June 26, 2003 @ 8:00 pm

JUNGLE BROTHERS - All That We Do (Jungle Brothers)

by: Oliver Wang

It’s hard to figure out who the Jungle Brothers’ audience is these days.

It’s hard to figure out who the Jungle Brothers’ audience is these days. Afrika and Mike G abandoned the Afro-positivity of their Native Tongues long ago. And since 2000’s V.I.P., they seem to be catering to pubescent ravers with a combination of party pop beats and easily digestible lyricism. There’s nothing wrong with kicking club jams, but a line like this (from “Candy”) will force even the most generous fans to look askance: “After a little hanky panky / We make the room smell stanky, frankly.” In a failed attempt to recreate the magic of their 1988 hit “I’ll House You,” the JBs reunite with producer and Brooklyn house pioneer Todd Terry for most of All That We Do. Ironically, one of the CD’s most conventional hip hop songs is its most satisfying—on “Something About Cha,” Mike and Afrika reminisce about past loves over a blaxploitation soul track. Elsewhere, the album roams ambitiously from the Southern bounce of “Let Me” to the rawked-out fuzz of “What’s the Five O?” but the results are uneven. Added up, All That We Do amounts to too much on the boards and not enough on the mike.

Article tags: JUNGLE, BROTHERS, All, We, Do, Jungle, Brothers 

del.icio.us digg Furl Reddit YahooMyWeb

Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/music/revolutions/2003/06/jungle_brothers_all_that_we_do_jungle_brothers/

Return to previous page