reframe

J-Five Rocked the Party

// October 10th, 2006 // Art, Music & Poetry

Yesterday, I was nodding my head in sweet anticipation of checking Jurassic Five- a few hours later I was in the packed Paradiso main hall with hundreds of other fans, bouncing up and down, as J-Five absolutely rocked the party. Jurassic Five are a good to great crew to listen to- but where they come into their own is the live communal experience- the very place where hip hop came from.

If you have not seen live hip hop, then it’s hard to understand the way a great hip-hop crew can engage a crowd; talking up the crowd, building energy with classic material, busting in new selections, freestyle and scratching to mix it up and all brief reprieve only to return to loftier peaks, all in all getting everyone in the room nodding and rocking in time. J5 did all this with the tight professional edge of a band that’s been tieing together their harmonies for 13 years , yet kept it fresh with genuine energy and humility to simply rock the party.

I’m skeptical when asked to raise my fist in the air- too many overtones of populist struggle and crowd mentality, but last night I had both in the air for “Freedom”.

“What mean the world to me is bein’ free
Live and let live and just let it be
Love peace and harmony, one universal family
One God*, one aim and one destiny

Hold on to this feelin’, Freedom, Freedom!”

*I’m down with interpreting “One God” anyway you like- Allah, God, the Tao, Brahma, strings and space time, whatever the name- it’s the oneness that underlies all things.