Feedback [Clean] [Edited]

Performer: Jurassic 5
Artist: Dave Matthews Band
Engineer: Kent Hitchcock; Exile
Producer: Scott Storch; Salaamremi.com; Exile; Nu-Mark; Salaam Remi; Scott Storch
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Jurassic 5: Akil, Mark 7, Soup, Chali 2na (rap vocals); DJ Nu-Mark (programming, scratches). Personnel: Kent Hitchcock, Mitchell Long (guitar); Bill Brendel (piano); Salaam Remi (keyboards, drums); Kaveh Rastegar (upright bass); Fanetta Lowe (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Kent Hitchcock; Exile; Kevin Crouse; Serban Ghenea. Recording information: Creative Space, Miami, FL; Hit Factory, Miami, FL; Log Cabin; Studio Litho, Seattle, WA. Photographers: Chali 2na; F. Scott Schafer. As one of hip-hop's most unique and charismatic contemporary crews, Jurassic 5 have been laying down positive lyrics with true-school influenced rhyme schemes since they first appeared on the original LYRICIST LOUNGE compilation. Album three is more of the same from the tight-knit quintet of MCs, but that's certainly no complaint. With solid production from DJ Numark, Salaam Remi, and Scott Storch, the J5 prove themselves to be the masters of feel-good, backpack rap. While some hip-hop purists may be quick to point out the crossover feel of this record (which includes two guest spots from Dave Matthews Band), Jurassic 5 manage to stay true to the original sound, making the off-beat collaborations work and putting down some of the most consistently clever flows of hip-hop's third decade. FEEDBACK also includes a few departure tracks like "Brown Girl," the crew's fresh spin on crunk, and the Latin guitar-laced instrumental "Canto De Ossanha." Leading up to the release of Feedback, Jurassic 5 rapper Soup distanced his group from the rap underground that had embraced his music, but apparently had not paid enough of his bills. "It's a step up for us because we have been basically known as an underground group....We've been known as a backpacker group." Indeed, after years of bringing their live show to thousands of scattered festival-goers (Lollapalooza, Warped, Bonnaroo, Reading), the group reached for the same type of commercialized sweet spot that had made Black Eyed Peas one of the hottest things in rap during the early 2000s. That doesn't mean more sex, but it does mean more anthems, more featured appearances, and more sounds from the contemporary rap charts. With producer Cut Chemist gone for a solo production career, the group focused heavily on their other in-house source, DJ Nu-Mark, who contributes an opener in "Back 4 U" that makes it sound as though nothing has changed in the Jurassic camp. His pair of Sugar Hill tributes later in the album ("Radio," "In the House") end up being highlights of the album, not because they're stellar, but because the outside producers come up short so often. Interscope may have sprung for some of the most expensive for-hire producers -- Scott Storch (famous for 50 Cent, T.I., Lil' Kim, and the Roots) and Salaam Remi (Fugees, Nas, Ludacris, Joss Stone) -- but any savvy listener can go right down the track listing and match nearly every production to the source that prompted it being co-opted here. "Baby Please" is a horn-led Neptunes rewrite, "Gotta Understand" a second-rate Kanye West production (complete with Curtis Mayfield's sampled crooning), and "Get It Together" tries to capitalize on the fad of catchy whistling hooks already defined by Juelz Santana's "There It Go! (The Whistle Song)." The first single, a sunny singalong titled "Work It Out," also has little to recommend itself -- especially not the contributions of the Dave Matthews Band. Against productions this diluted, Jurassic's top-notch rhymers -- Chali 2na, Soup, Akil -- fail to make any headway, usually spitting rhymes already familiar to listeners of their earlier work. [A 'clean' edition of the album was also released in 2006.] ~ John Bush

Spin (p.10) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]heir most immediately pleasurable album, with shiftier, bouncier production..." Q (p.113) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The vintage beats and sing-song lyrics of 'Radio' and 'In The House' nod to LL Cool J and The Sugarhill Gang respectively..." Vibe (p.213) - "J-5's boom-bapping makes the old new again." XXL (Magazine) (p.153) - "[The album] features true-school flows and cadences that fit the crew like a furry Kangol."

One of the most popular and artistically engaging groups in the hip-hop underground, Jurassic 5 brought the conscious-rap style of the Native Tongues movement and a cratediggers ear for samples and production to L.A.'s overwhelmingly gangstafied rap scene. With production from the group's own Cut Chemist, J5's 1997 self-titled debut EP is considered an underground classic. The group continued its reverence for the old-school on subsequent releases while remaining decidedly contemporary.

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