Jungle Brothers Straight Out The Jungle CD

Jungle Brothers: Afrika Baby Bambaataa, Mike G. (vocals); Sammy B. (DJ).
Additional personnel: Q-Tip (vocals); Sweet Daddy (scratches).
Recorded at T.T.O. Studios, New York, New York.
All songs written by The Jungle Brothers.
Composers: DJ Sammy B; Michael Smalls; Jungle Brothers; Pam Hall.
Personnel: Sweet Daddy (scratches).
Audio Mixer: DJ Red Alert.
Recording information: TTO Studios, NY.
Photographer: Ken Kaufman.
Arrangers: The Grand Wizard Oswald; Jungle Brothers; Tony D.
Although outdistanced in popularity and sales by contemporaries and kindred spirits De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers were equally important in ushering in a bold, innovative new movement in hip-hop. In an era when rap's early pioneers were fading and gangsta rap had yet to leave the getto full force, the Jungle Brothers helped establish the Native Tongues collective and, subsequently, a style of hip-hop that would come to define the Golden Age. Cuts like "Jimbrowski" and the title track are classics and perfectly illustrate the Jbeez's mix of jazz-inflected grooves, politically conscious lyrics, Afrocentricity, and a keen sense of fun.
An independent release (on a dance label no less), STRAIGHT OUT THE JUNGLE suffered a bit from lack of exposure, and its lo-fi production has, unfortunately, worked against the album over time. But none of this should dull the impact of the strides made here. The JBeez's were among the first to use jazz samples, James Brown riffs, club beats (see "I'll House You"), and other elements that later became common currency in the genre, to say nothing of their dexterous and highly intelligent wordplay. This is a landmark album in the development of rap music, and an undeniable, drop-everything must for any self-respecting hip-hop fan.
The landmark opening salvo from the Jungle Brothers, Straight out the Jungle was also the very first album from the Native Tongues posse, which would utterly transform hip-hop over the next few years. That alone would be enough to make it a groundbreaking release, but Straight out the Jungle also contains the musical seeds for a number of soon-to-be-dominant trends. Their taste for jazzy horn samples helped kick-start the entire jazz-rap movement, and their concurrent James Brown fixation was one of the first to follow Eric B. & Rakim's lead. Plus, the group's groundbreaking collaboration with legendary house producer Todd Terry, "I'll House You," is also here; it paved the way for numerous hip-house hybrids that shot up the dance and pop charts over the next few years. The lyrics were often as cerebral as the music was adventurous and eclectic, appealing to the mind rather than the gut -- and the fact that rap didn't necessarily have to sound as though it were straight off the streets was fairly revelatory at the time. "Black Is Black" and the title cut are some of the first flowerings of Afrocentric hip-hop, but the group isn't always so serious; "I'm Gonna Do You," "Behind the Bush," and the sly classic "Jimbrowski" are all playfully sexy without descending into misogyny. To modern ears, Straight out the Jungle will likely sound somewhat dated -- the raw, basement-level production is pretty rudimentary even compared to their second album, and makes the jazz-rap innovations a bit difficult to fully comprehend, plus the album ends on several throwaways. But it is possible to hear the roots of hip-hop's intellectual wing, not to mention a sense of fun and positivity that hearkened back to the music's earliest Sugar Hill days -- and that's why Straight out the Jungle ultimately holds up. ~ Steve HueyNME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #38 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s.