Triple trouble for hip-hop's golden boys Jurassic 5

Herald online

9 Apr, 2015 02:00 AM3 mins to read

Members of American hip-hop group Jurassic 5 in action, from left, Zaakir, Chali 2na, Akil and Marc 7. Photo/Getty

Jurassic 5 are in Auckland for the first of three shows. Chris Schulz talks to rapper Marc 7 and finds a happy hip-hop group still basking in the glow of their successful 2013 reunion.

If you're heading along to Jurassic 5's first Auckland show tonight, you won't find traditional hip-hop cliches - like showers of expletives - on show.

"It's just not who we are, and they're not the type of songs we make as a group," says Marc 7, one of Jurassic 5's team of four rappers and two DJs.

"That's not to say we don't curse when we're on stage (but) it's more of a having fun thing with positive vibes."

The Los Angeles collective have been delivering their brand of happy hip-hop since 1993, with their sound firmly stuck in the era of the mid-'90s along with groups like A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers and De La Soul.

Their 2000 album Quality Control remains an old school classic full of throwback beats courtesy of Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark, and complicated rhyme schemes played out between Marc 7's fellow rappers Akil, Zaakir and Chali 2na.

While they released two more albums, their 2007 break-up was acrimonious, and few expected their surprise reunion for 2013's Coachella festival.

"Dealing with hip-hop, where you might not be thought about again after a year, for us to be gone for seven years, to do a reunion and get all the love that we got, it's a blessing, it's a surprise, it's definitely welcome," says Marc 7.

"If you take your time and make something that's timeless that can relate to people and hit them in the heart, you can go back to them. People missed us, they missed the songs, they wanted to hear them."

Jurassic 5 played a well-received show here as part of that reunion tour last year, but their popularity hasn't waned since: tonight is the first of a three-night stand at the Powerstation, with both Friday and Saturday nights sold out.

Marc 7 admits their show hasn't changed much since last year's acclaimed performance - a show notable for the group's inventive use of props, including a giant working turntable in the middle of the stage.

But they have released a new single since then - a typically upbeat, summery jam called The Way We Do It - but Marc 7 hopes next time they're here, Jurassic 5 will have a new album to play for fans.

"We possibly plan on doing more," he says. "We need to map out time and take a month to knock it out and do it. We definitely discussed it - it's something we want to do, it's just about every individual person making time to do it.