Disco de Jurassic 5: “Feedback [PA]”

I recall hearing Quality Control as a major wake up call for me. Until that point I was very skeptical of all hip hop, thinking that the best the genre had to offer was on commerical radio. The allure of J5 was an indie crowd appeal, proven by several stints at Bonnaroo. They gave us relaxed, throwback, motown hip hop that dealt lyrically with more down to earth matters than sex, violence, and gangs. DJs Nu Mark and Cut Chemist provided beats that were the antithesis to commercial hip hop, using very jazzy live drum beats.

Now what?

It seems on this new disc that the corporate machine that is Interscope Records forced our boys to create a more MTV-ready, easily marketable record. I'm not saying they've "sold out;" that term is soulless. With the exception of the beats, this is classic J5: soulful harmonizing, positive lyrics, and a very laid back feeling.

But something's missing.

The other major draw of J5, and a fact that can be heard repeatedly in the lyrics of the first two albums, were the two DJs that brought it all together. Cut Chemist and Nu Mark melded their massive talents together to form the simple beats that made J5 a monster hip hop force that it is today. But, because of a new solo disc, Cut Chemist is nowhere to be found on Feedback. As a result, Nu Mark turns to other DJs to help with the beat making process, and, as I see it, they wound up with very average beats. I realize that no artist can, or should, make the same album more than once; everyone grows both artistically and stylistically. But when a completely imaginative group start thinking inside the box, at least a little disappointment will follow.

Having said all that, Feedback is still, compared to the hip hop on the radio, a very original, better-than-most hip hop album that will keep most J5 fans happy for years to come. After the first few tracks, this new CD is amazing, in a different way than the first two J5 albums. My review would have been much more negative if they had simply put out "Quality Control Part Two."

I know the musicians won't be reading this, but man, J5 totally let me down with Feedback. I purchased the Jurassic 5 EP a few days earlier to get back in the mood of old school hip-hop. Let me say that it is far superior to Feedback. I agree that Cut Chemist is sorely missed on this record. Nu-Mark does a good job, but the beats just don't compare to some of the better Cut tracks on Quality Control and Power in Numbers. The beats on Feedback seem overproduced, they kinda sound like DJ Z-Trip tacks, which, I would say, is a big step down from where Nu-Mark should be musically.

I think Brown Girl is the first J5 track I've ever skipped. It only took me 30 seconds.

But my biggest gripe is the lyrical content. Almost every song is about getting a girl/getting over shyness/trying to get people to like you. It sucks. Where are the fun loving lyrics of old? I think there is only really one good verse that Soup spits on track 13 or 14. Like Chali 2na isn't even that funny, not witty like he is on stage. And we know the other MC's have trouble holding their weight without the help of 2na and Soup. It sounds like J5 got bored and produced this album, or is just really trying to go mainstream (example: Dave Matthews, what the heck?)

Anyway, I totally think this album is out of character for j5, and I'm dissapointed. Hopefully at their live shows, they will continue to perform "Quality" songs. And in conclusion, if you think this is a welcome break from all the horrible things in mainstream hip-hop/rap, check out better albums by Basic Vocab (The General Dynamic), Substance Abuse (Overproof), Dabrye (Two/Three), Mr. Lif (Mo' Mega), and Cut Chemist (The Audience's Listening).

I'm sorry; are these the same group of intelligent hip-hoppers that had us listening while everyone else had their Nelly and Bow Wow? Well, yes and no: DJ Cut Chemist left the fold, so the rest of Jurassic 5 had to soldier on. But they could have done a lot better that Feedback.

There are a few live performances that impress though, like "Turn It Out" and especially the album's opener, "Back 4 U". The latter gives you the idea that this will be another stellar J5 journey, but immediately following that song is the blatant "Radio". And the problem isn't that J5 is trying to become mainstream because as reviewer DJ Benny pointed out, they've always been on Interscope (kinda like people calling Dilated Peoples underground yet they're on Capitol Records); it's the fact that a lot of the songs are so different from their usual style that it's a little hard to stomach.

I don't think the lead single "Work It Out" (with Dave Matthews Band) is all that bad; the only problem I really have with it is that even though Dave is only singing the chorus, the music makes it feel more like Dave Matthews Band featuring Jurassic 5 instead of the other way around. But as other reviewers have mentioned, female-oriented songs like "Brown Girl" and especially "Baby Please" fall flat. The latter also isn't helped by the speed-rapping, OR the sample of Al Green's "Love & Happiness" for the umpteenth time. And there's absolutely no excuse for "In the House"; well, unless this was 1983.

One song that everyone seems to like is "Red Hot", but the chorus to that song ruined it for me. Songs that DO impress include tracks 8 and 9: "Where We At" and "Get It Together". Another highlight is "End Up Like This". The song has the chorus: "How did we end up like this?" which is exactly what I'D like to know. Maybe the guys in J5 don't realize that it's best for the MTV generation to jump onto their bandwagon because they realize the music is good, not because the artist pathetically changes their style to fit the mold. Hopefully they'll realize that the next time around because right now if most people were to download a lot of these songs, they'd probably want to send the feed back.

Anthony Rupert

In response to the reviewer below me:

I happen to be in agreement that this album is not up to par with the previous stuff they've put out. I find it hard to believe that those of you who have heard their previous stuff (and no, that doesnt mean just recently bought their last 3 albums last week) can argue with that statement. It just simply IS NOT up to par with what these guys are capable of.

Why do I say that? Because they've shown us so in the past. Unfortunately, once a group reaches a certain level in their music and starts putting out caliber stuff (as they did with Quality Control and Power in Numbers), their fans come to expect that same level of quality in the future, if not better. Thats just how it is.

Avid J5 fans expect much more from these guys and we did not get it. If you are just starting to get into them then maybe this album is right for you, but fact is it doesnt even hold a candle to what is already out. I'd say parts of it are downright intolerable. (Radio, Brown Girl, others) Am I pissed? Sure I'm pissed.

4 years after their last album one would expect more than this. And regarding the lyrical content... I think it's time to start talking about other stuff. Putting down mainstream rap and gangster rap was funny, clever, and witty on Power and Numbers and before but how long are they gonna go on about this? The message is tired, we get the point. I am in complete agreement with them about this ( I would never pick up an album by usher, chingy, ludacris, or whoever the *&%^ else is on the radio these days, and I never listen to mainstream radio). I hate that stuff and the message as much as we all do but at what point do we stoop to their level odf stupidity by going on and on about how immature and ridiculous these "rappers" act and look?

No evolution whatsoever. As a final note, to any new fans of J5, I would absolutely not begin with this album. Start with Quality Control and then pick up Power in Numbers.

Yeah I'd be typing this two handed if I wasn't still punching myself in the forehead for waiting the 4 extra days to buy this album based on what the reviews were sayin. This is definitely a solid album from J5. The only reason that I'm giving this album 4 stars is because of "Brown Girl", I didn't like it myself but that doesn't mean that J5 shouldn't have made the song. Personally, if I wanted to hear an album that sounded like Power In Numbers or Quality Control, I would just listen to those albums. Some underground hip hop fans always seem to be against the idea of "underground" hip hop artists going outside of what they (hip hop artists) might be best known for and I don't understand it. If someone wants music to sound a certain way, then they should start making music, not criticize an artist for experimenting with different sounds that, heaven forbid, might increase the amount of fans that they have. And aren't fans always complaining about how so many hip hop artists do what seems to be "trendy" at the time and play it safe for the security of big sales? That doesn't feel or sound like that is the case with this album at all.

This album does sound like it has more outside influence than the previous ones, but it works. I mean "Radio" is one of my favorite tracks on the album. People do remember that there was a time in hip hop (a time that J5 are always reminiscing of) when it was just about having fun, right? I think if people just took the music for what it was, then they wouldn't have these selfish expectations of artists to do what "fans" will like. Artists don't owe fans anything. If J5 wants to make an album that doesn't sound like anything that they've done thus far, they don't have to. In fact, I would be more dissapointed if J5 tried to stay in the niche that they created for themselves just to keep their "underound" fan base happy.