Jurassic 5′s recent performances show they still have great musical direction (Photo: Getty Images)
Hip hop isn’t dead. Playing to a capacity crowd at the O2 Academy, Jurassic 5 delivered a night to remember.
Old school hip hop fused with the nostalgic feeling in the air. Jurassic 5 took a 7-year long break from each other, yet you’d never believe they had even been apart as they performed one of only three exclusive UK gig dates in Birmingham. The group, who recently reunited for Coachella Music Festival and announced a full tour would follow, gave ann absolutely flawless performance. The original members of J5 may have grey hair taking over, but they’re still going strong; while serving as a reminder that the likes of Jay Z and Kanye West are not ‘hip hop’.
An ambient introduction with each member of the group appearing one by one from backstage, bursting into rap to the screaming audience. It took a moment to sink in that Jurassic 5 stood before us, but we soon got comfortable.
Rapping to their huge tracks, Thin Line and Concrete Schoolyard, they had the crowd waving their hands in the air and nodding their head to every beat from the moment they walked on – fans ranging from young children to middle aged men reliving their youth within the electric atmosphere in the room. Vinyl could be seen everywhere, not a CD in sight. This was for the old-timers, the original hip hop fans.
The original DJ’s from Jurassic 5, Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark provided the music for the show, each of them scratching along to the records and keeping the energy flowing through the room. There was not a moment where they were sitting in the sidelines of the show. The two DJ’s performed a completely unique makeshift-instrument duo featuring a ‘vinyl-guitar’, ‘vinyl-drum kit’ and giant vinyl turntable. Despite the giant vinyl turntable not working, the crowd continued to bounce the night away to the instrumental breaks that were being played by the duo.
Despite the massive amount of energy pumping through the crowd from start to finish, it never felt like it was ‘you vs them’, it was always one big family. The J5 family. Talented rappers reliving their memories, laughing on stage in awe of the crowd that greeted them and echoed their every word despite having left their fans in the dark for 7 years.
When J5 walked off stage you could feel the emotion in the room, passionate fans stamping their feet and cheering as loud as possible, wanting them to return to the stage and perform even more. Of course they returned – the O2 Academy made a lot of noise for them. They returned, performing an unreleased track which the majority of the audience didn’t know.
Jurassic 5′s founding member, Chali 2na, announced “Put your hands up if you know this one!” to which only five members of the audience raised their hands in response; but this didn’t stop the rest of the audience from enjoying the performance, with every member of the crowd bouncing to the beat.
A great bunch of talented rappers and DJ’s, finally making their return to hundreds of die-hard fans by putting on an energetic and exciting performance. 5 stars.
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Daniel Willis
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