Celebrated hip-hop group the Jungle Brothers bring tour to Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO -- The only remaining active hip-hop group that was involved in the legendary Native Tongues Posse in the late '80s and early '90s, the Jungle Brothers pay a visit to the Bay Area this week with shows at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz and the Independent in San Francisco.
While not as commercially successful as fellow Native Tongues outfits De La Soul -- who sadly lost founding member and MC David Jude Jolicoeur, known widely as Trugoy the Dove, earlier this year -- or A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers led the way as the first of the collective to get signed to a deal and release records, which helped bring attention to the unique sounds the various groups were creating and ushered in some of the most timeless albums of hip-hop's golden era. Founded by Nathaniel "Afrika Baby Bam" Hall and Michael "Mike G." Small in the mid-1980s when they were just teens in high school caught up in the excitement of New York City's burgeoning hip-hop scene, they would be filled out when Small brought in family friend Sam Burwell (aka DJ Sammy B) to round out the trio.
Mentored by key member of Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation Kool DJ Red Alert, the group would release its first 12" single "Jimbrowski" on Idlers Records, the hip-hop subsidiary of independent dance label Warlock, in 1987, a year before issuing their proper debut album Straight Out the Jungle. Building some of their songs around loop tapes (the group initially didn't have access to a sampler), the Jungle Brothers drew from a far broader palette of beats than many of their contemporaries, mixing more obscure funk, soul and jazz elements to the usual James Brown samples.
Lyrically, the Jungle Brothers took a decidedly different approach than the braggadocio and materialism of their predecessors, focusing their intricate wordplay on the positivity and Afrocentrism that would make the Native Tongues stand out from the crowd. The trio also provided A Tribe Called Quest leader Q-Tip (a high school classmate) his first chance to appear on record with verses on the b-side tune "The Promo" and the album cut "Black is Black" as well as making their first venture into dancefloor sounds with the Todd Terry collaboration "I'll House You," which prefigured their future exploration of electronic dance styles.
The success of the group's debut led to them being signed to Warner Bros., who released the follow-up effort Done By the Forces of Nature in late 1989. A bona fide golden era classic that garnered rave reviews upon its release, the album firmly placed the Jungle Brothers at the forefront of the spiritually minded, socially conscious hip-hop movement while further expanding their eclectic sample sources with the wide-ranging beats that powered such hits as "Beyond This World," "What U Waitin' 4?" and the Native Tongues Posse cut "Doin' Our Own Dang" that included De La Soul, Tribe and Monie Love.
The trio continued to push the boundaries of the form with its next recording, though not without some pushback from label heads. Working with downtown NYC experimentalist Bill Laswell in the studio, the Jungle Brothers entered uncharted territory on the less polished, more chaotic tunes featured on Crazy Wisdom Masters. In the end, the label refused to release what could have been the first psychedelic hip-hop opus created by an established group. The Jungle Brothers would re-record some of the songs and producing new material that would make up the somewhat toned-down but still unorthodox J.Beez wit the Remedy in 1994 after significant delays to mixed reviews (Crazy Wisdom Masters was heavily bootlegged and would eventually be released decades after it was made).
Tensions over that album would lead the group to split with Warner Bros. They eventually landed with Gee Street Records for Raw Deluxe in 1997 that included a hit remix by U.K. production team Stereo MCs. While DJ Sammy B would part ways with the group as the remaining JBs recorded with Propellerheads producer Alex Giffford on 2000's more electronic-focused V.I.P. and the 2002 reunion with Todd Terry for the self-released All That We Do, the original trio would eventually return to the stage together a decade later.
The Jungle Brothers released their first collection of new material in ages with 2020's Keep It Jungle, a return to form that many hailed as a return to their old-school roots. The trio returns to the Bay Area to play new cuts and classic songs when they headline Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz Saturday night with support from local acts Mak Nova and the Kings as well as Activate BPM and DJ Archive 65. On Sunday, the group comes to the Independent in San Francisco, appearing with jazzy, beat-driven crew Secret Sidewalk featuring turntable wizard Mike Boo and renowned local DJ/producer Mophono.
Jungle Brothers
Saturday, Aug. 26, 8:30 p.m. $25-$30
Moe's Alley
Sunday, Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m., $25-$30
The Independent