Power in Numbers is the third studio album by American hip hop group Jurassic 5. It picks up where their previous album, Quality Control "left off", with a short double bass sample playing the same riff that the last song on Quality Control, "Swing Set", ended with.
I freaking LOVE this album. I have since it came out in 2002. It's been a few years since I last listened to it and I'm kicking myself. This is easily one of my top 10 albums of all time. Smart, culturally relevant lyrics, powerful break beats, serious in-th-pocket swings... it's the whole package. This is what the best of hip-hop sounds like. There's nothing more that needs to be said. It's the best. Period.
This is the peak of the 90s rap group. Beats are fresh, samples are dope, and lyrics spit hot from the titular five members, each getting an appearance on each track. For a guy that says he prefers 90s rap more than today, I'm surprised I could never name drop this group and this album. But now I can... ;)
The power of positivity! Jurassic 5 has long been a hip hop favorite of mine. "Power in Numbers" and their debut, "Quality Control," are both standouts for their message, creativity, and collaborative effort. J5 features 4 rappers (and 2 DJs - which does not equal 5), all with unique voices that come together for choruses and harmonies. Chali 2na's deep flow is my favorite, but there isn't a weak voice in the group, and all deliver with incredibly creative writing and rhyming. With rap music generally way too caught up in objectification of women, violence, and drugs, the comparative positivity of Jurassic 5 is refreshing. They were not the only group cultivating their style and skill rather than trying to be edgy and hard - and they deserve acclaim alongside Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, De La Soul, and others. "Power in Numbers" is a throwback to the 80s with breaks, scratches, (lots of credit to DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist for shaping that sound), but it still feels (or felt?) fresh.
Great Album, didn't know I needed this in my life
Like Prefab Sprout, this was another shocking album for me. I had never even heard of Jurassic 5 before this, but they delivered the first alternative hip-hop album I not only liked but loved. The lyricism and flow on each track are better than nearly any other classic-era rap artist I've heard. Definitely didn't like the final track though, just a bunch of ambient noise. Fav songs: Most of them but especially: what's golden, if your only knew, react
This is so good!! I can’t believe I never heard this before. Wow.
Classic underground hip hop, brings me back to high school, great all around
Fantastic album, loaded with great tracks. Back to back with Quality Control, Jurassic 5 had two monster albums that should have made them superstars.
Yoooo, every track is 🔥🔥🔥. Why have I never listened to this? It’s seriously incredible.
Absolutely mad work of art. Some of the instrumentals and flows on here blew my mind. The finale rocks.
A great look at the transition from classic hip hop to early 2000's style. Very solid.
Really great. Guy with the deep voice (Charli 2na I think?) steals the show, but they're all great and work well together. The last 5 tracks are pretty meh, but other than that it's great beats and great flows all around. Favorite track was "Thin Line".
Really interesting album. Great lyricism, good flow from one song to the next, and varied sampling create a great, cohesive piece
10
What’s not to like. Looped samples, ensemble of MCs, punchy drums, and tasteful flourishes from the DJs. I mean, how many hip hop songs have a god damn flute?!
LOVED THIS
This reminds me of dancing in kitchens at uni so much. Top tracks remain A Day At The Races and High Fidelity
5. Perfect 90s hip hop album. Nothing to add. Artist that I didn't know I knew.
Great
Fantastic pick
I'm surprised - this album was amazing! I was jamming from the very first song. I liked just about every song on the album. 5/5 stars.
fuckin awesome old school rap no complaints at all, just awesome 10/10
yup, yup, yup
Was totally unaware of Jurassic 5 until an 20 minutes ago. Four songs in and already added to my library. THIS is the style Hip Hop/Rap I love, with spoken word audio samples liberally but perfectly inserted. Great beats, great lyrics. A Day at the Races - a smooth flowing river of words. This is a totally worthwhile album.
10/10
Dope
Groove for dayssssss
An extremely fresh sound - chill beats so far and a real sort of jazzy/funk overlay that gives mad summer vibes. The flutes in "If you only knew" give it a Jethro Tull meets hiphop sound. The snare hits in 'Break' is so tight and clean. High Fidelity has crazy good beats. It ends really strong as an album.
LOVE IT
Solid album, listen to it several times over
Great from start to finish. All tracks highlight.
This is a bop. Great flows, great beats,just all round proper hip hop. There's a reason it's a classic and I'm dumb for not getting on board earlier.
I don't like rap usually, I really enjoyed this.
Loved!
Wowowowow. This was so amazing that I've already listened to two more of their albums. What a band! Such a nice mix of hop hop, soul, funk. If anything contains multitudes, this music does. I feel very lucky to know about them now. I wish this had an additional star to give extra special albums.
Never heard of this band I am ashamed to say but they are hugely talented!
Five, for thin line alone. Funky album, great voices.
An album I love dearly - the most consistent of all Jurassic 5's albums. What's Golden, A Thin Line, and Sum of Us are the standout tracks for me but the quality control (see what I did there) is very high throughout the album. Chali 2na's flow as ever is what makes it, but the production and sampling is tip-top as well.
This was an important listen.
An absolute classic. Positive energy, great beats. Puts the likes of Kanyes childish tantrums to shame really.
Awesome hip hop album. I like some of the reggae undertones and the message of the music is great
Sometime around 2002 I saw Jurassic 5 at a music festival or something - maybe Voodoofest in New Orleans? They were really great, but it was one of those bands I saw that I meant to revisit. Today I realize that I never did do that. 20 years later, here we are. Wow what a great album! Felt good listening to this. Love the different voices. Great music and great rapping. So glad to have them brought back to my attention, because they are definitely worth it.
Very pleasantly surprised and delighted by what I heard!
Hip hop
I've never listened to J5 but I loved every single track on this album. This shit was awesome and a huge surprise because I'm not really into hip hop.
Hey wow, J5 in the 1,001! I'm surprised, but I do like their brand of MCing, so despite not having heard this before today, I'm looking forward to listening. Well, I'm about halfway through this album, and what I can say so far is that it is the absolute tits. The flows are every bit as good as J5's earlier work, the beats are every bit as good as their previous too. I like this a lot. A lot a lot.
Unbelievable album. I ruddy love Jurassic 5
Right from the start I found myself bopping up and down to this. What a sound these guys have! I like some of the complex rhythms on a lot of these tracks, “Break” in particular. Don’t mistake these guys for some corny ass group (I don’t know where that came from, but it popped in my head.) This list has introduced me to some great rap music that I’ve never heard and it’s refreshing to not get some lyrics that make me cringe (from the violent content) along with the great rap. It’s tough to pick a favorite song or songs because there were so many things I loved about this album. “Thin Line” made a great impression. I love the vocal line and the keyboard melody. To be fair though, there was something on just about every track that blew me away. This album is getting a five!
Damn this is SICK stuff. Great beats, the flow is amazing. This is what a hip-hop group at their peak really sounds like. It is definitely going on the list of planned purchases. Just... WOW.
Smart asf
Have loved J5 since I saw them at the Warped Tour in 2000. A truly excellent hip-hop group that I feel never really got the accolades they deserve. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to their records, more than happy to revisit this one again.
The flows on this are mean and clean. The production by Cut Chemist is really stellar and I loved all the sample. I love Charlie 2na on this record and this has that classic Jurassic vibe in it. Favorite song: A Day at the Races Least favorite song: After School Special
I have a soft spot for Jurassic 5 as I really enjoyed them when I was in high school. "What's Golden" was one of their songs that I listened to a lot. Some of their stuff sounds a little silly to me now, but their hooks and samples are undeniably catchy, and the varied voices of the rappers helps keep it interesting. I remember "Thin Line" now too.
Is it me or are sample-heavy albums like this difficult to produce and release? Perhaps I'm out of touch but they do seem unique. 3 Feet High and Rising, the '89 De La Soul album, is virtually unattainable today due to all the rules and hight costs of licensing the samples it contained. Power In Numbers likely wasn't cheap, but they really make the album special. Great licks, snappy beats and great sample grabs from artists like Minnie Ripperton and David Axelrod. This album really wouldn't exist without them. Regardless, this albums roots are in the old skool and there's plenty of range in the ummm six(?) voices. Each is unique and brings a special flavor to the album, which leads me to this... I've always wondered what the Verbal Herman Munster looks like. I get the Munsters and The Adams Family mixed up, is he the dad that resembles Frankenstein or the kid with the super tall widows peak? The dad, right? Doesn't matter, I didn't listen to this album much when it was released, and was happy to have been able to spend some good time with it here.
Power album in terms of voice and sound. Feels very performative. As if they were reveal on stage behind a red curtain. They work with great unity to deliver a singular sound. Very upbeat instrumental music that screams out confidence. A proud experience is felt listening to this album.
Wonderful! This sounds to me like a well balanced record, taking cues from the old-school rap while still being firmly planted in the current time, making it sound fresh and new still twenty years after. A classic without the shadow of a doubt. Play it loud and with a lot of bass.
Strong beats and a steady stream of solid cuts. Shows some passion and thoughtfulness re soical issues without being preachy or presumptuous.
Solid hip hop but one of them annoys me. Instrumentals are great
Starts strong - love the break beats and general feel but unfortunately as an album it tapers quite early - by the time it hits its 56 mins of length it really feels overlong. It could have done with half its length removed and it would have been an excellent record
Didn’t resonate with me like other albums.
Alternate title: Paint By Numbers
Never heard of Jurassic 5.... really unimpressed, the first track was really annoying to listen to and it just got worse, what can I say, not my cup of tea. Would like to give a zero rating.
Not much dissimilar from concrete school yard but that isn’t a bad thing
Old shull hip hop
Back-to-back days of excellent hip hop (Jay-Z)…what a treat! The flow at the end of A Day At The Races is incredible! And the flow there is only slightly better than the rest of the song, meaning the level is high throughout. The flow is really good throughout the whole album too. I am captivated by Charli 2na’s deep voice. It is divine. I think if he read terms of service agreements, I would actually know to what I’m agreeing. I echo jkav’s note on the positivity in the lyrics being refreshing. This is a great find and I will be listening on a regular basis. One nitpick: Acetate Prophets is kind of weird. It can go.
клёвый блин jazz-rap. ваще прям 10/10
Omg amazing. Heerlijke activistische old school hip hop
Owned this album. Loved it. Don’t know why I don’t still have it but it was a totally awesome re-listen for me.
Бодренько
Jurassic 5 get a 5 from me.
Modern throwback hip-hop.
I remember listening to this when it came out. It didn't "hit hard enough" for me, but I did respect the flow. I am not sure if it's my new found appreciation for jazz or getting older, but this is a fantastic hip hop album that I definitely shouldn't have slept on as much as I did.
So many great tracks - 'A Day at the Races' and 'High Fidelity' are classics. Their previous albums are even better. Some friends and I met Chali 2na at a festival at Hackney Marshes in 2001, he seemed embarrassed but grateful to receive our admiration - great guy. I have photographical evidence of this, but I may have been a couple of beers deep and halfway through a burger at the time, and there was no hiding either.
Love “underground” hip hop. Need a lot more of this.
It was great. I wish I could give it a 4.5 because I don’t think it’s perfect but definitely the best new album I’ve heard so far.
Classic
I’m sad we seem to have lost this type of hip hop. Good-natured, socially conscious and not afraid to be hard-hitting. Pretty much every track a banger, “After School Special” has no business being that funky. I will be delving deeper into Jurassic 5 as a result of this recommendation.
Great.
Chali 2na is fantastic. Loved this.
Clean enough to eat my dinner off.
Everything I like in hip hop - good beats; good flow; good times.
This is 🔥
I loved this album. Funky, fresh. This good be a new favourite
aivan vitun kova. kyllä ne etniset ,,musiikkia osaa tehdä! laatu PYSYY... melkeinmpä jokainen biisi hyvä,,, jotkut parempia kun toiset toki... EI VOI OLETTAA:. ETTÄ JOKAINEN NYT OLISI HEHHEH... YHTÄ HYVÄ ! hip hop hömpötys hulabaloo humpuukki voitti tällä kertaa, hyvö esimerkki miks tätä albumi juttua jaksaa jatkaa high fidelity baras piisi
Brilliant
absolutely rips
Well, this has to be a five from me, a Jurassic 5. A few years back I was working on a personal project to determine my favorite hip hop album from each year I've been alive, and this was my winner for 2002. I love the variety on here, both of voices and beats/instrumentals. There are wacky samples, wacky sounds, and a range of voices and deliveries. And even though it's 20 years old now, so much of it feels fresh and not at all outdated. I ultimately saved almost every song on here to my playlist, it just feels that vital to me. I may not know much else done by Jurassic 5, but this album is crazy. Favorite tracks: Just imagine the whole tracklist, minus like three songs on the back half. Album art: Nice color gradient, image definitely fits the title of the album. I'll excuse the stencil font because of just how much I love this project. 5/5
Great choice of samples
Classic J5, great rhythms lyrics and rhymes
Great album from a rather underrated group!
So, so good. Amazing flow and fantastic beats.
Flawless. Saw these guys at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange in 2023 - nothing but class.
Freedom!
Classic 90‘s Hip Hop, very easy to listen to and sick flows. Loved it.
Quality. This is what Hip Hop has the potential to be. Funky breaks cut up but matched with slick production. Amazing flow from a diverse set of rappers. Intelligent lyrical content with a (generally) positive message. It could be trimmed down a little, second half falls off a bit. Still one of the best Hip Hop albums of all time though.
Great ambiance
I forgot I listened to this a lot in highschool!
Love the clarity and punchiness of the hi-hat, bass drum, and snare. Great production overall. I've got a couple J5 CDs tucked away but this one slipped past my radar; really pleased with Power In Numbers.
Fantastic. They kept it moving and interesting for nearly an hour! Amazing sampling and melodies. Smart lyrics and driving instrumentals. Fav track is What's Golden.
Thoughtful, intelligent. These guys are a class above. Brilliant variety.