Newcleus, Destination: Earth – The Definitive Newcleus Recordings
Featured Album
A gorgeous dose of electro hip-hop beauty.
If you remember one Newcleus song, it's most likely going to be their epic 1983 radio smash, “Jam On It,” a cut that gave the world a gorgeous dose of electro hip-hop beauty. The track remains a breakdance classic to this day, mixing a basic, keyboard-plunked bassline, a frenetic drum program and loosey-goosey storyline by rapper Cozmo D (aka group leader Ben Cenac).
But Newcleus wasn't defined by “Jam On It.” Much like their peers the Jonzun Crew, they were, at their core, a live funk band with electro leanings. If you step outside of “Jam On It,” you might just find yourself grooving to “Automan”: a great slice of electro-soul with driving drums and walls of keyboards. Or “Computer Age (Push the Button)” and “Cyborg Dance,” which are both funky sci-fi fantasies fueled by electonics and imagination. “Destination: Earth (1999),” on the other hand, goes a bit far afield, trapped in the middle of real funk and the computer-driven electro that they helped pioneer.
