Jurassic 5: Quality Control (Vinyl 2xLP)

Jurassic 5 flexed serious old-to-the-new muscles in the 90s, beginning with their independently released single Unified Rebelution in 1994, and book-ending with their stellar debut full-length: 2000s Quality Control. They walked a tightrope between underground and mainstream hip-hop, and toured alongside rap peers as well as punk rockers on the Vans Warped Tour.

With double the pleasure of your average hip-hop group – two DJs and producers (Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark); and four MCs (Chali 2na, Akil, Marc 7 and Zaakir aka Soup) – they brought the late 1970s unison MC style of pioneering groups like the Fantastic 5 and the Force MCs to a new generation. Even more surprisingly, they did so out of Los Angeles, whose hip-hop flavors generally leaned towards Gangsta, G-Funk or Electro lines. Musically inventive and lyrically forward-thinking, each song on Quality Control is a new adventure, exploring engaging territory, delivered via one of the best live hip-hop shows fans had seen in years.

From singles like the strutting groove of the title track to the throwback doo-wop samples on The Influence and the catchy, keyboard groove-driven World of Entertainment (WOE Is Me), to deeper album tracks like the lyrical gymnastics of Jurass Finish First and the thought-provoking Lausd, Jurassic 5 consistently stepped to the plate and their fans responded in kind, nearly pushing the album to Gold status. Add the innovative DJ-and-sample workout which closes out the album, Swing Set, and you have one of the 2000s most unique and solid full-length platters.

1. How We Get Along (Intro)
   
2. The Influence
   
3. Great Expectations
   
4. Quality Control (Intro)
   
5. Quality Control
6. Contact
   
7. Lausd
   
8. W.O.E. Is Me (World Of Entertainment)
   
9. Monkey Bars
10. Jurass Finish First
    
11. Contribution
    
12. Twelve
13. The Game
    
14. Improvise
    
15. Swing Set