Happy 20th Anniversary to Jurassic 5’s second studio album Quality Control, originally released June 20, 2000.
A frequent misconception of underground or “alternative” hip-hop in the late ’90s and early ’00s was that it was too serious. When looking back, some critics posit that as a counter-balance to the hedonistic and party-oriented music that permeated the mainstream, rappers and groups over-corrected, and released dour, self-serious music that wallowed in its own self-importance.
While there were certainly artists who took the idea of “saving” hip-hop very seriously, most just focused on making dope music. And some, like Jurassic 5, made music that is infectiously fun. With their second studio album Quality Control, released 20 years ago, they famously channeled the spirits of crews like the Furious Five and the Funky Four Plus One More, while maintaining their own identity.
Jurassic 5 is made up of members of two different crews: The Rebel of Rhythm and the Unity Committee. Its line-up includes four emcees (Charles “Chali 2na” Stewart, Dante “Akil” Givens, Courtenay “Zaakir” Henderson aka “Soup,” and Marc “Marc 7” Stuart) and two DJ-producers (Lucas “Cut Chemist” MacFadden and Mark “DJ Nu-Mark” Potsic). They came together after working in the Los Angeles hip-hop underground scene, both frequenting the open mic nights at the Good Life Café during the early ’90s.
The two groups gained mutual respect for each other and decided to join forces. They released the “Unified Rebelution” 12-inch in 1995 through TVT/Blunt Records. After it became clear that the label wasn’t a good fit, they secured their release and put out a self-titled EP (1997) independently. Armed with eminently enjoyable vibes and a dynamic stage show, they quickly became one of the most respected members of the global underground and independent hip-hop scene.
Of course, Quality Control isn’t actually an independent album. It was released through Interscope, one of the largest labels of the ’90s and ’00s, at the time home to artists like Dr. Dre, Eminem, Primus, No Doubt, and Nine Inch Nails. It seemed like a strange fit for a group that practically bathed in nostalgia and didn’t make music that would immediately appeal to fans of the shiny-suit rap that so defined that era. However, they appealed to both hip-hop heads and fans of alternative music and continued building their audience from there.
They gained many fans of the latter through extensive and non-stop touring around the globe. J5 (or at least some individuals in the crew) took part in two different Warped Tours. As members of the Latin funk/rock/funk group Ozomatli, Chali 2na and Cut Chemist were part of the 1998 lineup. Later, J5 joined the 2000 configuration, sharing a bill with groups like Green Day, NOFX, and Weezer. This branching out through live performances, along with the, ahem, quality of their music helped Quality Control sell just shy of Gold.
It also helped that J5 had stepped their game up as artists. Their self-titled EP and LP were good starting points for the crew, but they got better on both the lyrical and musical end of things. Their songs may often cover similar subject matter, like celebrating their own abilities or ridiculing those seeking easy fortune and fame, but each track on their album has its own distinct sound and identity.
Songs like the Cut Chemist-produced “The Influence” demonstrate Jurassic 5’s improvement. All four emcees rhyme over a slowed-down vocal sample from the Hi-Lo’s “Some Minor Changes.” Each emcee deploys his own unique style and vocal presence, but easily mesh together throughout the track. They make their voices unique through their individual verses and while rhyming all at once. They’re particularly merciless towards clueless emcees chasing fame, with Marc 7 professing to “Build you up to break you down like forgotten monuments,” while Chali 2na derides rappers who “try to make hits and them shits flop / Running races like they was Penelope Pitstop.”
“Quality Control,” the album’s first single, had its beginning as a promo for Sway and King Tech’s Wake Up Show recorded in the mid-1990s. Given the less than 80-seconds promo’s popularity, the crew decided to record a full-length version of the song. The track thoroughly articulates the group’s ethos. Part dissertation on the importance of artistic standards over pandering, part verbal joust, the song features all of J5’s strengths as a crew. The beat is among the funkiest on the album, as Cut Chemist splices together a couple of tracks by Blowfly to create a rolling groove.
J5 both show and tell their audience the secrets of their success on “World Of Entertainment (WOE Is Me),” the album’s second single. The crew gives a crash course on the necessary tools to succeed as artists in the ultra-competitive entertainment industry. They stress the importance of a live show to an artist's repertoire and being savvy when dealing with record label executives and middlemen. Even with a stripped-down keyboard sample and drum track, the lively track is extremely catchy.
The group provides a similar education on “Lausd,” detailing the at-times harsh realities of living and seeking fame in Los Angeles. “Taste the city’s agenda, most of you outta town n***as,” Zaakir raps. “Get caught up and turn bitter, the city of bullshitters / Where hopes are blown, not even money for the phone / Now tell me what's the solution, how to get back home?” The title itself is a play on both the “Los Angeles School District” and “Lost.”
J5 describe their origin stories on “Great Expectations,” as each member recounts the journey that they went through in order to become artists signed to a major label, ready to drop their debut full-length, and the expectations placed on them by others and themselves. Well, every member except Zaakir calls out members of the group on his verse. According to the expanded liner notes of the vinyl reissue of the album, he singles out Nu-Mark (the producer of the song) on a line or two, because he never gave him feedback on his rhymes. Since then, the group recorded another pair of albums and continued to tour extensively, so the dig didn’t appear to have a long-term effect on the group’s stability.
Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist were also key components to J5’s sound and success. They’re two of the most gifted sample-based producers working in hip-hop, with a deep knowledge of all genres of music and exceedingly deep musical crates to put together inventive tracks for J5 to rhyme to or to stand on their own. “Monkey Bars,” a Nu-Mark production, was designed to function as an instrumental track, and serve as his version of Cut Chemist’s “Lesson 6” from the aforementioned EP. However, when the emcees in the crew heard the track, they decided that the liked it so much that they wanted to recorded vocals to it, and did so without informing Nu-Mark beforehand.
Listening to “Monkey Bars,” you can still tell that it was originally intended to be a cut-and-paste instrumental track, with its frequent beat changes and well-placed vocal samples. Still, the five emcees weave their rhymes through the track’s soundscape, executing verbal gymnastics while rhyming solo and in tandem. “Emcee can’t match this phatness so we practice,” they boast. “Burning through walls of wackness.”
Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist do get a chance to take the spotlight on Quality Control. “Contact” features Cut Chemist channeling the Bomb Squad, piecing together vocal samples of hip-hop records and newscasts to show the crew traveling through time and communicating with alien civilizations. “Swing Set,” put together by both DJs/producers, features each digging deep to create an instrumental swing track with hip-hop sensibilities. The song was likely inspired by the swing music resurgence of the late ’90s, led by groups like Squirrel Nut Zippers, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Though this song was released at the tail end of the revival, it features creative production, mixing, and scratching by the pair, serving a hip-hop infused guide to the genre for the uninitiated.
J5 occasionally went outside its roster for production on Quality Control, bringing in Shafiq Husayn to put together a pair of tracks. Shafiq is now known as a member of Sa-Ra Creative Partners and an accomplished solo artist, known for his eclectic and imaginative approach to music. But in the early ’00s, he was best known for spending a decade or so working with Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate camp.
“Contribution,” the first of the two Shafiq-produced tracks, is the album’s “socially conscious” entry, with Zaakir, Mark 7, and Chali digging into the dynamics of a broken home. Each raps from the perspective of different members of the family, giving insights into the psyche of the mother, father, and child. Meanwhile, “Twelve” is a straight-up lyrical exhibition, with all four members kicking “ghetto hip-hop, nonstop fundamentals” over the ruggedest track on the album. While Akil asserts he’s “urban curb serving, vocabulary surging / Rebel with the turban and the street corner sermon,” Zaakir proclaims that “I got my mind on my money for those that comprehend / And my money on whatever I think I look fresh in.”
While none of the emcees of J5 have a solo cut on Quality Control, Chali 2na and Marc 7 briefly reconstitute the Unity Committee reunion for “Jurass Finish First.” Nu-Mark produced the standout track, composed of a bouncy keyboard and string samples, as well as a few well-placed horn breaks. The pair feed off each other’s energy, trading short verses and lines, mocking others for chasing fame. “Your ass been in flames since the cash went ka-chang,” Marc 7 raps. “Now you can’t stand the rain when my crew bring the pain.”
“The Game” is aptly one of the most fun entries on Quality Control, an exuberant game of “verbal basketball, off the glass, smash your jaw.” The track functions as a full reunion of the two crews that combined to form J5, with Marvski (Unity Committee) and Shawny Mac (Rebels of Rhythm) joining the four core emcees. The six effortlessly pass the mic like the ball, showing their gifted styles and taking opponents to the rack. Tragically, Shawny Mac died a few months after the album was released, and never got to tour and perform the song with J5.
Quality Control remains one of the stronger albums of 2000, and an excellent artistic milestone for the group. The group continued to mature and refine their music and stage presence, but they always sounded like they were having the most fun on this album. More than a lot of hip-hop albums of the era, it proves that artists can be serious about their craft, but still sound like they’re enjoying themselves when they record.
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