see its hard to make that type of hip hop when your signed to a major. Especially when u got dudes like the black eyed p's making records that are blowing up. You know that had to been a big factor in this latest album, with pressure from the label to cater to that market. Just my opinion. Same thing with black eyed doing best buy, j5 starts doing target ads.
And yeah that solo cut chemist joint was actually pretty impressive.
I don't think this will surprise many. When I interviewed them back in 2002, I more or less assumed that after that second album, they'd just go their separate ways. The old school thing was DOA even by that point and it was clear that personalities in the camp were itching for some solo ventures. The fact that they got to the point where they could drop "Feedback" was impressive but alas, the album was not.
I do feel bad that the group will be no more but I agree with the sentiment that basically, their time had past.
They couldn't have been successful continuing w/the retro thing OR trying to update their approach
They had the right sound at the right time, and then that time passed...
part of me agrees with this then there's a part that thinks that good musicians and artists can make timeless art and continue to push boundaries while staying true to their original style
That principle may be valid, but as rappers they weren't particularly "good," so I'm not sure how applicable it is.
I'm not trying to hate, and I'm sure they're nice guys, but they were essentially a novelty act. As DigDug pointed out, the window of time when that gimmick resonated with people has closed. Those dudes are really not doing it as rappers in the 21st century.
yeah. but what about soggy bottom boys, blind boys of alabama, the blues brothers, brian setzer orchestra, the vandals, etc. these are all "novelty" groups that still hold it down? peace, stein. . .
their show was prob one of the best live hip hop shows ive ever seen.
They smoked it down here in Auck-A-Lofa, NZ on Friday night.... almost too slick at times but they rocked it for 90 mins non-stop... and Nu-Mark was frikin killer - a couple af 1200s, 2 x CDJ1000, his MPC and some freaky old school looking hard drive / sampler thing that he had all the beats. He would pick samples out of it too and assign them to MPC pads and kind re-loop and re-edit as he went. Impressive...
Only bummer was that they locked down the side of stage area... so Access All Areas passes became Access All Areas Except Where You Really Wanna Be...
yeah. but what about soggy bottom boys, blind boys of alabama, the blues brothers, brian setzer orchestra, the vandals, etc. these are all "novelty" groups that still hold it down?[/b] peace, stein. . .
but do they really??? i mean yes, they stick to their sound, but i doubt anyone expects any new album from one of those groups to sound much different from the last one...
J5 could have probably released another 5 albums with the same sound, but they would have been on smaller labels and their audience would have likely dwindled. I suspect none of those dudes really wanted to go down that road.
The problem wasn't merely that their style was niche...you talk to any of those guys and at least half of them have had solo ambitions for years but they stayed together as a group in order to capitalize on what opportunities they had. Chali gambled on his popularity to go solo (one could say Cut did the same though I think his case is a bit more complicated) and with Chali, his solo album went nowhere. So you have this tension w/i the group that, over time, becomes untenable: staying together out of practicality but everyone wants to be able to focus on their own career. The fact that they managed to put out three albums under those conditions is pretty remarkable (look at LONS as a comparison).
Of course, had J5 albums been going platinum on the reg, best believe, they would stayed together longer but once "Feedback" slipped, the compulsion to remain a group went with it.
That's too bad, was I the only one feeling both those 12"s that came out from Fish Market? I think people can identify Chali and like him, he always seemed to have the most presence... Peace DJ Zest
The problem wasn't merely that their style was niche...you talk to any of those guys and at least half of them have had solo ambitions for years but they stayed together as a group in order to capitalize on what opportunities they had. Chali gambled on his popularity to go solo (one could say Cut did the same though I think his case is a bit more complicated) and with Chali, his solo album went nowhere. So you have this tension w/i the group that, over time, becomes untenable: staying together out of practicality but everyone wants to be able to focus on their own career. The fact that they managed to put out three albums under those conditions is pretty remarkable (look at LONS as a comparison).
LONS only had two albums, if there was a third let me know. Charlie Brown would end up doing records with everyone from Funkmaster Flex to DJ Towa Tei, and he could have easily been up there. I always preferred Dinco D, and Busta Rhymes was just Busta Rhymes. I was amazed when he started being singled out, and in time have his own solo career. I give him credit for having that business sense, but a lot of his post-LONS stuff is just
Had Dinco D did a verse with The Genius in "I Gotcha Back" in 1994, that would have been huge.
I like Soup, and had hoped he would pursue a solo career since the first EP, although I'm not sure what will happen now. It would be great if 2na went back with Ozomatli, and at least Ozomatli always has an open door policy.
I liked Power In Numbers[/b], but Feedback[/b] was hard to listen to, like Wu-Tang Forever[/b]. I do hope that Nu-Mark will now have a chance to stand out in his own right. I think for a long time he had been in CC's shadows, but his work on the first two J5 albums made people realize who he was (that he wasn't "just" the other DJ in J5). Maybe Nu-Mark can work on some Gorillaz projects. It worked for Br***.
My point is that LONS couldn't stay together for three albums but J5 was able to. They aren't perfect parallels per se but it's not easy to keep that many MCs together in a group in this day and age.
The problem wasn't merely that their style was niche...you talk to any of those guys and at least half of them have had solo ambitions for years but they stayed together as a group in order to capitalize on what opportunities they had. Chali gambled on his popularity to go solo (one could say Cut did the same though I think his case is a bit more complicated) and with Chali, his solo album went nowhere. So you have this tension w/i the group that, over time, becomes untenable: staying together out of practicality but everyone wants to be able to focus on their own career. The fact that they managed to put out three albums under those conditions is pretty remarkable (look at LONS as a comparison).
LONS only had two albums, if there was a third let me know. Charlie Brown would end up doing records with everyone from Funkmaster Flex to DJ Towa Tei, and he could have easily been up there. I always preferred Dinco D, and Busta Rhymes was just Busta Rhymes. I was amazed when he started being singled out, and in time have his own solo career. I give him credit for having that business sense, but a lot of his post-LONS stuff is just
Had Dinco D did a verse with The Genius in "I Gotcha Back" in 1994, that would have been huge.
I like Soup, and had hoped he would pursue a solo career since the first EP, although I'm not sure what will happen now. It would be great if 2na went back with Ozomatli, and at least Ozomatli always has an open door policy.
I liked Power In Numbers[/b], but Feedback[/b] was hard to listen to, like Wu-Tang Forever[/b]. I do hope that Nu-Mark will now have a chance to stand out in his own right. I think for a long time he had been in CC's shadows, but his work on the first two J5 albums made people realize who he was (that he wasn't "just" the other DJ in J5). Maybe Nu-Mark can work on some Gorillaz projects. It worked for Br***.
The problem wasn't merely that their style was niche...you talk to any of those guys and at least half of them have had solo ambitions for years but they stayed together as a group in order to capitalize on what opportunities they had. Chali gambled on his popularity to go solo (one could say Cut did the same though I think his case is a bit more complicated) and with Chali, his solo album went nowhere. So you have this tension w/i the group that, over time, becomes untenable: staying together out of practicality but everyone wants to be able to focus on their own career. The fact that they managed to put out three albums under those conditions is pretty remarkable (look at LONS as a comparison).
LONS only had two albums, if there was a third let me know. Charlie Brown would end up doing records with everyone from Funkmaster Flex to DJ Towa Tei, and he could have easily been up there. I always preferred Dinco D, and Busta Rhymes was just Busta Rhymes. I was amazed when he started being singled out, and in time have his own solo career. I give him credit for having that business sense, but a lot of his post-LONS stuff is just
Had Dinco D did a verse with The Genius in "I Gotcha Back" in 1994, that would have been huge.
Dinco might have been your personal favorite, but I don't recall anyone clammoring for a Dinco D solo shot. Dude was nice, but ultimately unremarkable.
As for Charlie Brown, dude fucked himself. All you have to do is watch that painfully awkward Yo! MTV Raps clip where he basically plays out the rest of LONS in front of the camera and mumbles something akin to "I'm about to make mad moves, yall just watch me."
Busta was definitely the most charismatic and unique in the crew, I don't think anyone was at all surprised (apart from you, perhaps) when he went for his.
My point is that LONS couldn't stay together for three albums but J5 was able to. They aren't perfect parallels per se but it's not easy to keep that many MCs together in a group in this day and age.
Okay. That's true. I just remember really liking the first LONS, and to me Busta was just so-so. The song that changed my view of him was "Shining Star", which is still my favorite LONS song. But when the video for "What's Next" came out, and he dropped the first verse, I knew something was up. I liked the first solo album, but got a bit flakey for me, at least on his albums, because there's a lot of cameo appearances which to me go back to what made his work with LONS great.
Dinco might have been your personal favorite, but I don't recall anyone clammoring for a Dinco D solo shot. Dude was nice, but ultimately unremarkable.
As for Charlie Brown, dude fucked himself. All you have to do is watch that painfully awkward Yo! MTV Raps clip where he basically plays out the rest of LONS in front of the camera and mumbles something akin to "I'm about to make mad moves, yall just watch me."
Busta was definitely the most charismatic and unique in the crew, I don't think anyone was at all surprised (apart from you, perhaps) when he went for his.
I was definitely surprised, and looking back at what he was doing between the last LONS and "WOO-HAA!", maybe I shouldn't have been. Then again, who ever thought The Genius would amount to anything after "Come Do Me"? The rest of the album was great, but the song was up there with "Oochie Coochie".
The last Busta Rhymes album I paid attention to was the one with the Tahitian samples at the beginning of one of the songs. That one was not bad at all.
J5 have broken up, their current Aussie tour is officially their last, they hadn't announced it, but Soup decided to talk about it without the guys and now it's out, so there you go. Long time coming. I'm excited for Nu to move on and do other projects. As far as the MC's are concerned I'm not sure where they will end up.
Comments
And yeah that solo cut chemist joint was actually pretty impressive.
I do feel bad that the group will be no more but I agree with the sentiment that basically, their time had past.
That said, Charlie and Akil are both good dudes.
Those guys kill a live show for real!
That principle may be valid, but as rappers they weren't particularly "good," so I'm not sure how applicable it is.
I'm not trying to hate, and I'm sure they're nice guys, but they were essentially a novelty act. As DigDug pointed out, the window of time when that gimmick resonated with people has closed. Those dudes are really not doing it as rappers in the 21st century.
who?
They smoked it down here in Auck-A-Lofa, NZ on Friday night.... almost too slick at times but they rocked it for 90 mins non-stop... and Nu-Mark was frikin killer - a couple af 1200s, 2 x CDJ1000, his MPC and some freaky old school looking hard drive / sampler thing that he had all the beats. He would pick samples out of it too and assign them to MPC pads and kind re-loop and re-edit as he went. Impressive...
Only bummer was that they locked down the side of stage area... so Access All Areas passes became Access All Areas Except Where You Really Wanna Be...
but do they really??? i mean yes, they stick to their sound, but i doubt anyone expects any new album from one of those groups to sound much different from the last one...
J5 could have probably released another 5 albums with the same sound, but they would have been on smaller labels and their audience would have likely dwindled. I suspect none of those dudes really wanted to go down that road.
The problem wasn't merely that their style was niche...you talk to any of those guys and at least half of them have had solo ambitions for years but they stayed together as a group in order to capitalize on what opportunities they had. Chali gambled on his popularity to go solo (one could say Cut did the same though I think his case is a bit more complicated) and with Chali, his solo album went nowhere. So you have this tension w/i the group that, over time, becomes untenable: staying together out of practicality but everyone wants to be able to focus on their own career. The fact that they managed to put out three albums under those conditions is pretty remarkable (look at LONS as a comparison).
Of course, had J5 albums been going platinum on the reg, best believe, they would stayed together longer but once "Feedback" slipped, the compulsion to remain a group went with it.
Peace
DJ Zest
LONS only had two albums, if there was a third let me know. Charlie Brown would end up doing records with everyone from Funkmaster Flex to DJ Towa Tei, and he could have easily been up there. I always preferred Dinco D, and Busta Rhymes was just Busta Rhymes. I was amazed when he started being singled out, and in time have his own solo career. I give him credit for having that business sense, but a lot of his post-LONS stuff is just
Had Dinco D did a verse with The Genius in "I Gotcha Back" in 1994, that would have been huge.
I like Soup, and had hoped he would pursue a solo career since the first EP, although I'm not sure what will happen now. It would be great if 2na went back with Ozomatli, and at least Ozomatli always has an open door policy.
I liked Power In Numbers[/b], but Feedback[/b] was hard to listen to, like Wu-Tang Forever[/b]. I do hope that Nu-Mark will now have a chance to stand out in his own right. I think for a long time he had been in CC's shadows, but his work on the first two J5 albums made people realize who he was (that he wasn't "just" the other DJ in J5). Maybe Nu-Mark can work on some Gorillaz projects. It worked for Br***.
Wow, what a shock.
Not trying to be mean but, damn, I don't think even people on Okayplayer would check for something like that.
My point is that LONS couldn't stay together for three albums but J5 was able to. They aren't perfect parallels per se but it's not easy to keep that many MCs together in a group in this day and age.
Dinco might have been your personal favorite, but I don't recall anyone clammoring for a Dinco D solo shot. Dude was nice, but ultimately unremarkable.
As for Charlie Brown, dude fucked himself. All you have to do is watch that painfully awkward Yo! MTV Raps clip where he basically plays out the rest of LONS in front of the camera and mumbles something akin to "I'm about to make mad moves, yall just watch me."
Busta was definitely the most charismatic and unique in the crew, I don't think anyone was at all surprised (apart from you, perhaps) when he went for his.
Okay. That's true. I just remember really liking the first LONS, and to me Busta was just so-so. The song that changed my view of him was "Shining Star", which is still my favorite LONS song. But when the video for "What's Next" came out, and he dropped the first verse, I knew something was up. I liked the first solo album, but got a bit flakey for me, at least on his albums, because there's a lot of cameo appearances which to me go back to what made his work with LONS great.
I was definitely surprised, and looking back at what he was doing between the last LONS and "WOO-HAA!", maybe I shouldn't have been. Then again, who ever thought The Genius would amount to anything after "Come Do Me"? The rest of the album was great, but the song was up there with "Oochie Coochie".
The last Busta Rhymes album I paid attention to was the one with the Tahitian samples at the beginning of one of the songs. That one was not bad at all.
To me Concrete Schoolyard (or the entire first album, really) is some of the very best hip-hop ever made.
- J