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'Jurassic 5' was a six- and then later five-piece hip hop group formed in 1994. Rappers Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir aka Soup, Mark 7even, Benny C, Tommy M and turntable maestros DJ Nu-Mark and DJ Cut Chemist came together from two separate crews, the Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee. They currently plan to split up.

Contents

History

Collaborations

Musical style

Near-death experience

Trivia

Discography

Albums

Miscellaneous

Sound clip

External links

History

The group formed at the Los Angeles, California health store The Good Life at open mic sessions. They released their first record, ''Jurassic 5 EP'', in 1997. The record cemented their position in the 1990s alternative hip hop movement, alongside artists such as Company Flow, Black Star and Kool Keith.
The EP was later repackaged with additional tracks and released in December 1998 as the band's full-length debut album, entitled ''Jurassic 5 LP''.
The tracks harkened back to the old school attitude of New York's Native Tongues Posse, which included De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest. This was evident on the song "Concrete Schoolyard" ("Let's take it back to the concrete streets/Original beats from real live MCs"), and the album even provided the troupe with a surprise Top 40 single when it reached number 35 in November 1998. The other stand-out track, "Jayou", was built around a flute loop from Pleasure Web's "Music Man Part 2".
In 1999, Jurassic 5 signed to Interscope Records, who re-released the ''Jurassic 5 EP''. This was followed by their second album (their first on a major label), ''Quality Control''.
In 2003, they released their third album, ''Power In Numbers'', which was followed by touring with the newly-revived Lollapalooza festival in summer 2003.
Jurassic 5 toured without Cut Chemist, who left the group to pursue a solo career [1]. The remaining 5 members have recorded and have released their fourth album, ''Feedback'', on July 25, 2006.
On March 21, 2007, Zaakir confirmed that the band would be breaking up after their current and final live-tour.
In an interview with the Australian news outlet ''News.com.au'', the rapper said "After the tour, that’s basically it. I don’t want to sit here and fake around with it - we’re not seeing eye-to-eye right now. People see us as a harmonizing, loving group, but that’s far from the truth…I’d like to keep it going, but you can’t force grown men to do what they don’t want to do…I’m hoping people are professional enough to do what they have to do. I think it’ll be all right… Some people may say it’s a creative thing, but I’m not buying it. Some might say business, some might say merchandising, whatever, there’s some really stupid shit - some really childish things - happening." He said solo projects for various members of the group are also playing a part. “When it comes down to it, some people here want their own shine, their own thing. If that’s what you want, I say ‘more power to you’…I hope it works out for you - just don’t come up with lame excuses… I thought we’d be a bit better at handling it, but we’re not. We’re only human…Even though we do what we do doesn’t mean we’re the best communicators. For certain members it’s been brewing for a while - I’ve heard in passing there are things that could have been brought up a long time ago about how people were feeling that weren’t said."

Collaborations

★ 1995 - Nu Mark appeared on two tracks with Mannish.

★ 1998 - Cut Chemist and Chali 2na recorded as part of the Latin funk/hip-hop crew Ozomatli on their self-titled debut album.

★ 1998 - Cut Chemist collaborated with Shortkut from Invisibl Skratch Piklz on ''Live at Future Primitive Sound Session''.

★ 1998 - Nu Mark made a guest appearance alongside Perry Farrell and DVDA on the track "Hot Lava" from the ''South Park'' soundtrack album ''Chef Aid''.

★ 1999 - Cut Chemist collaborated with DJ Shadow on the album ''Brainfreeze''.

★ 1999 - Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark collaborated with Incubus on the track "Battlestar Scralatchtica" from the album ''Make Yourself''.

★ 2001 - Chali2na appeared on the track "Life Goes On", with the Long Beach Dub Allstars, on their album ''Wonders of the World''.

★ 2001 - Cut Chemist collaborated with DJ Shadow on the album ''Product Placement''.

★ 2001 - Cut Chemist appeared on the second Ozomatli album, ''Embrace the Chaos''.

★ 2001 - Jurassic 5 collaborated on the track "Lunchtime" and Akil also appeared on the track "Jaw Jabbin'" on Click Tha Supah Latin's album, Square Won.

★ 2002 - Akil, Chali 2na and Marc 7even, alongside Rakaa Iriscience (from Dilated Peoples) appeared on the Supernatural track "Work It Out".

★ 2002 - Chali 2na appeared on "4000 Miles" by Blackalicious on the album ''Blazing Arrow''. Also on that album, Cut Chemist produced "Chemical Calisthenics".

★ 2002 - Chali 2na collaborated with Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn and The Alchemist on the Linkin Park remix album ''Reanimation'' for the track "FRGT/10".

★ 2003 - Akil & Chali 2na appeared together on the DJ Format track "We Know Something You Don't Know" from his album, ''Music For The Mature B-Boy''.

★ 2003 - Akil & Chali 2na appeared on the remix of Soulive's track "Doin' Something".

★ 2004 - Cut Chemist collaborated with DJ Shadow on the album ''Product Placement on Tour''.

★ 2004 - Cut Chemist and Chali 2na appeared on the third Ozomatli album, ''Street Signs''.

★ 2005 - Akil & Chali 2na appeared on DJ Format's "The Place" from the album ''If You Can't Join 'em... Beat 'em''.

★ 2005 - Soup paired up with DJ Z-Trip to make the song "Listen to the DJ", which is on the album ''Shifting Gears''.

★ 2005 - Soup paired up with Young Einstein from Ugly Duckling for the track "Have And Have Nots" from the compilation album, ''Impeach The Precedent'' (2005).

★ 2005 - Chali 2na and Soup, along with Double K, appeared on Breakestra's track "Family Rap" from the album ''Hit the Floor''.

★ 2002 to 2005 - Both Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark have appeared live on stage on several occasions with DJ Shadow. They performed the track "Pushin' Buttons" in 2002 which was released on the limited edition version of Shadow's ''The Private Press'' album and the pair can be seen joining him on his most recent DVD release, ''In Tune and On Time'' from 2005.

★ Chali 2na has made a number of guest appearances on other artists' records, including Roots Manuva and members of Pharcyde. See the full list of Chali 2na's collaborations.

★ 2006 - Chali 2na collaborates with the Brazilian rapper Marcelo D2 on "That's What I Got" from his LP Meu Samba é Assim, also featuring Cut Chemist

★ 2006 - Jurassic 5 teamed with members of the Dave Matthews Band on the track "Work It Out" for their new album. Dave Matthews sings the chorus and members of the 5 rap the verses.

★ 2006 - Jurassic 5 collaborated with Swiss rapper Gimma.

★ 2007 - Jurassic 5 collaborated with producer Large Professor on the track "Hood In The U.S.A."

★ 2007 - The end of Jurassic 5

Musical style

Jurassic 5 is known for:

★ A no-frills ethos musical approach that evokes old school hip hop.

★ Tag-team delivery, with the four MCs trading off lyrics (finishing one another's sentences, speaking words one after the other, etc) and harmonizing on choruses.

★ Primarily positive lyrics, interspersed with self-promotion and social commentary.

★ Touring outside of hip-hop circles, including the 2003 Lollapalooza, the 2000 Warped Tour, the Download Festival, and festivals such as Bonnaroo and Reading.

Near-death experience

In 2000, while heading to Nashville, Tennessee as a stop on the Warped Tour, the members of Jurassic 5 were involved in a tour bus accident when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and sent the vehicle into a six-foot ditch. Chali 2na and two of his colleagues were hospitalized, with 2na sustaining the gravest injuries. His skull was fractured, requiring a metal plate be implanted in his head. 2na has stated that survival of this near-death experience has made him more conscious of his religion; he, like at least three other band members, is a Sunni Muslim.

Trivia

★ The group are supporters of the English football team Manchester City.

★ The song "Red Hot" appeared on the snowboarding game "SSX On Tour"

★ The song "A day at the Races" appeared in the game "Tony Hawks Underground"

★ The song "What's Golden" appeared in the game "ATV Offroad Fury 2"

★ The song "Work It Out" appeared in the game "NBA Live 07"

★ The song "The Game" was used for an NBA commercial on "TSN".

★ The song "In the House" appeared in the videogame, "NBA Live 06"

★ The song "Improvise" appeared in the videogame, "Jet Grind Radio"

★ The song "Jayou" appeared in the video game, "Grind Session"

Discography

Albums

Album cover	Album information
	'''Jurassic 5 LP''' ★ Released: October 13, 1997 ★ Billboard 200 chart position: - ★ R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - ★ Singles: "Jayou"/"Without A Doubt", "Improvise"/"Concrete Schoolyard"
	'''Quality Control''' ★ Released: June 20, 2000 ★ Billboard 200 chart position: #43 ★ R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #33 ★ Singles: "Quality Control"/"Twelve", "W.O.E. Is Me (World of Entertainment)", "The Influence"
	'''Power in Numbers''' ★ Released: October 8, 2002 ★ Billboard 200 chart position: #15 ★ R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #13 ★ Singles: "What's Golden"/"High Fidelity", "Freedom"/"One of Them", "Thin Line"/"A Day at the Races", "Hey"/"If You Only Knew"
	'''Feedback''' ★ Released: July 25, 2006 ★ Billboard 200 chart position: #15 ★ R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #12 ★ Singles: "Red Hot", "Work it Out"/"In the House"

Miscellaneous

★ ''Jurassick! (Freestyles and Rarities)'' (date unknown, Interscope Records)

★ ''Pre-Historik Rarities'' (2003)

Sound clip

from 2000's ''Quality Control''.

External links

★ Official Jurassic 5 site

★ Official Interscope Records site

★ Chali 2Na Interview on ilikemusic.com

★ Marc 7 Interview on skinnymag.co.uk (August 2006)

★ The Career Cookbook Nu-Mark Profile

★ The Career Cookbook Marc 7 Profile

★ Jurassic 5 at inthemix.com.au