped Tour. With double the pleasure of
your average hip-hop group – two DJs and producers (Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark); and four MCs (Chali 2na, Akil, Marc 7 and Zaakir
aka Soup) – they brought the late 1970s “unison MC” style of pioneering groups like the Fantastic 5 and the Force MCs to a new
generation. Even more surprisingly, they did so out of Los Angeles, whose hip-hop flavors generally leaned towards Gangsta, G-Funk
or Electro lines. Musically inventive and lyrically forward-thinking, each song on Quality Control is a new adventure, exploring engaging
territory, delivered via one of the best live hip-hop shows fans had seen in years. From singles like the strutting groove of the title track
to the throwback doo-wop samples on “The Influence” and the catchy, keyboard groove-driven “World of Entertainment (WOE Is Me),”
to deeper album tracks like the lyrical gymnastics of “Jurass Finish First” and the thought-provoking “Lausd,” Jurassic 5 consistently
stepped to the plate and their fans responded in kind, nearly pushing the album to Gold status. Add the innovative DJ-and-sample
workout which closes out the album, “Swing Set,” and you have one of the 2000s’ most unique and solid full-length platters. Side One
1. How We Get Along 2. The Influence 3. Great Expectations 4. Quality Control Intro 5. Quality Control Side Two 1. Contact 2. Lausd 3.
World Of Entertainment (W.O.E. Is Me) 4. Monkey Bars Side Three 1. Jurass Finish 2. First Combination 3. Twelve Side Four 1. The
Game 2. Improvise 3. Swing Set