JURASSIC 5 INTERVIEW By Dan Redding
Previously unpublished
Conducted for:
The current embodiment of all that is considered traditional in hip-hop, Jurassic 5 has seen the atmosphere of the world darken since they first appeared on the rap scene. The group seems to be on a constant quest to define their niche in a rap game that has strayed far into a realm of violence and chest-pounding materialism. During a rare moment of relaxation before their sold-out performance at Hammerstein Ballroom, J5 proved that the personalities within the group are as diverse as its audience.
The four mc’s and two dj’s sat around backstage, autographing stacks of promotional material while finishing up a meal. Chali 2na spilled his ‘bong and all his trees,’ prompting the rest of the group to bust on him with nicknames including ‘Spilly Dee Williams’ and ‘Spill Rogers.’ Cut Chemist expressed his disappointment with his lunchmeat sandwich, and then the interview began - despite his suggestion that we “just keep talking about turkey.” When questioned on the realities of their lives behind all of the party anthems, Jurassic 5 exposed its sense of humor as well as an increasingly bleak outlook on the future of the world.
Dan Redding: Has anyone in Jurassic 5 ever been to jail?
Chali 2na: Ha! No comment. (laughter)
Akil: Yep. I been to jail once for stealin’ a bike.
2na: I been to jail once for paintin’ on a train.
Soup: I been to jail once just because I wanted to see what was goin’ on.
2na: I been to jail once for shoplifting.
Soup: You went to jail for shoplifting?
2na: The adventure behind that - ask me about that later. I won’t tell y’all.
DR: That’s what I was hoping to get from you-
2na: Oh naw, I can’t tell you about that. I’ll expose some serious shit about my life.
Soup: I ain’t never been to jail. You been to jail, Marc?
Marc 7: I ain’t never been to jail.
Cut Chemist: I got caught for stealin’ one of those little burger bubbles at the K Mart.
DR: That doesn’t count.
Soup: Did you go down?
CC: They took me down hard.
All: (laughter)
CC: They did! They said ‘you can never come in here.’ Even when I was like fifteen, I was like, ‘I can’t go in there.’ They shook me down.
Soup: I was a security guard, I used to tell on a lot of people who went to jail. So that kind of makes me go to jail too, you know what I’m sayin’? Cuz they in there cuz of me.
DR: Do any of you guys own a gun?
Soup: Wooh! Aw, man…
2na: No comment!
All: (laughter)
Soup: Seven owns a gun.
Marc 7: What that got to do with this damn interview, anyway?
All: (laughter)
2na: I got a BB gun.
Soup: I think I got a gun or two at the house.
CC: Two!?!
Soup: Yeah, I’m tryin’ to get my collection, though.
2na: I got a couple of Molotov Cocktails. Three grenades…
CC: I have a German Luger.
DR: I read a quote from Marc 7 about how this record sounds darker than your previous records, and how that reflects a darker state of the world…
Marc 7: My thing with that was…with ‘Power In Numbers’ there’s different things goin’ on in different parts of everybody’s head, and it’s just a different time, you know what I’m saying? The world is in chaos right now.
2na: The world’s goin’ to hell in a handbasket.
CC: It always has been, though.
Akil: The world is about to end. The earth is dying…
2na: The world has already ended as we know it, to tell you the truth. People’s comforts are now jeopardized…so you ain’t as solidified.
DR: Yeah, definitely, but I think if you can still have a moment of real happiness…
Akil: I mean, that’s achieved within yourself and those people within your circle…but other than that, shit is going chaos. It’s gonna get worse before it’s gonna get better.
2na: That’s what makes it so urgent for you to take every moment to the fullest…
Akil: Because as far as you know – your last breath – that’s the end of your world as you know it.
DR: I think in this city, its on the front of everyone’s mind so often, it can wear you down…
Akil: I wouldn’t look at it in that way as far as wearin’ me down, but I understand you and you see death right there like ‘damn’, you know what I’m saying? But you know, you gonna die anyway. Everybody gonna die, and I think that’s the façade of America. It preaches opportunity and freedom to the extent that you so free that you think that you are untouchable… but I’ve been knowing about death, shit, since I been little. As far as people getting killed, tragedies and stuff, you know what I’m sayin’, people just seen a tragedy with 911, you know, on a major scale, but I live in the hood! You ain’t seen the pain that I done went through, you know what I’m sayin’? And that’s kinda fucked up… you have people who are so urgent about, ‘I wanna be saved, and help me!’ Nobody wasn’t helpin’… in the ghettos, you know what I’m saying? Nobody didn’t feel for the people that died and I’m not gonna go fight no war, to go kill somebody. I’m shell shocked. I done heard too many gunshots where I’m from… it depends on your perception and where you at.
DR: Do you think this country will survive the century?
Akil: Naw. This country’s going down. The moral fiber of the country is broke down, you know what I’m sayin’. Once the President got his dick sucked…
Soup: Now I’m everyday tryin’ to get mine. But that’s what I’m using – ‘The President got his!’
Stephanie Baptist: Does that work?
All: (laughter)
Soup: Naw, it ain’t workin’ lately! I’ma have to come stronger with my rap, cuz it ain’t workin’.
Stephanie Baptist: Yeah, I think you should change that rap.
