So the Jungle Brothers are back and according to the reports you choose to believe they''re either yet again breaking new ground or straying ever further from the fold known as hip hop. Ever since their return to the scene a few years back - time didn''t treat them quite as well as Tribe for quite a while if you remember - they''ve been more dependent upon UK dance producers for their singles success in this country. With ''V.I.P.'' they''ve gone the whole distance and employed Propellerheads'' Alex Gifford to produce the entire album. Now, no disrespect to Alex, but his approach to producing hip hop ain''t exactly from the same school as DJ Premier. You might say to me, DJ Premier''s beats are tired and I might say to you, "have you heard ''Nas Is Like''??" But, I digress. The point is that you might accuse me of being a purist for complaining that tongue-in-cheek big beat production won''t make a great hip hop album. Then I would draw your attention to Mos Def ''s recent album ''Black On Both Sides'' which strays from the anticipated independent vibe into pure rock and funk territory without ever losing its truth to hip hop. So Mos Def may well have made the hip hop album of the year and Jungle Brothers haven''t, what are we left with? A perfectly enjoyable big beat party album with vocals from the JBs thank you very much.
