audio review : Done By The Forces Of Nature ( song ) … Jungle Brothers

“Tickle tickle, trickle trickle; you can’t buy Nature with a nickel,” Afrika insists before stopping what is supposed to be his second verse for an impromptu saxophone break. That’s one of several quirky bits that help make this song; the title track of the second Jungle Brothers album; the gem it is. “I’ll walk a mile for a funky beat,” Mike G says and this one; a fusion of hip-hop and jazz; certainly is.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : J Beez Comin Through ( song ) … Jungle Brothers

Ladies and gentlemen, how about a big round of applause for the ending of this song in which the beat strips down to just hip-hop drums and what sounds like a short piano riff. It’s the manic record-scratching laid atop that sells it; thousands of tickets worth, in fact.

The J Beez are Comin Through your city on tour. They’re going from venue to venue, performing concerts for fans around the world. If you think the girl; or is that a boy; at the end says their names in the wrong order, by the way, check the Forces Of Nature album cover.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : Keep It Jungle ( album ) … Jungle Brothers

audio review : Keep It Jungle ( album ) ... Jungle Brothers

As far as beats and rap styles go, this could’ve been the third Jungle Brothers album. That is to say it sounds like it was made in 1993, which is actually a good thing. As welcomed as new J Beez songs are after all these years, it would’ve been disappointing hearing them trying to follow trends. There’s a song here entitled Smart Phones that suggests how much of a disaster that probably would’ve been. Not that Keep It Jungle isn’t a little disappointing as is.

The problem, really the only problem, with the album is what goes on during the breaks. The Brothers have never been known for amazing hooks, but the ones offered here, which consist of old school chants that sound borderline obnoxious; “your songs ain’t catchy,” Mike G has the gall to tell a rapper at one point; leave much to be desired. The one exception, Broken Records, on which a woman sings a dainty little refrain, is easily the album’s best song.

my rating : 3 of 5

2020