Jungle Brothers

The Jungle Brothers are part of the Native Tongues, a triumvirate of innovative rap groups
(including De la Soul and A Tribe Called Quest) united in the belief that by adopting
progressive attitudes the rap movement has nothing to lose but its gold chains. Like De la
Soul, the Jungle Brothers are funky and cosmic, and they don't lose a shred of their
defness by quoting the Bible, bad-mouthing drugs or espousing vegetarianism. T... More >

Somehow these young Afro-New Yorkers have evolved a rap version of urban African pop at its most life-affirming: the boasts low-key, the propaganda beyond hostility, the samples evoking everything tolerant and humane in recent black-music memory, this is music designed to comfort and sustain. Between DJ AfriKa's casual drawl and sidetalk that ebbs and flows under the main track like an inner-city McCabe and Mrs. Miller, the sound is as original as De La Soul's, and the dreams of pleasure are straight out the urban jungle--in my favorite, a smooth brother muses to the Coasters' "Shopping for Clothes" as a tropical stream washes over his family jewels. And though I can live without promises that the final judgment is at hand, the JB's do wonders for one's sense of doom just by sounding merciful. (Grade: A)