Good news, people of earth. Jurassic 5 is back together. Everyone, Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark included.

In this extensive Interview with Montreality, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 speaks about:

- The type of student he was at school (0:16)
- Jobs he had as a teenager growing up (1:11)
- His 1st big paycheck (2:36)
- The key to success (3:20)
- The importance of literature (4:20)
- How “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” changed his life (4:45)
- His upcoming coffee table style book (6:51)
- What he was in a previous lifetime (7:33)
- His favorite cartoon character (8:27)
- His favorite videogame (9:49)
- The realest shxt he ever wrote (11:25)
- Upcoming solo & Jurassic 5 music (14:05)
- Reuniting with Jurassic 5 at “Coachella” & beyond (14:24)
- This new generation of Hip-Hop (15:32)
- Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” verse (17:18)
- Kendrick Lamar opening for Jurassic 5 in Japan (18:15)
- The violence in his hometown of Chicago (20:16)
- A healthy habit (23:42)
- His last meal of choice (24:15)
- His message to the youth (24:47)

Roc C’s album Stoned Genius is in stores now via Kash Roc Entertainment. Features Freeway, Alchemist, Oh No, Blu, Rapper Big Pooh, etc and features production from Madlib, Oh No, Alchemist, Lee Bannon and others.
]]> http://www.hiphopsite.com/2012/01/03/roc-c-bar-catchers-feat-chali-2na-video/feed/ 0 http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/01/27/chali-2na-talks-new-solo-lp-against-the-current-video/ http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/01/27/chali-2na-talks-new-solo-lp-against-the-current-video/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:09:39 +0000 http://64.79.68.122/?p=29611

Chali 2na talks with Much Music, about his next LP, Against The Current, as well as will.i.am’s talent, history at The Good Life, and Jurassic 5′s break-up.

The Jurassic 5 frontman drops this new cut. Why the picture of James? Chali 2na painted it (!).

LISTEN: Chali 2na – “Road 2 Success”

Via: UC

Here’s what Nu-Mark had to say about his “Take Me With You” mix.

“When you’re headed out the door for your next vacation “Take Me With You.” This mix is intended to travel with you on your next tropical adventure to paint the musical background for your trip.”

“I was inspired to make a mix that captures funk inspired rhythms from music I’ve collected on my tours/travels around the world. The goal of this mix is to show the rhythmic similarities between Samba, Cumbia, Calypso, Rhumba, Afro-Beat and Balkan Beats in a well blended mix.”

(Right click and save)
DJ Nu-Mark (Jurassic 5) – “Take Me With You” (Mixtape)

Quanstar offers up this free MP3 from his current album, The Underdog, featuring Akil the MC of J5.

LISTEN: Quanstar – “Heard It All Before” (feat Akil of Jurassic 5) (Mp3)

Quanstar – “Heard It All Before” (feat Akil of Jurassic 5) (Mp3)

We’re in a giving mood, so we’ll be pulling out a lot of the old cassette gems from the vaults on the regular for a while, just to change things up a bit. Here is a classic session from The Wake Up Show, that took place around 1996. This session has been chopped up for the show’s freestyle CD series, but here is the full, uncut session which features each Jurassic 5, Al Tariq (Beatnuts), Grav (Correct Records), and Mykill Miers. Some of the best beats of the era are featured in this session, and Chali 2na outshines them all.

Jurassic 5 + Al’ Tariq + Grav + Mykill Miers Wake Up Show Freestyle (MP3)

First single from the Juassic 5 frontman’s forthcoming The Fishmarket 2, produced by DJ Dez Andres of Slum Village. Check out the PSA above.

Chali 2na – “Step Yo Game Up” (MP3)

    It’s always tough on a group when it loses one of its key members, and the absence of Cut Chemist on Feedback is definitely evident. It’s unclear whether Cut left the group because of their choice to take their music in a more commercially viable direction, or if they took it there as a result of his leaving. Either way, Feedback is littered with poor attempts at polishing the J5 sound, but still keeps the faith with some of its deeper album cuts.

    The album begins with the piano driven “Back For You”, which seems to suggest that nothing has changed, as the group reintroduces itself to the audience. However when the 808 bass of “Radio” first kicks in, the listener is left bewildered at J5′s choice of crisp production in exchange for their usually more hardcore boom-bap - despite the fact that the song is a dope throwback to early L.A. hip-hop. However, longtime listeners will be a little less forgiving at what comes next, the Scott Storch produced “Brown Girl”, which drowns itself in syrupy hook by convenient labelmates Brick and Lace. “In The House” is another flashback song, however unlike their usual material, it fails to fuse the styles of new and old, and just ends up sounding dated (extra points are also taken off for interpolating “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”). The Al Green sampled “Baby Please” tries the fans patience as the J5 emcees exercise their double-time flow, but once “Work It Out” hits, the dedicated J5 listener feels completely dissed. Here, everything Jurassic 5 has accomplished thus far is seemingly undone in an excruciating four-minute spectacle that teams them up with Dave Matthews Band in a lame attempt to reach the Shreck audience.  

    But all is not lost. After this point, the album redeems itself with a series of solid songs that carry on the J5 tradition, even if it’s not quite as tight without Cut. The introspective “Where We At” brings things back to basics, as the four emcees ponder their place in the game, over hard hitting drums and added narration from Mos Def. “Get It Together” follows suit, while “Future Sound” helps instill some faith back into the crew. By the time the incredible collaboration with The Dap Kings, “Red Hot”, hits, you are almost forgiving of the mistakes made on the first half of the record. Almost.  

     The last two vocal tracks “Turn It Out” and “End Up Like This” (drawing inspiration from P.M. Dawn?) aren’t quite as inspiring as some the others here, but at the same time aren’t nearly as insulting either. Nu-Mark closes things out with “Canto De Ossanha”, an instrumental tour-de-force of Latin breaks - which is good, but honestly misses the extra flavor that Cut Chemist would usually add to it. 

      Feedback isn’t a complete, Black Eyed Peas-like fall from grace, but the wounds it causes to the faithful follower of J5 cut deep.  It’s obvious that the crew are overworked and underpaid, hence the sacrifices made to their sound here. We understand, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it. If Cut Chemist doesn’t return for the next outing, expect that Chali 2na solo album sooner than you think.

What up Soup?

Soup:  I’m doing alright so far.  I’m looking forward to the album dropping.

You guys don’t need any introduction, so let’s jump into it.  It’s been 4 years since “Power in Numbers” dropped.  Why the hiatus?

Soup:  We have been touring and honestly just not doing what we need to be doing to make it happen.  Nothing too extravagant, it’s real simple.  We were touring and we just weren’t in the studio diligently like we should have been.

The album is called “Feedback” and drops July 25th; from the name would you say you are looking to garner some new fans with this album?

Soup:  Oh yeah, every time we put a record out that’s what we are trying to do.  It hasn’t changed with this situation.  We are getting reacquainted with the people who know J5, because it’s been a while since we been out.  They don’t really know what we have been up to or what we have been going through.  We are trying to get people all the way around.

With the new single “Work It Out” which features The Dave Mathews Band you guys kept the J5 style while intermingling with something brand new.  Would you say that your hardcore fans have embraced the single or shunned it?

Soup:  Both really.  I just read on itunes a guy made a review and said he used to be a J5 fan but since we did the song with Dave Mathews Band, he no longer likes us.  That’s some of the most ignorant shit I’ve heard.  We don’t expect our buyers to do the same thing they were doing 2 years ago.  Why would you expect us to do that, we all have been growing and we have all gone through things.  We need room to grow just like anybody else and do stuff that we like to do and grow.

Charli 2na:  It’s cool whether they have embraced it or shunned it.  I feel like for every fan we lose we are going to gain some more.  There are a lot of new people out there who have never even heard of us because and now they are getting down with it.  That song is a good song and that’s really the bottom line.

Personally, I think it’s a welcome change, if J5 steps out of the box a little bit, maybe other hip-hop groups will follow your lead.   Thinking outside the box is something hip-hop needs. Scott Storch produced “Brown Girl”; he has been banging out hits for years now. Why did you decide to release “Work It Out” rather than a more traditional J5 record?

Soup:  It’s about compromising with the label and trying to walk hand in hand with the label to where everybody is satisfied.  When they heard “Brown Girl” and “Work It Out” they thought both of the singles were strong and could stand on their own, but they thought we could get more mileage off the Dave Mathews song.  It didn’t matter to me either or.  I like the fact they had some singles that they could work, and that’s cool.

Nu-Mark, you handled the majority of the production on “Feedback”, what equipment did you use in making the album?

Nu-Mark:  I recorded and mixed the majority of the record at my studio (Log Cabin) with a Pro Tools HD rig.  I used the MPC 2000 in conjunction with Reason, Korg Triton, Mo Phatt and Ivory.  I use a Neuman 149 mic for the mc’s with an Avalon 737 pre amp.  I did most of my cuts and scratches on the Vestax 07 and the Technics 1200 turntables.

What would you say the major difference production wise is between this album and the groups’ previous efforts?

Nu-Mark:  We knew going into this record that we wanted to work with both other vocalist and producers.  Our previous records really displayed J5 as a group establishing themselves.  This is our 3rd major label release and our 4th release in total.  It was time to branch out and move with the times.  This album features production by Scott Storch, Salaam Remi (producer for Fugees and Nas), Exile (Mobb Deep, Slum Village) and myself (Nu-Mark).   A lot of growth in this record!

Salaam Remi also contributes tracks, how did you guys meet him and make that collaboration happen?

Soup:  We reached out to Salaam and he wanted to work with us.  He knew about us and he respected what we did.  We respected what he did and everybody was with it.  We flew down to Miami to do some tracks and we were only supposed to only do 1 or 2 songs at the most.  We ended up doing 9 songs with him because the working environment was so dope.  It just worked; it worked well for us and worked well for him and hopefully we will get to work with him again.

But not all nine songs will make the album?

Soup:  Naw, not all the songs will make it, we were really torn about what would make the album. There is a couple songs that we had done that I wish could have been on the record.  You kind of have to compromise and do what is best for everybody so everybody is comfortable.

Aside from the single and the tour, this album has really been kept under wraps, any surprises that you can tell us about?

Charli 2na:  It’s really not to be explained it’s more to just be listened to.   The guest stars are Dave Mathews Band and Mos Def came through and did like an interlude type thing.

Soup:  Yeah, Mos came through and did some talking but he didn’t end up rapping on the song “Where Ya At”.   We had a new group, 2 females from Jamaica named Brick and Lace who did their thing on “Brown Girl” and they were really dope.  We don’t have anybody real big, Dave is probably like the super big person that we have and Mos is definitely a noticeable person.  Brick and Lace are fairly new but I think they are going to make a whole lot of noise.  We are getting them where everybody latches on and wants to work with them.  We kind of do stuff because we like the people.  Like with Big Daddy Kane on the last record, Kane is an idol and with the opportunity I would pick him before I would pick anybody.

You haven’t had to have guest producers or 16 bars from the hottest rapper out, the music speaks for itself.  Good music still speaks regardless of the downloading and bootlegging that is the prominent in 2006

Soup:  Thank you man.

Charli 2na:  Exactly.

You guys have seen the ups and downs of hip-hop; you got in when independent music was thriving and are still relevant today.  What would be some advice you would give to groups or individuals trying to follow in your footsteps?

Charli 2na:  Don’t be scared to grow up with it, like how we are doing it.  Make sure you are yourself and don’t be scared to try new things and challenge yourself.  Make the music you like to the fullest instead of trying to circum to the trend.

Soup:  I agree, but when you say follow footsteps I wouldn’t say that.  We followed a blueprint set by folks like Too Short, E-40, and Eazy E they were all independent and were doing it.  You can follow the blueprint and not necessarily saying to follow how we do it, but follow that blueprint.   Like 2na said it’s about making music that you like and that you want to make.  When you do that it’s heartfelt as opposed to conforming and doing something that is trendy.  When you are doing music that you know you love and you respect, it makes people want to come and see what it’s all about because they can feel it.  We are spoon fed a whole lot, but at the same time people can still feel when something is real and passionate from the person they are listening to.  Folks can read through what is real and what is not, they are just lazy, they don’t want to if they don’t have to.  It’s all about finding your niche within independence.

You have been signed with a major for many years now, would you suggest for someone to sign with a major or stay independent at this point?

Soup:  You have to do what best fits you.  If you talk to everybody in the group you would probably get a different answer from everybody.  You have to do what works for you.  We did the independent thing and when we had the chance to sign with a major we had to literally sit down and go over the pros and cons of it.  Even when you go over the pros and cons that initial time, those pros and cons will change.  There comes a point when you have to ask yourself am I ready to this, am I really ready to go for or do I want to stay and do it the way I want to do it.  At the same time, whichever way you choose you can’t complain.   If you choose to stay independent and you don’t get your stuff played…tough.  Whichever one you choose you have to be very comfortable and really know what you want to do.

J5 really has nothing left to prove, what’s next for the group or you guys as individuals.  We going to see an official solo album from anybody?

Soup:  You always have stuff to prove.  In life you are always proving yourself, I don’t think it ever gets to a point where you don’t have to prove yourself.  I think you eventually get comfortable with who you are and you keep going.  Everyday when you strive to get better you are constantly proving yourself.  I’m going to say that now I’ll let 2na talk about projects.

Charli 2na:  I’m working on my solo album right now; it supposed to come out next year.  It’s called “Fish Out of Water” and it’s some crazy shit for real.  The future for us right now is a day by day thing.  It’s the promotion of this album.  Marc Seven has been writing scripts for movies and such.  There are going to be all kinds of different things that are going to come out from us, aside from just music.

Soup:  Sky’s the limit, if you have opportunities you have to take them.  When 50 dropped he never thought he would have his own mineral water.  (Laughs)

Laughs

Soup:  When there are opportunities you seize them when you can.

Anything more you guys would like to say?

Charli 2na:  Watch out…here we come.  If you can come check out the show.

  J5′s Power In Numbers has many of the same types of easy party starters found on Quality Control, easily pleasing their loyal fanbase. Each “After School Special”, “If You Only Knew”, “High Fidelity”, and the stellar first single “What’s Golden” (with all respect paid to Chuck & Flav), contain the classic elements of their debut. Although this time around they do attempt at diversifying their sound a bit, and even incorporate some different concepts, including a few uncharacteristic collaborations.

    Most shocking is their collaboration with pop-diva Nelly Furtado, “Thin Line”, a well-structured “friends-or-lovers” track which works suprisingly well. Big Daddy Kane and Percee-P represent lovely on “A Day At The Races”, which disguises itself as something recorded in the late 80′s, while The Beatnuts join J5 for the abrasive “One Of Them”. On the conceptual tip, “Remember His Name” is a cool Death metaphor, yet the smoothed out “Hey” is reminiscent of when The Pharcyde put on the white suits for Labcabincalifornia.   

      While Jurassic 5 doesn’t get props with the NY-scenesters who jock Murder Inc. or 50 Cent or whoever the flavor-of-the-month is, they must have some kind of relevant fanbase or talent if Jimmy Interscope put his faith into them, and this album is further proof of their consistancy. While everyone else is studying Jay-Z’s blueprint, who can blame them for holdin’ on to what’s golden?

The group first appeared on the bargain bin favorite, “Unified Rebelution” on Blunt, in 1996. While this record was easily overlooked in it’s pencil drawn, black & white jacket, the crew finally got their due with the release of The Jurassic 5 “EP” , three years ago, during the initial independent boom. Meanwhile, Chali 2Na and Cut Chemist took a break from the group to add their flavor to the Latin-Funk-Hip-Hop band, Ozomatli, whose album was distributed by Interscope. Somehow after that, a copy of the J5 EP must have landed in the right hands at the big I, and the group was signed. After blessing us with the EP (in its various incarnations) and a 12 here and there, the time for the LP finally comes, and the result is a finely tuned six-man crew, with a magnum opus debut full length.

One thing new listeners will quickly pick up on about Jurassic is the use of old-skool stylistics in their delivery. Another trait of J5′s is how flawlessly they function as a group, rather than just a few rappers put together. The crew chooses a unified sound not heard since the days of Treacherous 3 or Double Trouble, but keeps the lyrics and production ahead of its time. Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark provide the group’s beats, creating up-tempo grooves tailor made for innocent, multi-mic rockin , tag team rhymes. The two deejays’ extensive collection of ultra-nerdy breaks is transformed into a series of incredibly programmed tracks that are as virtuous as they are vibrant.

Tracks like “The Influence” or “World Of Entertainment” are so well produced, combined with the styles of the emcees that they will bring a smile to your face, if not make you get out of your chair and start shaking a leg in your living room. “Improvise” is probably the greatest example of hot potato style mic changing, if not the lyrical basketball match on “The Game”. Topping everything off is the ballsy “Swing Set”, which closes the album out a five minute excursion that basically conjures up images of Cut Chemist and DJ Nu Mark at a swing club in zoot suits deejaying. It must be heard to be believed.

People out there might be afraid to like these guys, because it might not be the cool thing to do, but the fact of the matter is, that there is NOBODY in hip-hop today making music this good, and pushing the envelope this far. Hey, Flex might have never heard of these them, but don t front – Jurassic is a 5.