Jurassic 5 EP by Jurassic 5

The Jurassic 5 EP was the Los Angeles crew's first official release, pressed up in October 1997 on Rumble Records, a label the group started for themselves that never put out anything else. It came as nine tracks on CD or double 12-inch vinyl, and it did exactly what they needed: it got them heard. Akil's advice to independent artists is to do the same: prove yourself on your own before the labels come calling.

Four rappers, Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir and Marc 7, pass the mic like a relay team, while DJs Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark, who produced it, keep the beats loose and dusty underneath; it's the sound of the Good Life, the LA venue the six of them came out of. The record planted them in the alternative hip-hop movement next to Company Flow, Black Star and Kool Keith, and much of it resurfaced on the full-length Jurassic 5, with an 8-track reissue of the EP marking their arrival at Interscope.

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