It was 14 years ago this Saturday that L.A.-based rap group Jurassic Five released their self-titled full-length debut, quickly becoming a leading voice in the alternative hip-hop scene.
Consisting of four MCs (Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir, Mark 7even) and two DJs (DJ Nu-Mark, Cut Chemist), J5 were known as much for their back and forth rapping as for their tight production, which featured samples of everyone from LL Cool J and Led Zeppelin to Ike Turner and Italian composer Ennio Morricone.
The group disbanded in 2007, but their eclectic approach to production is still apparent on DJ Nu-Mark’s solo material, including his Broken Sunlight series, now in its fifth installment, with a final one planned for Dec. 11.
We caught up with DJ Nu-Mark on the phone a few days ahead of his appearance at the Nov. 30 Skratch Bastid Presents to ask him to break down a few of his favourite J5 samples.
“Concrete Schoolyard” from Jurassic Five
“It was produced by Cut, but that whole record was very heartfelt because I remember sitting on Cut’s patio stoop and we would just play beats for the guys on a little boom box. I remember one night we played “Concrete” and "Jayou" and a bunch of different beats, and it just kind of all came together.
"As far as selecting the beats, that was “Getting Nasty” from Black Man’s Soul, an Ike Turner record, and it’s funny, records are a trip. You take someone like Ike Turner, who had such a bad rap with Tina Turner, rightfully so, but it’s funny where you find the nuggets.
"For that record, though, I felt like I was just warming up production-wise. I wasn’t comfortable in my production, to tell you the truth, and I don’t feel like I found my bearings yet.”
“What’s Golden” from Power in Numbers
“It wasn’t till Power In Numbers (2002) that I felt I caught my wind, where I produced “What’s Golden.” I think that was the one that took us the furthest, and it was a blend of everything we stood for, from the beats all the way on up.
"That sample was from a really big record-digging trip in the U.K., and I don’t really want to reveal the sample, but I remember chopping this thing for a long time and putting the notes in a different order, then finally finding the order that just seemed to work. The MCs seemed to gravitate towards it, which made me happy because that’s where I was at production wise.
"Public Enemy’s “Profits of Rage” is the cut we used for the hook, but the main riff, I’m sure it’s out there somewhere, but it’s not one a lot of people know about."
“Swing Set” from Quality Control
“This would actually be in my top three for songs from J5, and it’s kind of strange. When we put “Swing Set” out, I felt like it was ignored. I’m pretty sure if it was a side A single with a video it would have done great for us. That one took a long time to create, like three months of solid production, because this was before Pro Tools and all that stuff and we were doing everything to tape. It was just like I had a record, Cut had a record, and we’d go back and forth like that, we’d sample things, we’d try new things. It was tedious trying to get things to really fit. We were comparing swing music to Doug E. Fresh’s beatbox and just hip-hop in general and tap dancing, it was crazy.
"To begin with, there’re no vocals, it’s five minutes and change and it’s constantly moving with new samples coming in. At that time, swing music wasn’t what Cut and I would usually dig for. We had good swing records, but just enough to get us to the minute-and-a-half mark. So we just kept finding things and digging and finding things: it was a constant work in progress. I don’t even know how many samples went into that in the end.”
“Action Satisfaction” from Jurassic Five
“This one was just a feel-good thing. I remember putting it together kind of quickly and just saying this feels like some J5 music. There wasn’t much to it. Cut helped me out with some scratches and stuff on that one, and the MCs seemed to fit in the pocket. It was a good song, I wouldn’t call it one of our standouts, but it was a good one.
"All the great songs were already created for that record, and I was just pretty much filling in. There wasn’t much I was going to do to add to that sound, which is at least how I felt. We had the singles, we knew what we wanted the record to sound like, and at that point I was just having fun.
The sample was from The Hanged Man soundtrack. It’s by Bullet but I forget which song [“The Peterman”]. There was something about the funky bass line, and how it was a mirror of the bass line from “Unified Rebelution.” I was really influenced by Public Enemy at the time, and they were good at having a song on the A side sound like a song on the B side. The samples would sound similar and it just made a cohesive sound.”
“When You Sleep,” featuring Large Professor, from Broken Sunlight
"I’ve always been interested in looking forward, trying to find the next thing, that one sample that no one’s used before. One that is special to me is actually from my new record, “When you Sleep” with Large Professor, who is one of the funkiest and most underrated MCs. He’s a great producer, as everyone knows, but he makes any beat sound good.
"The sample is Spanky and Our Gang’s “Nowhere to Go.” I was surprised no one has used it or flipped it before, or at least I hadn’t heard it. That’s the thing. You’ll never own every record. You could die trying, but there is tons of music out there and it’s endless. It’s unbelievable how many records end up in the used bin with some amazing musicians on there."
You can purchase any of the Broken Sunlight series from Unclenu.com, with the full album available Dec. 11. DJ Nu-Mark also performs at Skratch Bastid Presents… on Nov. 30 at Revival in Toronto. For tickets and event info go to SkratchBastid.com.
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