Jurassic 5
| Company type | Music group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles , United States |
| Products | Alternative hip hop music |
Jurassic 5 is a six-member American alternative hip hop ensemble consisting of rappers Charles Stewart (known as Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup, also called Zaakir), Marc Stuart (Marc 7); alongside disc jockeys Mark Potsic (DJ Nu-Mark) and Lucas Macfadden (Cut Chemist). The group originated from performances at the Los Angeles venue Good Life. After issuing the album Feedback, they disbanded in 2007 due to "musical differences," but reunited in 2013 and released new tracks in 2014. Members have also developed individual solo careers.
History
Jurassic 5 made their national debut in 1995 with the single "Unified Rebelution," released through TVT Records. Their first significant offering, the Jurassic 5 EP (1997), positioned them within the alternative hip hop movement of the late 1990s alongside groups such as Company Flow and Black Star. Upon signing with Interscope Records, this EP was expanded and reissued as their full-length debut album, Jurassic 5, in December 1998. The band's name was inspired by a humorous comparison to the Fantastic Five.
Their sophomore album, Quality Control, achieved a peak position of No. 43 on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2002, Power In Numbers climbed to No. 15 on the same ranking. Following Cut Chemist’s departure to focus on solo work, the remaining five members launched Feedback in July 2006, which also reached No. 15 on Billboard.
Internal conflicts led to their split in 2007; however, Jurassic 5 reunited in 2013 including Cut Chemist for a reunion tour that featured appearances at Coachella and international shows across the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Japan, and the United States. They performed at Glastonbury in 2014 and conducted the Word of Mouth Reunion Tour that summer. In 2016, they released "Customer Service," marking their first new single after a ten-year hiatus.
In other media
Jurassic 5's tracks have been incorporated into numerous video games, broadening their commercial reach. In 2000, "Jayou" was featured in Grind Session. The song "Improvise" from Quality Control was included in localized editions of Jet Set Radio (2000) and its Japanese re-release De La Jet Set Radio (2001), along with its instrumental version. In 2001, "Great Expectations" from the same album appeared in Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX. The track "What's Golden" from 2002 was part of both ATV Offroad Fury 2 and later included in Forza Horizon 3. "A Day at the Races," featuring Big Daddy Kane and Percee P, was used in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground (2003). "In the House" from Feedback appeared on the soundtrack for NBA Live 06, while "Work it Out" featured in NBA Live 07, and "Red Hot" was included in SSX on Tour. Furthermore, "Sum of Us" and "High Fidelity" from Power in Numbers were incorporated into the soundtrack for the 2019 game Trials Rising.
The collective was featured in the hip hop documentary film Scratch released in 2001 and earned recognition from online publication UrbanSouth as part of an exclusive list highlighting underground hip hop albums.
In December 2024, their track "Jayou" experienced renewed commercial visibility through its inclusion in Kellogg’s advertising campaign titled "See You in the Morning."
Studio albums
| Album Title | Release Information | Highest Chart Positions | Sales Figures | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Rap |
AUS | CAN | FRA | NZ | SWE | SWI | UK | |||||
| Jurassic 5 |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 70 |
| ||
| Quality Control |
|
43 | 33 | — | 69 | 51 | — | — | 37 | — | 23 |
|
| |
| Power in Numbers |
|
15 | 13 | — | 16 | — | — | 22 | — | 96 | 46 |
|
| |
| Feedback |
|
15 | 12 | 6 | 36 | 27 | 136 | 39 | — | 25 | 59 | |||
| A dash ("—") indicates the album did not chart or was not released in that market. | ||||||||||||||
Extended plays
| EP Title | Release Details |
|---|---|
| Jurassic 5 EP |
|
Singles
| Single Title | Release Year | Highest Chart Positions Achieved | Certification Status | Corresponding Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B | US Rap | AUS | UK | ||||
| "Unified Rebelution" | 1995 | — | — | — | — | Template:N/A | |
| "Jayou" | 1998 | — | — | — | 56 | Jurassic 5 | |
| "Concrete Schoolyard" | — | — | — | 35 |
| ||
| "Improvise" | 1999 | — | 41 | — | — | ||
| "Quality Control" | 2000 | 96 | 12 | — | — | Quality Control | |
| "W.O.E. Is Me (World of Entertainment)" | 2001 | 94 | 8 | — | — | ||
| "The Influence" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Hard Times" (featuring The Pharcyde) |
2002 | — | — | — | — | Straight from the Crates, Vol. 1 | |
| "What's Golden" | 2002 | 90 | — | — | — | Power in Numbers | |
| "If You Only Knew" | 2003 | — | — | 99 | — | ||
| "Freedom" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Thin Line" (featuring Nelly Furtado) |
— | — | — | — | |||
| "Hey" | '04' | '—' | '—' | '—' | '—' | ||
| "Linguistics" | '04' | '—' | '—' | '—' | 143' | — Non-album single' | |
| "Red Hot" | '05' | '—' | '—' | '—' | '—' | 'Feedback' | |
| "Canto de Ossanha" | '06' | '—' | '—' | '—' | '—' | 'Feedback' | |
| "Work It Out" (featuring Dave Matthews Band) |
'06' | '—' | '—' | '—' | 116' | 'Feedback' | |
| "Customer Service" | '16' | '—' | '—' | '—' | '—' | 'Template:N/A Non-album single' | |
Guest appearances
| Track | Year | Collaborating artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Improvise" | 1999 | Sway & King Tech | This or That |
| "Lunchtime" | 2001 | Click Tha Supah Latin | Square Won |
| "Verbal Gunfight" | 2002 | none | Soundtrack for One Big Trip |
| "iPictorial Wallet" | 2022 | Canibus | One Step Closer to Infinity |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Concrete Schoolyard" | 1999 | Delaney Bishop |
| "Quality Control" | 2000 | Jeff Richter |
| "The Influence" | 2001 | Marcos Siega |
| "What's Golden" | 2002 | Logan |
| "Work It Out" (featuring Dave Matthews Band) |
2006 | The Malloys |
| "The Way We Do It" | 2014 | Alex Knudsen |