Jungle Brothers
| Jungle Brothers | |
|---|---|
 The Jungle Brothers visiting Hamburg, Germany in March 1999. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, house, jazz rap |
| Years active | 1987–2008 |
| Labels |
Idlers/Warlock Records Warner Bros. Records Gee Street/V2/BMG Records Jungle Brothers XYZ Records |
| Associated acts |
A Tribe Called Quest De La Soul Queen Latifah Monie Love Black Sheep Chi-Ali |
| Members |
Mike Gee Sammy B Afrika Baby Bam |
| Past members | Torture |
The Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop group, and founding members of the Native Tongues collective. The Jungle Brothers pioneered the fusion of jazz and hip-hop and also became the first hip-hop group to use a house-music producer. The group began performing in the mid-1980s and released its first album, Straight Out the Jungle, in July 1988.[1] With Afrocentric lyrics and innovative beats, the Jungle Brothers were critically acclaimed and soon joined the influential Native Tongues collective.[2] The original trio comprised Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall (Afrika Baby Bam, a homage to Afrika Bambaataa) and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Sammy B left the group after the release of Raw Deluxe in May 1997.[1]
History
Their first album, Straight Out the Jungle, was released on an independent record label (Warlock).[1] The single "I'll House You," added to the album in 1989, is known for being the first hip-house record recorded outside of the Chicago scene, which was a club hit that drastically changed the way the hip-hop and dance-music industries worked.[3] In spite of the commercial failure of Straight Out the Jungle, Warner Bros. Records soon signed the group and released Done By the Forces of Nature in November 1989.[1] In 1990, the Jungle Brothers contributed the song "I Get a Kick" to the Cole Porter tribute album "Red Hot + Blue" produced by the Red Hot Organization. Following a four-year break, the Jungle Brothers returned in 1993 with J Beez Wit the Remedy, another commercial disappointment. The Jungle Brothers involved themselves with an emerging Hip Hop organization called Ill Crew Universal (ICU) which released worldwide compilation albums and supported independent Hip Hop artists.[4][5] Their fifth album, V.I.P. was produced by Alex Gifford of Propellerheads and, during production, they found time to add their vocal stylings to the Propellerheads tracks "Take California (And Party)" and "You Want It Back". Their latest album to contain any new releases is 2002's All That We Do.
In 2001, their song "What's the Five 0" was featured in the music video game FreQuency.
In 2004, the Jungle Brothers joined with British producer Mr On to produce "Breathe (Don't Stop)", a version of "Breathe and Stop" by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, combined with a sample of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (the idea was taken from a bootleg remix combining vocals from "Breathe and Stop" and music from "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough").
In 2005, the Jungle Brothers released a greatest hits and classic remixes and rarities double album, This Is..., which included remixes by The Wiseguys, Urban Takeover, Natural Born Chillers, and Stereo MCs.
Their status as a group is in question, as Mike G and Sammy B are touring (Sammy B also toured as fellow Native Tongues member Black Sheep Dres' DJ), and Afrika Baby Bam now goes by B.A.M. and has a new movement called Pagan Society. In an interview with AllHipHop.com, B.A.M. expressed his discontent with today's rap music industry. B.A.M. also stated his disappointment in Pos (De La Soul) and Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) in a Vibe magazine article, saying that they are the reason that a full-fledged Native Tongue reunion has not transpired.
In 2008, their single "What U Waitin 4" was ranked number 88 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Discography
Albums
- 1988: Straight out the Jungle
- 1989: Done by the Forces of Nature
- 1993: J Beez Wit the Remedy
- 1997: Raw Deluxe
- 2000: V.I.P.
- 2002: All That We Do
- 2003: You in My Hut Now
- 2006: I Got You
Compilations
- 2005: This Is... (greatest hits)
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance [6] |
US R&B HipHop [7] |
AUS [8] |
NZ [9] |
NED [10] |
BEL (FLA) [11] |
GER [12] |
SWE [13] |
IRE | UK [14] | |||
| 1987 | "Jimbrowski" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Straight Out The Jungle |
| 1988 | "Because I Got It Like That" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "On The Run" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I'll House You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | ||
| 1989 | "Black Is Black" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 72 | |
| "Straight Out The Jungle" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Beyond This World" (US/AUS only) | — | — | — | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Done By The Forces Of Nature | |
| 1990 | "What 'U' Waitin' '4'?" | 13 | — | — | — | 10 | 14 | — | — | — | 35 | |
| "Doin' Our Own Dang" | — | — | — | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | 33 | ||
| 1993 | "40 Below Trooper" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | J. Beez Wit The Remedy |
| "On The Road Again (My Jimmy Weighs A Ton)" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996 | "How Ya Want It (We Go It)" (US only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Raw Deluxe |
| 1997 | "Brain" | — | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 52 | |
| "Jungle Brother" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 56 | ||
| 1998 | "Jungle Brother '98" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | singles only |
| "I'll House You '98" | — | — | — | — | 84 | — | — | — | — | 26 | ||
| "Because I Got It Like That '98" | — | — | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | 32 | ||
| 1999 | "V.I.P." | — | — | — | — | — | — | 85 | 40 | — | 33 | V.I.P. |
| "Get Down" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 52 | ||
| 2000 | "Freakin' You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 70 | |
| 2002 | "You In My Hut Now" (GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | You In My Hut Now / All That We Do |
| "Do Your Thing" (GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "Breathe Don't Stop" (as Mr. On vs. Jungle Brothers) | — | — | 33 | 30 | 56 | — | — | — | 26 | 21 | single only |
| 2005 | "Beats On A String" (as Ali B vs. Jungle Brothers) (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | I Got U |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||
References
- 1 2 3 4 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 523. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
- ↑ Jungle Brothers at AllMusic
- ↑ Jungle Brothers - I'll House You - Video Dailymotion. Dailymotion.com (2007-02-18). Retrieved on 2012-04-13.
- ↑ http://www.daveyd.com/fnvaprilnews.html
- ↑ http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/07/prweb252364.htm
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - US Dance Club". billboard.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - Australian chart". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - New Zealand Chart". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - Dutch chart". dutchcharts.nl. 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - Belgian Chart". ultratop.be. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - German Chart". charts.de. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - Swedish chart". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ↑ "Jungle Brothers - UK Chart". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 September 2014.