Reviews (page 8 of 13)
The flow is so damn good. Favorite tracks are Freedom and Remember His Name
Steady beat, not bad. Although not my bag, lean and tuneful which is more than I can say about some in this genre
Like it...tho not my usual stuff....wrap hiphop scratch funk jazz
Some great drum beats on this one, would listen again.
Solid hip hop
Slaps.
Not background music - need another listen to appreciate properly. It's got a good vibe though.
At a certain point, the boom-bap beats start to wear on you. There are also a few cuts near the end that drag the record down a little. However, the flows are technical and tight, and this is still an enjoyable listen. Favorite tracks: "Freedom", "What's Golden"
Great album, in some alternate universe they are bigger than anyone in the game. Wonderful variety of samples and guests. Thin line, Hey, and Freedom my top tracks, along with Kool Keith's DDT freestyle
I can’t believe I have never heard Jurassic 5 before! Lyrics that play on grammar (“pass” participles), reference DDT, and Herman Munster? What’s not to love. They also have that almost jazz-like groove that I love in digable planets and de la soul. Thanks 1001 albums, this is one I will be coming back to.
Хип-хоп нулевых с заявкой на олд скул 6,5/10
Great production, super laid-back vibe.
i didn’t expect to like this but i did!! and the first two songs blended together. loved it
This list is just making me biased towards any R&B group with a good balance of voices and talent. Thoroughly enjoyed this.
Okay, I see what they're dropping. I can dig this for sure. What's Golden is legit.
Not my normal listen but this is excellent, loved it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Didn’t know what to expect from This artist I had never heard of. Was not disappointed and will definitely listen again soon
Great alternative hip-hop! I love the sampling on this album, lots of vintage commercials/movies FAV TRACKS: If You Only Knew, Break, DDT, I Am Somebody, Acetate Prophets LEAST FAV TRACKS: Sum Of Us
Every beat on this album is incredible. And everyone on this album is an awesome rapper. The rhymes are much more hit than miss, and a lot of the songs have meaning, which wins big points with me. It’s a little long for my taste but otherwise this album absolutely earned its spot on this list.
Holy crap! I never heard this before?!?!? This is brilliant!
Great gaming
Jaja. Bra skit gillar att det är så studsigt och att det är så avslappnad rap. Gillar samplingen i Freedom gillar What’s Golden såklart och Hey.
Very nice beats, can’t believe I never listened to this band.
Вропне неплохой американский реп)
Great hip hop. Awesome beats and even recognized a few tunes
Phat beats, cool, rhythmic delivery. I liked most of it. Not too aggressive, clever wordplay. Better than most hip-hop. 3.75 out 5
good opener! regular sounding mid nineties hip hop but not bad to listen to.
Not really my genre, but this was pretty good.
Mmmm mmm mmm bra i like it. Vibes liksom 4/5 I think. Gillar thin line mest
When it hits highs, it's a pretty high album. But there feels like a decent amount of fillerish that just doesn't live up as high. I think if I could do decimals I'd do 3.5-3.7 but I think it's fair to round up to 4. If only for "What's Golden". Banger.
Thin Line is Quality Quality backing beat and overall good vibe Great lyrics
Excellent
Prefer the previous album, fantastic music but missing true bangers
Hip Hop clasico.
Very cool! After 12-13 songs I was a bit tired of it already. But I liked very much
This is a great album. Peak 90s rap if you ask me and worthy of ushering in the early 2000s changes to the genre. The lyrics and flow are great. The beats are dated for sure but if these dudes got together for a modern album I'd be all for it.
Really likes this one. Great rhymes.
Upbeat, love the beats, good lyrics.
Jurassic 5 know exactly what they're doing. Great stuff. Fave track - "Thin Line"
Great samples and use of the distinct vocals of each member. Message on point and delivered with wit and a gut punch. All layered over a driving funk/soul beat that just works with the mixed samples
This is: Dope intro, well-cut samples. Subtle and effective. Also totally not what I was expecting based on the album art. Freedom: Nice beat, and I loved the flow from the intro into the song. All of these guys have super interesting voices. If You Only Knew: I love the beat. I love how low-key this album is so far. Impossible not to at least bob your head. Break: Again, killer instrumental intro. The chorus part!! React: Very cool samples. Great flow from the last song to this one. A Day At The Races: Sick flow, and I like the call-and-response structure Remember His Name: Nice sound effects. Intro sounded like it was going to be emotional. The verses kept up the emotion pretty well. What's Golden: Love this bassline Thin Line: A Nelly Furtado feature! Keeps with the low-key theme, allows focus on the lyrics, which are (and have been for the whole album) really clever. After School Special: Love the intro sample and it matches the images of the "kid" conjured by the title High Fidelity: Good song, belongs with the album. Liked the horns Sum Of Us: Love the continuation of the beat from the last song, and also the wordplay in this one DDT: Cool freestyle, and it works super well as an interlude and also flows really well into the next track One Of Them - Juju: Like the call-and-response dynamic between the verses and choruses Hey: Nice melody, easy to listen to. Very smooth I Am Somebody: I like the declaration of the title. I also like the effect of everybody singing it in unison Acetate Prophets: What a title - also lol love the intro, and the outro. Was a longer track but it felt like it needed it. Overall: I really liked it. Saved it to my Spotify. 8/10
some surprisingly smooove stuff on there
pretty good 6/10 people under the stairs is better
Pretty dope
So so good.
Whats golden top tier song. Annars ok, inget som fastna
The only reason Im giving this a 4 instead of a 5 is because I didn't hear any one song that stood out and got stuck in my head. I think the album's and instant classic and want to hear more from them
Underground goodies Golden - favourite track!
I'm not a big rap or hip-hop fan, but this was enjoyable. Probably listen to it again. 4/5
Early hip hop rap unexpectedly good
Kind of all all over the place. Lots of weird little samples.
Solid vibing album. Strong representation of west coast hip hop.
Love this one.
Bien sympa petit rap des familles
great classic early 20s record
funky, groovy, classic early 2000s hip hop. great rhymes, great flows, great rhymes. very fun listen.
This album reminds me of Ill Communication by Beastie Boys more than I thought it would. The emphasis on samples that feel like real music and the interplay between the different members of the groups are weirdly similar. When I think about the rap style of Jurassic 5, I always imagine it as sort of hokey, but it's better than I remember. In retrospect, they were a lot more interesting than a lot of the other stuff that was happening in rap in this era 4/5
Enjoyed this a lot!
Great one although I usually dont listen to that type of the music
Does anybody know if Jurassic 5 is trying to bring old school rap back? They never mention it. This is a fun album with good production. The best track features Big Daddy Kane, and it kinda made me wish I was listening to one of his albums instead. Best track: A Day at the Races
Great raps, will listen again
Very solid Hip-hop album!
Top beats.... and charli 2na 👌. Great album!
3.6/5
Quite retro sounding for 2002, harking back to the likes of A Tribe Called Quest. Didn't really grab me at first but the middle section is strong, starting with A Day at the Races. Then it petered out again
I got right into this record way back in the day and when it appeared in the list I was "oh yeah, they were good!". It took me a while to recall that I only thought they were good for a couple of weeks back then and I never returned. Listening now, 20-something years later, I recall why I never went back. The beats are good, they have groove. They're clean but with great vibe. But most the tracks follow the same pattern, each guy throwing a bar, and all kinda sounding the same except for Chali 2na who despite having such a distinctive voice is also the most boring of the lot. I thought this was gunna be a 4 star. And after the intro and then Freedom, I almost had it locked in. But then I kept going. And by the time I got to What's Golden I was growing increasingly over it, and What's Golden is what really brought the memories back. I bought the CD based on that track, which hooked me immediately when I heard it on the radio (I'm soooo old). But back then, that song was one of the first track that started to drag the album, and hearing it now it felt flat and dull. This is a very negative sounding review. But really, it's a solid 3 stars and I'm not being generous here like I was with yesterdays album (Elephant Mountain). But it ain't a 4 star. It's got some good beats, a few good rhymes, but it's also just a bit boring.
Fun!
Alternative, West Coast hip hop that initially thrills and then wears out its welcome a bit.
Never listened. Expectations: None - Verdict: Good - Freedom is mildly funky and I like the flow of some of the verses. If You Only Knew is very cool. A Day At The Races is good as well and the transition into Remember His Name is great. Sum Of Us is a very good track. I like I Am Somebody a lot too.
Very smooth and enjoyable but it also kind of makes me rather want to listen to A Tribe Called Quest.
More interesting than other hip hop! Was cool with the sampling.
Favorite Song : Thin Line 2nd Favorite : High Fidelity Transition between Hey and I Am Somebody was smooth.
Funky, good beats and flow
This was just ok to me, nothing really special. I’m not a huge fan of “happy hip hop
Really fresh, positive and groovy hip-hop record. The vocals and rhymes actually feel good on the ears and flow well with the music - something I think rap often fails to do it.3.5
Supongo que lo que destaca es la letra porque la verdad es que casi todas las canciones me sonaron igual. No está mal pero definitivamente no es un género que disfrute. Yo siempre será más de la música/ritmo en sí que de la letra, así que…
Not my thing but quite enjoyable
fine
Jurassic 5 definitely has flow but I've always felt when I listen to an album it all sounds pretty similar. Doesn't mean it's bad it's just a little unmemorable.
I once described Jurassic 5 as the best rap starter pack for white people, and that's too mean by half, but only half. On the one hand, they were/are Native-Tongues-style social-consciousness rap with legitimately talented wordsmiths and dynamite producers whose work I sought out on instrumental albums, all in an LA hip-hop scene that was pretty formulaic by this point, aiming for pop-chart crossover hits and big music videos. There's a lot of legitimately interesting stuff here, and if you can set aside the throwback quality, there are layers of complexity worth digging for. But on the other hand, this is a full-on throwback act, and by this point, the edges of rap music were so phenomenal that it feels like a step backward. Keep in mind that this was coming out around the same time as seminal albums by Outkast, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Clipse, Eminem, Missy Elliott, The Roots, and Kanye, as well as underground classics by Deltron 3030, MF Doom, Cannibal Ox, El-P, and Aesop Rock. A lot of those acts were integrating Eric B & Rakim with something new and envelope-pushing. As a result, I find it impossible to judge on its own merits, because its own merits are working against it. Now, this is infinitely more true of their breakout EP and debut LP, Quality Control. Power in Numbers at least attempts to modernize the sound. It still feels tailor-made for the Pitchfork hipster kids. But I don't want to undersell the real lyrical complexity about subjects that matter and a few legitimate jams. I just hope anyone who found time for this made their way to The Cold Vein, Labor Days, or (especially) Madvillainy.
I love the added flute. My favorite song was Thin Line. The universal, unsolvable problem of being friends and do you cross the line into more.
Gostei, mas acho que tenho que ouvir outra vez para certificar
Ouve-se bem, mas não chega para o 4
the samples be POPPIN but one of the guys be killing my vibe with his voice.
The back half ended up being much better than the first half made it seem, but it's mostly just an okay album
3★/5 [06.26.2026] 06.29.2026
Three-leaning-four. I really liked this!
Another unexpectedly palatable rap album. The absence of gangster infused lyrics was a welcome change. The beats were cool and production smooth.
A good album with highs and lows. Doesn't really stand out as a masterpiece against other rap / hip hop.
Rating: 6/10 A solid alternative hip hop record with cool sampling and a collection of good emcees that doesn't quite live up to its full potential, but is quality and has a bunch of good tracks regardless. It almost feels like it teases you in through the first couple tracks with this conceptual idea of the power in numbers, with lyrical themes stemming from racial inequality, systemic injustice, and uplifting political messaging. But after that the lyricism quickly starts to feel like it's actually about...nothing, really, just some catchy rhymes with good flows. It starts to lose itself more after the halfway mark, and begins to feel like the record could have been a little tighter than its 56 minute length. All of this combined with the fact that J5 and this album weren't exactly innovative anymore and feel stuck in the 90's, while 2000's underground hip hop would soon quickly outperform this. I probably won't be returning to listen in full but am cool with some tracks in a jazzy hip hop playlist
Power in Numbers feels like a whole new group came together and truly locked in all their talents because man does this blow everything else Jurassic 5 has done previously out of the water. The production here is leagues better than anything this group had done prior and you can thank Cut Chemist for coming in and giving Jurassic 5 the push they needed to put out some crazy good music. The lyrics here are also able to shine more than before thanks in part to the production as well, but also a more defined rap style that really works over the more lowkey and dense beats. I truly think Jurassic 5 could have been so much bigger if they just got a better producer and Power in Numbers is a perfect argument as to why I'd think that. Really glad I gave Jurassic 5 a chance, but if there is any project to hear from them, it is this album by a long shot. Nuff said.
I had a fun time listening to this! the lyrics were fun and thoughtful and the beats were solid!
Easy to listen to and quite funky. Easier rap album to listen to.
Interesting but not really my thing
не совсем попал под настроение, но хороший бумбэп
There are enough interesting parts to this album that make it worth a listen. 3 stars or C+.
I really like the beats on this record and could have it on in the house. Not my favorite rappers but for the early 2000s it's pretty decent.
It was pretty good. Probably won’t revisit, tho.
It felt like it was trying too hard to be late 80s/early 90s rap. It wasn't bad but it wasn't very good. 2.5 stars rounded up.
It's fine
cool rap, not really my type but then again i didn’t listen to the entire album
É fixe, mas falta-lhe algo
Liked A Day at the Races, Remember His Name and Thin Line, but ultimately not that memorable
This felt like a cross between the grooves of Tony Toni Tone and the rapping style of Arrested Development or De La Soul. A solid record, with a bunch of good tracks, though nothing really stood out. 3 stars.
Hip-hop throwdown with vocal interplay I like, but top-heavy and loses steam. While the chemistry and rhythms are iconic, the formula starts running out of gas.
Haven’t heard any particular power in it.
I really enjoy this style of rap - I was a bit slow on the back end but overall really enjoyable
not the strongest hip hop album we've rolled but it's still pretty good. the production's not pulling anything especially crazy for the time, and a little weak at the start in particular ("if you only knew" is a transport tycoon deluxe ass beat) but the bars are great, with chali 2na in particular having that distinctive voice and unrelenting flow which steals the spotlight every time he gets a verse. idk what my favourite is this time cos so much of the album's strength is in the lyrics and i'd need to listen a shitload of times to choose based on that alone.... if i had to pick one right now, it'd probably be "remember his name" but i gotta be honest, it's just cos i love how much fun the producer was having with the sound effects. calling up 2na so he can do his verse is a great bit even if they did chicken out of keeping him sounding like he was speaking through a phone after a couple lines. its fun! even if the song is about death, i'm giving this one a high 3 for now but its another one i feel like i gotta spend more time with to appreciate it, so maybe i'll jack it up to a 4 after a few more listens......
It's an alrigjt album that I somehow knew would appear on this list ... exactly the kind of Hip Hop that appeals to white rock listeners.
When I listen to music, I genuinely do not perceive words and lyrics at all. Therefore this was just any other hip hop album. 3/5.
Better than expected
Not sure will ever listen to it again, but it's quite fun and listenable
Між 3.5 та 4. Такий хіп-хоп я люблю.
довольно милый и мне даже показалось (показалось) что я узнаю голоса
Ah man. Hip-Hop is so dead to me it’s not even funny. And it sucks cause the 90’s and 00’s had some awesome stuff. The 10’s and 20’s really buried this genre for me to get any enjoyment out of it lately. This album is super 90’s coded even being from 02. Some of the lyrics and voices are really cringe and give me 2000’s ick though. The production was awesome. This would bump if I was still in my parents basement in 2004 playing GTA 3. Remember His Name was pretty gas.
never think just for shits and giggles
Classic hip hop. Not really what I was looking for at the time
un 3. esta bueno pero no es mi estilo
Semmosta semi decciä demi secciä. Eipä täältä yhtään biisiä noussut mitenkään selkeästi ylitse muiden
Iha jees. Naurattaa kun toi yks jannu kuulostaa isohoolta.
Ok, we get it. You don't rap about guns. Congrats. Some good ones in here though. Not exactly sure why this band carried so much weight back in the day.
Quelle pochette nulle Oh la chanson de Jérôme Niel ! Je trouve ça assez monotone et ennuyeux What’s golden : pas mal N’empêche quand c’est du rap, surtout old school, même quand je suis pas fan de l’album comme là l’écoute reste sympathique, c’est vraiment mon genre de musique en fait 6/10
Sommige albums worden steeds beter als je het vaker luistert. Dit album vond ik elke keer minder worden. de eerste keer was ik wel enthousiast van de bass en de drums hard en de samples gladjes. De tweede keer ging ik iets meer naar de lyrica luisteren en dat was soms wel cringe. Vooral dat nummer over friendshipliefde klonk heel erg als de boodschap van kinderen voor kinderen. Ook vond ik soms de hooks met zn 5en een beetje cringe. Op zich de beats waren vaak wel leuk vooral op het slotnummer met die leipe fluitachtige sound. Als dat het hele album was mocht dit van mij hoger scoren
Prima, niks om te haten of van te houden. Het is redelijk vlak qua muziek en tekst. Zelfs voor 2002 voelt het een beetje achterhaald en niet echt vernieuwend. Hip hop is een van de weinige genres die nog altijd evolueert maar Jurassic 5 doet hier (bewust) niet aan mee. Het luistert makkelijk weg, fijne beats met leuke elementen en af en toe een fluit. Vier mc's is ook wel wat veel. Iedereen mag na elkaar even zijn zegje doen en komt dan beetje knullig over. Snap dat mensen er goed op gaan want het heeft wel een goede sfeer. Zelf zal het later niet nog een keer opzoeken.
Wat ik leuk vind in aan dit album zijn met name de breakbeat-drums, de instrumentals van t album zijn creatief en smaakvol met lekkere soul samples. Het collectief rappers zijn erg aan elkaar gewaagd al voel ik de ene wat meer dan de andere, iets wat opvalt is dat ze ritmisch erg sterk zijn, je hoort dat ze echt super strak op de beat zitten. Erg knap maar tegelijkertijd vind ik het ook vaak een beetje binnen de lijntjes, ik vind hip-hop pas echt leuk worden wanneer mijn vader het verschrikkelijk vindt, (al denk ik niet dat hij dit album gaat luisteren) Wat bij is gebleven zijn de lyrics: we’re humble, but don’t mistake us for a corny ass crew. Ik vind dat bij uitstek de meest corny lyrics van t hele album.
It’s just okay, I appreciate the vibe and continuity during the album.
Decent alternative hip hop album 3/5
Cool
maneirin
What a fun sounding group. Up beats and the deep voices are excellent.
Not normally the type of music I would listen to but it was ok
This sounded pretty interesting, very cool beats and flow. I enjoyed it. It was kinda fresh considering the year it was released.
Sounds good but nothing really jumped out.
Pretty good, tiny bit of jazz in here with hip hop
J5 is golden. I really enjoy this album. It would’ve benefited from some additional clipping, however. Clocking in at just under an hour, it would’ve been an even stronger effort if was 45 minutes.
Pretty decent 2000s boom bap, What's Golden is actually amazing though there's def some filler here
The album is pretty easy to listen to, but I struggle to find the substance that makes it such a recommendation. I'll put it to my own lack of education in the genre.
simple and quite unpolished, but that is actually what makes them stand out and sound great. it's a great hip-hop record overall, maybe just a little too long. tracks 13-16 could definitely be dropped and the album would've been better. especially with the casual homophobia in "One of Them" kinda ruining the whole album for me.
This was a pretty good listen. I really liked Acetate Prophets
Not bad but incredibly goofy. Best Song: Day at the Races Worst Song: What's Golden
There’s a few real standout tracks on this album (A Day At the Races is a personal fave) and the whole thing has an infectious, fun energy to it, but there’s also way too much chaff that they should have really cut. There’s a 30-40 minute version of this album you could do that’s so much tighter. It feels a bit formulaic, but it’s a formula I like so I can’t be too down on it.
I was initially thinking the old school boom bap sound was going to throw me off this album because the tracks were running together too much and I was really lacking something standout and different, but thankfully, the middle third or so starts to break it up with What’s Golden and Thin Line probably being what hit more for me there. The big trouble though, aside from a lot of it sounding similar to me outside of the peaks, is the album is just too long and feels spread thin for it - shortening it up, putting more into the tracks, get some more variance, it’d be bumped up. All in all though, it’s fairly good rap, it’s just not my cut as a child of the 00s sounds tbh.
This is better than other 90s rap groups I’ve had so far (Arrested Development, The Roots), but didn’t find this that compelling even so. It’s a decently put together hip-hop sound occasionally throwing in other influences, and since I wrote about Jesse Jackson for my PhD I’ll give it points for the references in ‘I am Somebody’. Overall though, I still found it quite bland. Fine and well made, but not one I’ll return to.
A very nice, ‘positive’ hip-hop album from the six members of Jurassic 5. It starts off especially strongly as the opening trio of ‘Freedom’, ‘If You Only Knew’ and ‘Break’ are some of the best tracks, with great grooves. ‘A Day at the Races’ is another highlight, quite nostalgic for me due to its inclusion in Tony Hawk’s Underground, while ‘What’s Golden’ is a great bass-heavy banger. The quality tails off in the second half, and it’s a bit too long, but ‘Thin Line’ (featuring Nelly Furtado), ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘I Am Somebody’ are worth highlighting. A strong 3 stars.
pretty neat
There really is some great stuff here. The rapping and flow on some of the tracks is some of the best I’ve heard. Many of the beats have a great groove to them. However some tracks are much more forgettable than others. The best tracks are A Day at the Races and I Am Somebody. The worst track is absolutely One of Them. Typically, I don’t let poorly aged material affect my reviews too much (thinking about it now, I may have been too lenient about that in the past), but One of Them is very homophobic and heavily implies that all of “Them” are like what is described. 3/5
Solid from start to finish but, by the same token, no single track leapt out at me as being anything more than solid.
I like this
i wanted to like this a lot more than i do but something is holding me back... it feels maybe just a bit too digestible? i think i sound crazy i was gonna save my rating for until i could sit down with it with more focus but i don't think it'd bump my score up or down if i did fave track: one of them
3 1/2 Stars: This album is tight. Excellent production, Solid rhymes. It sounds a little dated like rap at the dawn of the century sounded like, but it's still a helluva good time.
6/10 - favorite songs 'A Day At The Races' and 'Freedom'
Did not know this group, pretty good. Gave me Tribe-ish vibes but with more of a harder rap edge
I liked this
Fantastic album with several hit songs, old school rap. I love Thin Line and What's Golden.
I kinda liked it. Would be 4/5 but it was a bit uneven and had some weird homophobic lyrics.
Dobra płytka, tak brzmi rapik, ale poprzednie recki miałem za wysoko ocenione. 3/5 jest uczciwe, bo pewnie nie wrócę do tego albumu xd
Started to be a good listened, then seemed to forget where it was headed and settled into gimmicks.
lowk after school special a banger josh ur wrong i enjoyed ts and it did not get weird ur just schizophrenic 7.3/10
ok
Charlie 2 na- ah I tried to place his voice, nice tracks here - decent album
This is good, but it's also kind of bizarre inclusion. This album sounds like it was released like 10 years before it was. This came out the same year as the Eminem show and the blueprint part 2. It came out three years after Dr Dre's 2001, another album where production is one of the main draws released by someone based in LA. I find it hard to think of something as essential when it so thoroughly sounds older than it is. That doesn't make it a bad listen, it's just not and album you have to hear by any means.
I liked the listen, but didn't take notes.
I liked it, despite the fact that their style was dated even for the time it came out. The track featuring Nelly Furtado was a standout.
ce n'est pas un coup de coeur mais je trouve que c'est très bon album.
Yea okay
It is not for me, but is clear how this album ended on the list. Very good vocals and lyrics, also the beets are really nice
3.5-3.75 pretty cool
I like old school Hip Hop, but this was nothing special.3/5
a lot of the songs get pretty repetitive quickly but it's good fav song: Break
I found many of the tracks on this album impressive, despite not liking rap music generally. I found myself listening carefully to the instruments and sometimes would try to block out the vocals. In doing so, I often detected some really good tuneful compositions. Having so often reviewed rap albums as not actually music, this one I found to be very musical and engaging as a result . Still not keen on the actual rapping.
Early 2000s rap isn’t usually something I find myself listening to. This is probably one of the stronger albums of the era, but it didn’t really grab me. That said, there were enjoyable beats, good rhymes, and a positive message that I could easily get behind.
the production is fun, After School Special is fun but this felt longer than it needed to be
It was pretty good
classsic
🤙
I actually weirdly liked this album, and that's really weird for me. I thought the concept of the album was really interesting and the music was actually kind of nice to listen to. What I mainly like about this album is that it isn't like other forms of hip-hop which is just constant swearing that makes me feel uncomfortable, I was able to listen to this album normally. However, it's still a genre that I despise, but it gets a high 3.
Not a big fan of this style of rap, but enjoyed the album. The lyrics were more meaningful than other similar albums I have heard
Solid beats, solid bars, nothing that really blew me away. Similar to how I felt about EPMD’s album on this list, I think I would have enjoyed this album a lot more if I’d listened to it back when it came out.
Jurassic 5 is a Los Angeles rap group which I never heard of until now. I think they should have eliminated about three tracks from this album, it seems a bit lengthy. The album started and ended well but bogged down in the middle. ‘I am Somebody” has a Sly Stone vibe, which I enjoyed. Overall this is sort of an eclectic rap album, better than most of the ones I’ve heard.
I've heard of this band, but I don't know if that's because we had them on here already or because I've listened to them in my real life. [According to my records, I briefly listened to them in 2007 and 2007 only. Hm. Doesn't bode well.] You know what.... possibly I mind-melded them with T.Rex + Electric Six. Understandable mistake. I think my college friend Alex liked them though. Chill beats, sometimes like jazz. I'm glad they're on here because this is a little different from most of the 90s hip hop and modern rap. But I also don't think the lyric delivery is that compelling. Slur count = 25. Highlights: 'Break' (never heard a group rap before!), 'What's Golden', 'Sum of Us'
flow muito bom, salvei algumas músicas na minha playlist. linda participação da nelly furtado.
A really strong album with interesting music and meticulously thought-out production. I enjoyed it more than I expected, though it isn’t my favorite style of music. Favorite songs: Freedom, What’s Golden
stabil
essa capa ta mim lembrando spring breakers FAVS (top 3): if you only knew, remember his name, sum of us mençoes honrosas: a day at the races, after school special, high fideelity, hey, i am somebody no começo fiquei meio assim hmmm e dps percebi q é um album hiphop generico, nao sei onde ele merece a participaçao nessa lista pq acho q em 2002 ja existiam varios assim, mas pelo menos é bom ne, imagine se fosse ruim! nota final: 3.5/5
Pretty good
Really great beats and lyrics; a little repetitive towards the end for me tho
I might be more into hip hop than I expected, this was pretty good!
The start is strong but it’s a little long. I really like the style. Their best track is not on this album though: work it out (ft Dave Matthews).
00’s Hip Hop ⭐️What’s Golden
Det meste er faktisk ok, men alle de konstante gimmick-afbrydelser undervejs bliver bare lidt for irriterende.
*63 Solidt men forudsigeligt efter et par numre. Der var lidt for mange fillers til at komme højere op, men bundniveauet var alligevel ikke til en 2’er for mig.
Det her album skulle have lov til at vokse på mig hele vejen igennem - Og det er gjorde det faktisk også. Jeg er ikke sikker på, hvorfor et album som dette lander på en liste som denne. Det er fint, men der er (for mig at se) ikke noget banebrydende i lyden eller nogle store numre, som kan forklare det.
Good, but not great. Would have rather another De La or Tribe made it. Or RUN-DMC or Sugarhill Gang made it at all.
It has good beats and raps and thankfully it doesn't suffer from cringe skits or excessive misogyny that I can remember (I'm 5 or six albums behind in typing reviews so I don't remember too many of the lyrical topics). I can't remember any standout tracks or anything so I'm not sure if it's a repeat listen but definitely not bad.
"What's Golden" looks like the biggest hit. It's very catchy, but kind of a departure from what I like about the previous tracks. I do very much like an album with an intro track. That feels very 90s to me. More distracting to me than what I usually listen to while I'm working.
beats are sick
Its solid
Crazy flute work. I like this. It's that early 2000s rap and r&b sound that I really like. It's just vibes. I really do like that flute. I wish I had found this in India it would've been so good. The tracks go by very quickly. I like the spoken word vibe. The tracks transition very seamlessly. I’m ngl I have no idea what they’re saying or talking about. Just some bullshit ngl. Interesting ig. Nelly Furtado? Canada reference. Some of these are kind’ve just forgettable. They transition very well but because of that they blend together somewhat and become homogenous. Holy shit they’re really coming for this guy. I am somebody that’s so true. Favourite: Sum Of Us Least favourite: Break
Pretty acceptable hip hop, the vocals aren't too fast, however the album does feel a bit too long.
It’s a fun album, some decent beats, some clever lines. Reminiscent of Tribe Called Quest, just not nearly as tight. It may sound odd but there were moments on this album that had me think of MF Doom as well, with the sampling and lyrical style. This album could certainly benefited from some pairing down as it ran far too long and some of these songs didn’t age very well. I respect my fellow Canadian, Nelly Furtado but Thin Line fell flat for me had me rolling my eyes. Still, there was plenty on here that was entertaining. 3 stars
cooler sound stabiler rap nichts revolutionäres
Hold On To This Feelin' 1001 Albums Generator 254 (3/24/2026) A fine bit of hiphop that I have trouble justifying on this list. The production on some of these songs, especially Freedom, If You Only Knew, Break, A Day At The Races, and One Of Them is really interesting. The sound here is a mix of boom bap and jazz rap, and in a lot of ways it existed as kind of a summary of the sounds of the previous decade when it released. It's just too long and quite top-heavy. 3/5. Favs: Freedom Break A Day At The Races Least Fav: After School Special
3.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/jurassic-5/power-in-numbers/ Cannot deny the quality of this. Beats are cool, rapping is very solid, but at some point it becomes a bit too much of the same. Another victim of rap albums being too long, I guess.
2.8
Old school vibe. Listenable without being essential. A tad formulaic maybe with lyrics often not saying much. Stand out tracks for me were A Day At The Races, Remember His Name and After School Special. A (maybe harsh) 3 for me.
Good, but uneven. Some tracks are just filler, but when it's good, it's great.
I remember this being outstanding when I used to listen to Jurassic 5, but in the context of this list I feel like it is more middle of the pack.
Nice clean rap, rich melodies. I somehow missed this group, deserves further listening
This review will not be lyric oriented, although I did read a couple of the tracks. "This is gonna be like Psyche Origami but technically better because they probably are the original" I say to myself as I hear the intro, I was kind of right (it does sound a little bit like them). Freedom has these syncopated slices of the guitar sample that are nice and the kick is lovely like a big ham hock being dropped onto the top of an empty cardboard box that came from a refrigerator. The chorus is clever with using the sample to name the song. If You Only Knew has Fluuuuuute. Break really shows off the layered vocals. Love the instrumental interlude React, really reminds me of something that would be on Psyche Origami's Is Ellipsis, A Day At The Races also reminds me of them in some way, I'm not sure, maybe it's the bassline. Remember His Name starts off with the words: "I was sitting at the television feeling disturbed" and this kicks off quite the story, top tier lyricism. With What's Golden being the hit of the album the sound makes sense for it. Thin Line is sooooo good, I love the Nelly Furtado feature and my mom does too. The chorus made me tear up reading it. The clean cut slices of the melodic samples I assume are mostly assigned to cut-chemist. Production, lyricism, features all good.
6/10 – Decent
The J5 EP had me hooked from the start and Quality Control came out while I was still DJing in college so I was excited to listen to more than What's Golden from this but it wasn't that great. Did appreciate what was essentially a Cut Chemist track at the end, though. 3/5
I found this to be surprisingly entertaining.
Not quite rap, not exactly trip hop but something along this lines. Cool from someone I've never heard of, not sure how well I'll render it though
A fun but forgettable album.
Groovy but overlong
I’m kinda surprised an album which sounds almost exactly the same as other hip hop entries 10 years prior but a lil more cleaner entered this list. Like I liked it I just didn’t get anything outta it tho.
This is such an enjoyable hip-hop album with great production and sampling work that work really well together. There is nothing groundbreaking in this, but it works well.
Good, classic hip hop.
I liked Remember His Name and Thin Line. The other songs made less of an impression.
Definitely very vibey and for sure radiates the color orange
Ça manquait de dinosaures, rien à voir avec Jurassic Park
Pretty good and fun album.
I'm not typically a hip hop listener, but I feel like this album was really well done and I can appreciate it. It's not likely to turn me into a giant hip hop fan, but I'm happy to have heard it.
I really enjoyed the more caustic songs on this album - the harder beats and the more challenging topics. Some overly long tracks, and my favourite was If You Only Knew. Perhaps a 3 - just not quite enough there for me to fully relax and enjoy.
Didn't know what to expect but did enjoy this, pleasant hip hop
i’m just generally not a huge fan of the more classic hip-hop sound; however listening was never entirely unenjoyable and there was a few songs that hooked me. •standouts: if only you knew, thin line, one of them •honorable mentions: freedom, what’s golden •favorite: thin line
really solid hip-hop
solide hiphop album, niets baanbrekend kwestie van rap ofzo, gewoon, solid flow...
Craig: okay, not that special to me Courtney: good album, very cool vibes.
é legal de escutar gostei
A fun album.
Decent early 2000s hip-hop. I liked the voice of the baritone guy (Chali 2na) and started getting annoyed when anyone other than him was rapping.
Viel Nostalgie bi jackson 5. Jurassic Park isch immer min Lieblingsfilm gsi. Jurassic 3 Pünkt
When hip-hop first started to develop, much of the focus was on ensemble performances by groups like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and The Sugarhill Gang. These were party groups, MCs, focused on moving a dance floor. That lineage lost favor with more serious acts, either through the grittier one-MC-one-DJ combos from New York or through more hardcore groups such as NWA. I see Jurassic 5 as a natural extension of the early groups. Their sound relies of relentless interplay of multiple voices and personalities. The lyrics are more focused on creative wordplay rather than content. That is a completely valid way for artists to express themselves. In fact, I've always been impressed with how the Jurassic 5 MCs execute their creative vision. It's just not my thing. Most of the rap I like is solidly placed in the hip-hop golden age, East Coast, crate-digging, jazz-influenced, boom-bap. On Power In Numbers, J5 has effectively split the differences. The production is aggressive, even dark in places. I was pleasantly surprised by how moving and appealing the beats were. Lyrically, the group seems to have matured as well. The verbal delivery is masterful as always. Here's the thing. I don't like "nice guy" rap. That's not to say that I don't like rap from good people. I just don't want to be told directly how nice an artist is or how whack gangsta rap is. If you have a voice, just use it. I'll see your value from what you produce, not from your complaints or overt virtue signaling. This is where I run afoul of many "alternative" rappers. As good as this record sounds, and how expert the lyrical delivery is, J5 just doesn't seem to fit the more hardcore mold easily. It feels like an identity crisis. I mean, did I hear this right, or is "The Thin Line" a celebration of being in the friend zone? Contrast with the copious use of the "N-word" on "One of Them," and it feels awkward and rubs me the wrong way. This album sounds great, and these MCs still display their acrobatic delivery skills, but that's not enough for me to return to this record. Three stars.
2,9/5
Parts of it were great, parts of it were just good. At no point was it bad, so that's good.
I liked this album lot more than I thought I would!
Remember His name is masterful. Great sampling all around and above excellent flow from the rappers here. 9 is great aswell with the singing and rapping blend. Usually I'm afraid when I see long hip hop albums from the 90's early 2000's, but this one is extremely fun and passed really quick! Yeh, it's not the most revolutionary thing I've heard, but all elements work very good, even the sound collage in the end. Another very high three, that like the b-52s record from yesterday, probably deserved a 4.
Decent hip hop album
This was quite cool, chilled hip hop. A lot of the songs sounded pretty similar, so much so it felt like a continuous loop of music. Not a bad thing, but I didn't feel there were many stand out tracks. Enjoyable but overall a bit forgettable.
Although I am not a learned man when it comes to hip hop, West Coast Alternative is in the wheelhouse. Some fun samples and turntablism.
Conscious, positive rap…not bad. Has good bounce and flows to it, and lyrics can be uplifting. Gets a little derivative with 17 songs.
3/5
Never heard this before. Old-school hip-hop in an era dominated by commercialised "gangsta" rap. Better than most. Probably wouldn't relisten though. 3/5.
It’s ‘giving unc’ as the kids would say. Hate to break it to the boys, but you are in fact corny. Maybe if this came out in the late 80s like it sounds, it woulda meant something.
🙂
Good old school boom bap type beat rap, J5 show a good command of a early 2000's east cost rap album. However it's a bit flat, I really like the last instrumental track, but the rest is a bit all same the same
It was decent.
Well done, but not for me. The funky interstitials were cool
It's a fun vestige of old school hip-hop but listening to this record it makes sense why this style went the way of the dinosaurs. It becomes uninteresting and feels like you can hear rhymes like this on any highschool playground nowadays. One of them also feels very out of place in this record that makes a point to push positivity on other songs
I wasn’t really into this album. I feel like this style of rap should be in my wheelhouse but is just misses. It’s too laid back without being fun, flowing but not in a good way and just overall kind of boring. I don’t hate it like jazz but it’s nothing I would seek out.
I’m not a fan of hip-hop, but the rhythms and flow on this are really good. Still not my thing, but it was quite enjoyable.
I'm not the greatest fan of hip hop, but I respect the genre and recognise that this is a very good album. Overall I enjoyed the album, it's an easy listen and oozes cool. It's just not an album I would play on a regular basis. I can't think of a stand out track that gripped me, the vibe felt similar all the way through. 6/10 for me (3 stars on the app). Can't rate it low as the talent and production is undeniable, just not for me.
It’s good, but I’m unsure of whether or not I’d say this album is critical/influential. It’s a good example of the style and genre, but I don’t know if it’s a stand out. Could just be my lack of familiarity with the history/genre.
pleasantly surprised by my enjoyement :) top songs; thin line, freedom, if you only knew, what's golden
Some good Bush era socially conscious hip hop. Reminds me of the Key and Peele Old School sketch. But, it was decent and the one guy has a very cool voice.
Who doesn't love J5? This is a solid record - very reminiscent of early hip-hop, which is their whole schtick. That said, the schtick wears off after a while. A solid 6/10.
Great, if not slightly safe rap.. Opened doors to many artists in the future. In isolation this album is fairly middle of the road with some great tunes and nice rhythm/funk but far from incredible.
75
Sounds like something that would've been on an early Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtrack
I like the flow and beat of this album, and it's pretty good lyrically. However it's a bit repetitive and too long imo. "One of them" was also weirdly hateful for a pretty upbeat album.
Decent rap for the times
Some very coooooool sounding musics and flows like rivers, the hits were really good, the other songs were like not quite as good echoes. 3.7/5.0 Best Song: A Day At The Races
I don’t mind J5, but this album doesn’t do a lot for me. It’s a little bit too much on the conscious hiphop scale for me, overall it’s not a bad album, but I don’t think I’d reach to chuck it on.
Good flows and instrumentals. The tracks are interesting and fun to listen to.
favorites: tracks 1,3,8,9
On the face of it this should be right up my street. Hip hop was a massive part of my teenage/early 20s soundtrack, coinciding with the golden age of the late 80s to early 90s. On first listen, this feels contemporaneous with that era, and with the Roots & Mos Def’s late 90s evolution of that sound. And that’s how it goes as it starts off with; some great flows, familiar-but-not-familiar beats and samples, and a renaissance of b-boyism. So far so good, but after a few tracks something feels off. It’s not bad, but it feels like it’s all a bit too studied. It’s something I can’t shake as the album plays through, and then it dawns on me; the problem is that it’s just too cleverly done. There’s a layer of grit and grime missing from the beats. The rhymes are expertly done, but rely too much on throwbacks to a bygone era, and it begins to feel one-dimensional. It’s not bad and it’s certainly not cynical, but it does feel a little too parochial and reluctant to innovate which is reflected in the way it feels way too long despite only coming in at 56 minutes.
Unusually, I was not late to the party with J5. However, I kind of lost step with them before this album was released. I felt they were on an upward trajectory from their earliest material through Quality Control. I’m hearing Power In Numbers for the first time and either it now seems dated or like I suspect, it sounds like J5 treading water. It’s sad to have to put it this way but maybe “another great J5 album” isn’t good enough. I guess by this stage my personal view is and artist should be pushing things forward. Maybe since this was followed by a disappointing album and the group falling apart (not handling the loss of Cut Chemist well?) the writing may have been on the wall.
Not bad
It's fine. The old school style is cool and was probably a welcome break from all the gangster rap that was dominating hip hop at the time. There's some nice samples and songs which have a strong soul influence. For me though, although it's solid and good, it's also unremarkable without any clear stand out tracks.
Started strong — i liked the first few songs a lot but my interest flagged toward the end. I might re-listen to some of the songs.
Only really listened to half, wasn’t bad but just didn’t stand out to me.
Nelly furtado was here 👁️👁️
Not my genre or vibe but it's better towards the end of the album
Ga erg goed op Thin Line met Nelly Furtado
Maybe I should have listened to Jurassic 5.
i can see myself relistening to this. the variety of instruments and styles???? the transitions between each song????
Never liked Jurassic 5 much. Love boom bap production generally but feels too derivative with subpar rapping.
2026.01.06.
i likey!
flute on "if only you knew" is sick. love the addition of a lil' jazz instrument solo, really fits the jazz rip vibes. dancing, sunlit streets, community
Not a big rap/hip hop fan, but this album isn't afraid to try different things in terms of sampling and backing music. Kind of a psychedelic vibe throughout. The album unfortunately suffers the same fate as many other rap records in that it has a few too many songs on it and feels a bit overloaded.
Good but didn’t knock my socks off
3.5
I like my conscious rap with more rizz basically. Loved some of those flows but yeah, a little lacking for me. I'll probably revisit it with more context. 1 - i have negative feelings 2 - i have no feelings *3* - glad i heard it 4 - "oh i like that album!" 5 - in the rotation
Took a while to get used to but it ended up being pretty good. Nothing too special
Enjoyed the production a lot and feel like there were a few songs that stood out (if you only knew i reckon) but not sure i was captured by the whole thing? Couple too many rhymes that felt like reaching for a turn of phrase because someone thought to put paracetamol in the line before. Overall p fun though!
Big Day Out mentioned!! My rap/hip-hop education really started in 2015 when I was tasked with putting together a History-of-Hip-Hop event for the USSC. Julian lovingly pulled together a playlist for the event (which never got used because DJ TJA was on the decks all night) and I still listen to that playlist almost weekly to this day. “What’s Golden” is like a top 5 song off that playlist for me, so I was stoked to see this album pop up yesterday. It’s by far the best track on the album and while I enjoyed listening to it in situ, “Concrete Jungle” being the first autoplay track after the album finished cemented for me that I didn’t really love it on the whole.
This was good. There are some great great songs here (What’s Golden) and lots of other really fun, well produced songs throughout. There’s not really a dud in the bunch but it also hasn’t grabbed me as something I want to listen to over and over again. Like it’s solid.
Songs from this album were in pretty heavy rotation for me back in the day, so glad to hear it all in context of the album, which is overall solid.
Highlights: A Day at the Races, What's Golden
Enjoyed the ride but didn’t feel strongly about any songs.
Not an album I would normally listen to. I found a couple jems on here. I especially like the song with the flute and the one with Nelly Furtado.
Enjoyed the Ozomatli overlap. Chali 2na fan.
Good album with some great tracks. Always loved thin line and what's golden. First album is still better but J5 are good overall.
If I liked hip hop, I'd like this album alot. 24 hours on i can remember none of it
Yep, don't mind this, if a bit on the long side at 56 mins. There's little chance that I would consider listening again though. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★★★☆☆ (6/10)
Totalno ok i ništa više od toga.
these guys have a naaaasty flow 😮💨 not super practical for me but i enjoyed it faves/new discoveries: break, thin line, after school special album art: very cool i know diddy was jealous