You may remember Jurassic 5, four preternaturally sunny MCs and two ultra-skilful DJs from San Francisco who, briefly, looked like they might change the face of hip-hop in the late '90s. Over the length of their debut EP, J5's energy, positivity and canny way of unearthing old school values wasn't just morally refreshing, it seemed oddly radical. More than the nice-guy antidote to gangsta rap's excesses, they were 'good', too.
What happened between then and now is hard to explain briefly: though, certainly, we've changed rather than them. As Jurassic 5 signed to a major label and tried to subvert mainstream hip-hop from within, it rapidly became apparent that mainstream hip-hop - thanks to Timbaland and The Neptunes, of course - was being far more subversive itself. And the underground scene that sired J5 was moving on, too: so that the Def Jux crew, the Anticon family, Anti-Pop Consortium and many more weren't just successfully upholding those precious old-school values, they were updating them, too.
Which leaves Jurassic 5, on their second full-length album, something akin to slickly enjoyable, slightly boring nostalgists. Rappers have often been artistically crippled by treating their heritage too deferentially. Few, however, have restated their respect so tediously as J5. Constantly, they're "taking it back to the day", "holding on to what's golden" and "paying homage", or preaching against the "pretty-boy" vanities of their contemporaries, so that 'Power In Numbers' emerges as a hip-hop record almost entirely about hip-hop.
It's a dubious album whose chief innovation is a guest appearance by Nelly Furtado. But that's 'Power In Numbers', the proof that a vast knowledge of music's history can have a terrible impact, that puritanism is hardly the most appealing cultural stance. For a more expansive and compelling document of Bay Area hip-hop circa 2002, try 'Blazing Arrow' by Blackalicious. As for Jurassic 5: hell, enough respect already, guys.
