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Avg: 4.5 (22 ratings)
- Date Released: September 20, 1989
- Genre: Hip-Hop/R&B
- Style: Hip-Hop
- Label: Warlock Records
A beautiful throwback to the so-called Golden Age.
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We Say...
If you heard DJ Red Alert’s Hot 97 radio show in the late ‘80s, the Jungle Brothers — MCs Afrika Baby Bam and Mike G, with DJ Sammy B — were familiar fixtures, and this record is a beautiful throwback to the so-called Golden Age.
The production on their debut, by the group, with some seasoning from Red Alert (who is, in fact, Mike G’s uncle), is far from polished. And that’s part of its allure. One listen to “Braggin’ and Boastin’” and it’s clear that Sammy B was cutting live as Mike and Bam threw loose rhymes back and forth.
“Jimbrowski” is equally sloppy, with a Funkadelic drum sample so amplified it almost feeds back. And the mock-tender “I’m Gonna Do You” let’s you know that these guys love booty, but aren’t going the LL “I Need Love” route to get it. And just when you think that all the JBs are about is goofin’, they hit you with one of the more important “conscious” (before the word was ever bandied about) cuts of the decade, “Black Is Black.” -
They Say...
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.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Straight out the Jungle |
4:00 |  |
| 02. | |
What's Going On |
4:07 | |
| 03. | |
Black Is Black |
3:38 | |
| 04. | |
Jimbrowski |
4:30 | |
| 05. | |
I'm Gonna Do You |
3:22 | |
| 06. | |
I'll House You |
4:59 | |
| 07. | |
On the Run |
4:06 | |
| 08. | |
Behind the Bush |
3:35 | |
| 09. | |
Because I Got It Like That |
4:38 | |
| 10. | |
Braggin & Boastin |
3:53 | |
| 11. | |
Sounds of the Safari |
3:01 | |
| 12. | |
Jimmy's Bonus Beat |
1:14 | |
| 13. | |
The Promo (Feat. Q-Tip) |
3:35 | |
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Credits
- Jungle Brothers - Arranger // Jungle Brothers - Composer // Jungle Brothers - Producer // Jungle Brothers - Main Performer // DJ Red Alert - Engineer // DJ Red Alert - Mixing // Pam Hall - Composer // DJ Sammy B - Composer // Tony D. - Arranger // Andrew "The Record Lord" DeBourg - Engineer // Andre Debourg - Engineer // The Grand Wizard Oswald - Arranger // Ken Kaufman - Photography // Ken Kaufman - Cover Design // Michael Smalls - Composer // Sweet Daddy - Scratching // Dick Charles - Mastering
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