Jurassic 5
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Jurassic 5 is a six-piece hip hop crew that was formed in 1993 (see 1993 in music) at the Los Angeles, California venue Good Life. Rappers Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir (or Soup), Mark 7even, and turntable maestros DJ Nu-Mark and DJ Cut Chemist came together from two separate crews, the Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee. They debuted for TVT Records in 1995 with the "Unified Rebelution" single. Their acclaimed position in the 1990s alternative hip hop movement, alongside artists including Company Flow, Black Star and Dr. Octagon, was confirmed when the Jurassic 5 EP was released in December 1997.
The tracks harked back to the old school attitude of New York's Native Tongues Posse, the seminal late 1980s coalition of artists including De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest who reaffirmed rap's social agenda. This was evident on "Concrete Schoolyard" ("Let's take it back to the concrete streets/Original beats from real live MCs"), which even provided the troupe with a surprise UK Top 40 single when it reached number 35 in November 1998 (see 1998 in music). The other stand-out track, "Jayou", was built around a hypnotic flute loop from Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up". Cut Chemist and Chali 2na also record with the Latin funk/hip-hop crew Ozomatli, while Chemist collaborated with Shortkut from Invisibl Skratch Piklz on 1998's Live at Future Primitive Sound Session. Jurassic 5 then signed to Interscope Records, making their major label debut in June 2000 (see 2000 in music) with Quality Control. Their sophomore album, Power In Numbers dropped in 2002. In summer of 2003, Jurassic 5 toured with the newly-revived Lollapalooza festival.