Jurassic 5

History

Jurassic 5 debuted nationally in 1995 from TVT Records with their first single, "Unified Rebelution". Jurassic 5 released their first record, Jurassic 5 EP, in 1997. After Jurassic 5 put out their first record, it "cemented their position in the 1990s alternative hip hop movement, alongside artists such as Company Flow, Black Star and Kool Keith." The group later signed to Interscope Records and the EP was repackaged with additional tracks and released in December 1998 as the full-length, eponymous debut album entitled Jurassic 5. In an 2002 interview The Sydney Morning Herald, the group explained the origin of their name. Chali 2na revealed, “I played the song to my friend’s mother and she made a joke: ‘You guys think you sound like the Fantastic Five, but you sound more like the Jurassic Five.’ And we started laughing but, well, the name stuck.” It is also widely believed that while the group has 4 emcees that contribute lyrics, their voices combined in harmony, which occurs on nearly every track, is the fifth voice of the group.

This was followed by their second album Quality Control, which peaked at #43 on the Billboard 200.

In 2002, they released their third album, Power In Numbers which peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Jurassic 5 eventually toured without Cut Chemist, who left the group to pursue a solo career. The remaining five members released their fourth and final album, Feedback, on July 25, 2006. The album peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200.

In April 2014 Jurassic 5 were added to the Glastonbury Festival line up.

In other media

Jurassic 5's music has been used in several video games. In 2000, "Jayou" was featured in Grind Session. Also in 2000, Jet Set Radio was released in North America including the track "Improvise" from the album Quality Control - though it only appears on the US pressing. All other pressings of the album have the track Concrete And Clay instead - and an instrumental version of the same song. The following year, the track "Great Expectations" from the same album was also included in Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX. "A Day At The Races" featuring Big Daddy Kane appeared in the 2003 skateboarding game Tony Hawk's Underground. The song "In The House" from Feedback was featured in NBA Live 06. and "Work it Out" was in NBA Live 07, while "Red Hot" was featured in SSX on Tour.

The group featured in the 2001 hip hop documentary Scratch.

They were also featured in online magazine, UrbanSouth's elite list of underground hip hop albums.

Breakup

The group split in 2007. Reasons for the break-up were attributed to disagreements among members of the group.

In 2013, the group re-formed, including the return of Cut Chemist, for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and an international tour, primarily in the UK but also including dates in Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Japan and the United States. In an interview with Mr. Wavvy, Chali 2na stated that the group had discussed plans of putting out a live album sometime in the near future. They will play at Glastonbury 2014 and have a Word of Mouth Reunion Tour during the Summer of 2014. They have subsequently played 2 sets at Blues and Roots Festival Byron Bay Australia April 2015, and Bestival in September 2015.