Done by the Forces of Nature

Performer: Jungle Brothers
Artist: DJ Red Alert; Queen Latifah; De La Soul; KRS-One; A Tribe Called Quest; Monie Love; Caron Wheeler
Engineer: Dr. Shane Faber
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Jungle Brothers: The Pharoah Afrika Baby Bambaataa, Sound System Uncle Sam, The Navigator Mike G, Roadmanager Violator Baby Chris, Qualiall Ammyposacve. Additional personnel: Dr. Shane Faber (keyboards). Producers: Sound System Uncle Sam, The Navigator Mike G, Roadmanager Violator Baby Chris, Qualiall Ammyposacve, Afrika BabyBam. Recorded at Calliope Studios, New York. The Jungle Brothers' 1988 debut, STRAIGHT OUT THE JUNGLE, was a landmark release in the development of conscious hip-hop. That album's successor, 1989's DONE BY THE FORCES OF NATURE, builds on the innovations of the group's debut and adds the polish of major label production. Though the JB's sonic affiliation with the underground is still intact, the album is cleaner, less dated, and generally easier on the ears than the independently released STRAIGHT OUT THE JUNGLE. Issues of production aside, the group's sophomore effort is a brain-tickling tapestry of buoyant beats and samples from jazz, world music, and classic funk and R&B. The raps center primarily on the Afrocentric themes for which the Native Tongues posse was well-known ("Acknowledge Your Own History" is a strong example), but the group's seriousness does not preclude light, rump-bumping fun ("What U Waitin' For," "Belly Dancin' Dina"). Smart, witty, and musically sophisticated, the JB's never got the recognition their peers De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest received, but they should have, and this excellent set proves why.

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) - Ranked #37 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records". Rolling Stone (2/8/90) - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...some of the most musical rap around..." Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - Recommended as one of the five best rap albums of 1990. "The Jungle Brothers major label debut offered a spiritual take on black America that was as mellow as it was playful."

Afrocentric James Brown fanatics from New York City, the Jungle Brothers were members of the loosely formed Native Tongues collective of the early 1990s. Offering enlightened rhymes over jazzy beats and production, the Jbeez helped create the sound of hip-hop's Golden Age. As fearless experimenters, they were also one of the first rap acts to incorporate sounds that were considered outside of the traditional hip-hop sample base--most notably house music and, later, club beats. Though never a commercial smash, the Jbeez remain one of rap's most influential groups.

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