641. Done by the Forces of Nature - Jungle Brothers

A band I did not think I knew at all until about ten minutes into the first listen, and I found myself singing along word for word. It turns out that What "U" Waitin' "4" is on one of the 2 Many DJs compilations, and is actually one of the best tracks off it, so I felt that this album would have a lot of promise.

And, on the whole, it lives up to that promise. There is real innovation and imagination in the variety of tracks, and a sizeable proportion of the songs are catchy as hell. Other than the track mentioned earlier, Acknowledge your own History is a fantastic song, which gets better and better as it progresses, building to a stunning female vocal line near the end. Beeds on a String is very catchy, and Belly Dancin' Dina is as enjoyable on the tenth listen as it is on the first.

Jungle Brothers are a trio from New York City, and it runs through in their themes and lyrics, as well as the cover art. Trying to bridge the gap between hip hop as a new genre, and the history of black music, they cover a variety of topics, both light-hearted and serious, but with a strong social consciousness that runs throughout.

This is what I feel a good hip hop album should be like; interesting enough to hold your attention, and with enough wit and anger to convincingly deliver the message. Unfortunately it also suffers from a major problem with many rap albums in my opinion, in that it is too long, and loses its way in the last third. A more ruthless editing job would end up with a more compelling, less bloated, album.

Chloe's rating: 7
Chloe's favourite track: 6. Acknowledge your own History
Olly's rating: 7
Olly's favourite track: 4. What "U" Waitin' "4"

Next week we have another Kinks album - Arthur, or the decline and fall of the British Empire from 1969. After a couple of listens, it's already sounding better than Something else by The Kinks.