"It's not about the art anymore," admits Jurassic 5's Marc 7 of the poor state of present day hip-hop. "It's so easy to make one good video and sell a million records. [However,] now people are going back to just making good albums." Marc includes artists like Black Star, Common, and De La Soul on this list of groups making music destined to change the spirit of hip-hop. He modestly redirects any credit for the shift towards positivity away from his own old school crew and their long-awaited debut full-length, Quality Control.
"It's already been started," he states, "but I think it's just gonna take that one big group, that slap-in-the-face group to say, We are here.' And, I don't know if it's us that's going to be up to God but that group needs to come. If not us, somebody," finishes Marc, adamantly.
You should expect that attitude from a group formed from two crews that spent their formative years hanging out at South Central, L.A.'s Good Life Café, a breeding ground for West Coast creativity. "I think you emit what you are," Marc 7 says of the old school party sound that Jurassic 5 creates. "We're good people, generally. We care a lot. It goes into our music, as well as the production, of what we do."
And what the band does is create some of the most infectious party jams with a definite old school connection. It even goes back to the name. Upon hearing their 1993 single "Unifed Rebelution," which united the Unity Committee and Rebels Of Rhythm into the current line-up, one of their girlfriends replied: "You guys think y'all sound like [old school group] the Fantastic 5, but y'all sound more like Jurassic 5." The name stuck, as did the old school sounds it displayed.
If there is justice in the world, Quality Control should be that "slap in the face" to the industry and the fans. They will succeed because of one very important philosophy: "If you can't look back than you can't go forward." J5 is moving ahead in giant leaps and bounds.
"It's already been started," he states, "but I think it's just gonna take that one big group, that slap-in-the-face group to say, We are here.' And, I don't know if it's us that's going to be up to God but that group needs to come. If not us, somebody," finishes Marc, adamantly.
You should expect that attitude from a group formed from two crews that spent their formative years hanging out at South Central, L.A.'s Good Life Café, a breeding ground for West Coast creativity. "I think you emit what you are," Marc 7 says of the old school party sound that Jurassic 5 creates. "We're good people, generally. We care a lot. It goes into our music, as well as the production, of what we do."
And what the band does is create some of the most infectious party jams with a definite old school connection. It even goes back to the name. Upon hearing their 1993 single "Unifed Rebelution," which united the Unity Committee and Rebels Of Rhythm into the current line-up, one of their girlfriends replied: "You guys think y'all sound like [old school group] the Fantastic 5, but y'all sound more like Jurassic 5." The name stuck, as did the old school sounds it displayed.
If there is justice in the world, Quality Control should be that "slap in the face" to the industry and the fans. They will succeed because of one very important philosophy: "If you can't look back than you can't go forward." J5 is moving ahead in giant leaps and bounds.
