Jungle Brothers

A crucial group in hip-hop's evolution, New York's Jungle Brothers embodied the link between the self-respecting street knowledge of Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation and the positive Native Tongues movement that De La Soul brought to prominence at the end of the 1980s. With conscious lyrics over swinging jazz and upbeat funk, Straight Out the Jungle was a debut by a group (Afrika Baby Bam, Mike Gee, and DJ Sammy D) fully formed upon arrival. Done by the Forces of Nature was another great album, by turns serious and fun: The Afrocentric, Christopher Columbus-dissing "Acknowledge Your Own History" was followed immediately by the chick-specific booty rap of "Belly Dancin' Dina." The "Tribe Vibes" line "Don't eat meat cuz I'm not that mean/ Drink a lot of juice so my insides is clean" told socially conscious homeboys everywhere what they should be putting in their bellies. Jungle Brothers were ahead of their time; the concept and Ashford & Simpson loop of "Black Woman" were copied for Method Man's hit "All I Need" five years later. The album's high point may be "Doin' Our Own Dang" -- featuring De La Soul, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, and A Tribe Called Quest -- which remains the definitive Native Tongues posse cut. While Jungle Brothers were primed for success, their record label dropped the ball; it wasn't until 1993 that the even more adventurous J. Beez Wit the Remedy appeared, and despite the boot-stomping single "40 Below Trooper," the album sold squat. As the group aged, they found success in Europe, and this apparently affected their music. Back in 1988, Straight Out the Jungle's most intriguing cut was "I'll House You," a collaboration with house producer Todd Terry. While the track was great, it spawned the lamentably cheesy subgenre of hip-house, and come 2000's V.I.P., the J.B.s were rapping over beats that sounded more like wine-bar Eurodisco than real hip-hop. For anyone who was a fan of the group's pioneering early work, their latter-day party guise is a bit hard to accept. A number of compilations and remix collections are available, none of which are a better buy than Jungle Brothers' first two albums. (PETER RELIC)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide