Power In Numbers

Great hip hop. Awesome beats and even recognized a few tunes

Phat beats, cool, rhythmic delivery. I liked most of it. Not too aggressive, clever wordplay. Better than most hip-hop. 3.75 out 5

good opener! regular sounding mid nineties hip hop but not bad to listen to.

Not really my genre, but this was pretty good.

Mmmm mmm mmm bra i like it. Vibes liksom 4/5 I think. Gillar thin line mest

When it hits highs, it's a pretty high album. But there feels like a decent amount of fillerish that just doesn't live up as high. I think if I could do decimals I'd do 3.5-3.7 but I think it's fair to round up to 4. If only for "What's Golden". Banger.

Thin Line is Quality Quality backing beat and overall good vibe Great lyrics

Excellent

Prefer the previous album, fantastic music but missing true bangers

Hip Hop clasico.

Very cool! After 12-13 songs I was a bit tired of it already. But I liked very much

This is a great album. Peak 90s rap if you ask me and worthy of ushering in the early 2000s changes to the genre. The lyrics and flow are great. The beats are dated for sure but if these dudes got together for a modern album I'd be all for it.

Really likes this one. Great rhymes.

Upbeat, love the beats, good lyrics.

Jurassic 5 know exactly what they're doing. Great stuff. Fave track - "Thin Line"

Great samples and use of the distinct vocals of each member. Message on point and delivered with wit and a gut punch. All layered over a driving funk/soul beat that just works with the mixed samples

This is: Dope intro, well-cut samples. Subtle and effective. Also totally not what I was expecting based on the album art. Freedom: Nice beat, and I loved the flow from the intro into the song. All of these guys have super interesting voices. If You Only Knew: I love the beat. I love how low-key this album is so far. Impossible not to at least bob your head. Break: Again, killer instrumental intro. The chorus part!! React: Very cool samples. Great flow from the last song to this one. A Day At The Races: Sick flow, and I like the call-and-response structure Remember His Name: Nice sound effects. Intro sounded like it was going to be emotional. The verses kept up the emotion pretty well. What's Golden: Love this bassline Thin Line: A Nelly Furtado feature! Keeps with the low-key theme, allows focus on the lyrics, which are (and have been for the whole album) really clever. After School Special: Love the intro sample and it matches the images of the "kid" conjured by the title High Fidelity: Good song, belongs with the album. Liked the horns Sum Of Us: Love the continuation of the beat from the last song, and also the wordplay in this one DDT: Cool freestyle, and it works super well as an interlude and also flows really well into the next track One Of Them - Juju: Like the call-and-response dynamic between the verses and choruses Hey: Nice melody, easy to listen to. Very smooth I Am Somebody: I like the declaration of the title. I also like the effect of everybody singing it in unison Acetate Prophets: What a title - also lol love the intro, and the outro. Was a longer track but it felt like it needed it. Overall: I really liked it. Saved it to my Spotify. 8/10

some surprisingly smooove stuff on there

pretty good 6/10 people under the stairs is better

Pretty dope

So so good.

Whats golden top tier song. Annars ok, inget som fastna

The only reason Im giving this a 4 instead of a 5 is because I didn't hear any one song that stood out and got stuck in my head. I think the album's and instant classic and want to hear more from them

Underground goodies Golden - favourite track!

I'm not a big rap or hip-hop fan, but this was enjoyable. Probably listen to it again. 4/5

Early hip hop rap unexpectedly good

Kind of all all over the place. Lots of weird little samples.

Solid vibing album. Strong representation of west coast hip hop.

Love this one.

Bien sympa petit rap des familles

great classic early 20s record

funky, groovy, classic early 2000s hip hop. great rhymes, great flows, great rhymes. very fun listen.

This album reminds me of Ill Communication by Beastie Boys more than I thought it would. The emphasis on samples that feel like real music and the interplay between the different members of the groups are weirdly similar. When I think about the rap style of Jurassic 5, I always imagine it as sort of hokey, but it's better than I remember. In retrospect, they were a lot more interesting than a lot of the other stuff that was happening in rap in this era 4/5

Enjoyed this a lot!

Great one although I usually dont listen to that type of the music

Does anybody know if Jurassic 5 is trying to bring old school rap back? They never mention it. This is a fun album with good production. The best track features Big Daddy Kane, and it kinda made me wish I was listening to one of his albums instead. Best track: A Day at the Races

Great raps, will listen again

Very solid Hip-hop album!

Top beats.... and charli 2na 👌. Great album!

Supongo que lo que destaca es la letra porque la verdad es que casi todas las canciones me sonaron igual. No está mal pero definitivamente no es un género que disfrute. Yo siempre será más de la música/ritmo en sí que de la letra, así que…

fine

Jurassic 5 definitely has flow but I've always felt when I listen to an album it all sounds pretty similar. Doesn't mean it's bad it's just a little unmemorable.

I once described Jurassic 5 as the best rap starter pack for white people, and that's too mean by half, but only half. On the one hand, they were/are Native-Tongues-style social-consciousness rap with legitimately talented wordsmiths and dynamite producers whose work I sought out on instrumental albums, all in an LA hip-hop scene that was pretty formulaic by this point, aiming for pop-chart crossover hits and big music videos. There's a lot of legitimately interesting stuff here, and if you can set aside the throwback quality, there are layers of complexity worth digging for. But on the other hand, this is a full-on throwback act, and by this point, the edges of rap music were so phenomenal that it feels like a step backward. Keep in mind that this was coming out around the same time as seminal albums by Outkast, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Clipse, Eminem, Missy Elliott, The Roots, and Kanye, as well as underground classics by Deltron 3030, MF Doom, Cannibal Ox, El-P, and Aesop Rock. A lot of those acts were integrating Eric B & Rakim with something new and envelope-pushing. As a result, I find it impossible to judge on its own merits, because its own merits are working against it. Now, this is infinitely more true of their breakout EP and debut LP, Quality Control. Power in Numbers at least attempts to modernize the sound. It still feels tailor-made for the Pitchfork hipster kids. But I don't want to undersell the real lyrical complexity about subjects that matter and a few legitimate jams. I just hope anyone who found time for this made their way to The Cold Vein, Labor Days, or (especially) Madvillainy.

I love the added flute. My favorite song was Thin Line. The universal, unsolvable problem of being friends and do you cross the line into more.

Ouve-se bem, mas não chega para o 4

the samples be POPPIN but one of the guys be killing my vibe with his voice.

3★/5 [06.26.2026] 06.29.2026

Three-leaning-four. I really liked this!

Another unexpectedly palatable rap album. The absence of gangster infused lyrics was a welcome change. The beats were cool and production smooth.

A good album with highs and lows. Doesn't really stand out as a masterpiece against other rap / hip hop.

Rating: 6/10 A solid alternative hip hop record with cool sampling and a collection of good emcees that doesn't quite live up to its full potential, but is quality and has a bunch of good tracks regardless. It almost feels like it teases you in through the first couple tracks with this conceptual idea of the power in numbers, with lyrical themes stemming from racial inequality, systemic injustice, and uplifting political messaging. But after that the lyricism quickly starts to feel like it's actually about...nothing, really, just some catchy rhymes with good flows. It starts to lose itself more after the halfway mark, and begins to feel like the record could have been a little tighter than its 56 minute length. All of this combined with the fact that J5 and this album weren't exactly innovative anymore and feel stuck in the 90's, while 2000's underground hip hop would soon quickly outperform this. I probably won't be returning to listen in full but am cool with some tracks in a jazzy hip hop playlist

I had a fun time listening to this! the lyrics were fun and thoughtful and the beats were solid!

Easy to listen to and quite funky. Easier rap album to listen to.

Interesting but not really my thing

не совсем попал под настроение, но хороший бумбэп

There are enough interesting parts to this album that make it worth a listen. 3 stars or C+.

I like the jazziness with the rap, quite nice

I really like the beats on this record and could have it on in the house. Not my favorite rappers but for the early 2000s it's pretty decent.

It was pretty good. Probably won’t revisit, tho.

It felt like it was trying too hard to be late 80s/early 90s rap. It wasn't bad but it wasn't very good. 2.5 stars rounded up.

It's fine

cool rap, not really my type but then again i didn’t listen to the entire album

É fixe, mas falta-lhe algo

Liked A Day at the Races, Remember His Name and Thin Line, but ultimately not that memorable

This felt like a cross between the grooves of Tony Toni Tone and the rapping style of Arrested Development or De La Soul. A solid record, with a bunch of good tracks, though nothing really stood out. 3 stars.

Hip-hop throwdown with vocal interplay I like, but top-heavy and loses steam. While the chemistry and rhythms are iconic, the formula starts running out of gas.

Haven’t heard any particular power in it.

I really enjoy this style of rap - I was a bit slow on the back end but overall really enjoyable

not the strongest hip hop album we've rolled but it's still pretty good. the production's not pulling anything especially crazy for the time, and a little weak at the start in particular ("if you only knew" is a transport tycoon deluxe ass beat) but the bars are great, with chali 2na in particular having that distinctive voice and unrelenting flow which steals the spotlight every time he gets a verse. idk what my favourite is this time cos so much of the album's strength is in the lyrics and i'd need to listen a shitload of times to choose based on that alone.... if i had to pick one right now, it'd probably be "remember his name" but i gotta be honest, it's just cos i love how much fun the producer was having with the sound effects. calling up 2na so he can do his verse is a great bit even if they did chicken out of keeping him sounding like he was speaking through a phone after a couple lines. its fun! even if the song is about death, i'm giving this one a high 3 for now but its another one i feel like i gotta spend more time with to appreciate it, so maybe i'll jack it up to a 4 after a few more listens......

It's an alrigjt album that I somehow knew would appear on this list ... exactly the kind of Hip Hop that appeals to white rock listeners.

When I listen to music, I genuinely do not perceive words and lyrics at all. Therefore this was just any other hip hop album. 3/5.

Not sure will ever listen to it again, but it's quite fun and listenable

Між 3.5 та 4. Такий хіп-хоп я люблю.

довольно милый и мне даже показалось (показалось) что я узнаю голоса

Ah man. Hip-Hop is so dead to me it’s not even funny. And it sucks cause the 90’s and 00’s had some awesome stuff. The 10’s and 20’s really buried this genre for me to get any enjoyment out of it lately. This album is super 90’s coded even being from 02. Some of the lyrics and voices are really cringe and give me 2000’s ick though. The production was awesome. This would bump if I was still in my parents basement in 2004 playing GTA 3. Remember His Name was pretty gas.

never think just for shits and giggles

Classic hip hop. Not really what I was looking for at the time

un 3. esta bueno pero no es mi estilo

Semmosta semi decciä demi secciä. Eipä täältä yhtään biisiä noussut mitenkään selkeästi ylitse muiden

Iha jees. Naurattaa kun toi yks jannu kuulostaa isohoolta.

Ok, we get it. You don't rap about guns. Congrats. Some good ones in here though. Not exactly sure why this band carried so much weight back in the day.

Quelle pochette nulle Oh la chanson de Jérôme Niel ! Je trouve ça assez monotone et ennuyeux What’s golden : pas mal N’empêche quand c’est du rap, surtout old school, même quand je suis pas fan de l’album comme là l’écoute reste sympathique, c’est vraiment mon genre de musique en fait 6/10

Sommige albums worden steeds beter als je het vaker luistert. Dit album vond ik elke keer minder worden. de eerste keer was ik wel enthousiast van de bass en de drums hard en de samples gladjes. De tweede keer ging ik iets meer naar de lyrica luisteren en dat was soms wel cringe. Vooral dat nummer over friendshipliefde klonk heel erg als de boodschap van kinderen voor kinderen. Ook vond ik soms de hooks met zn 5en een beetje cringe. Op zich de beats waren vaak wel leuk vooral op het slotnummer met die leipe fluitachtige sound. Als dat het hele album was mocht dit van mij hoger scoren

Prima, niks om te haten of van te houden. Het is redelijk vlak qua muziek en tekst. Zelfs voor 2002 voelt het een beetje achterhaald en niet echt vernieuwend. Hip hop is een van de weinige genres die nog altijd evolueert maar Jurassic 5 doet hier (bewust) niet aan mee. Het luistert makkelijk weg, fijne beats met leuke elementen en af en toe een fluit. Vier mc's is ook wel wat veel. Iedereen mag na elkaar even zijn zegje doen en komt dan beetje knullig over. Snap dat mensen er goed op gaan want het heeft wel een goede sfeer. Zelf zal het later niet nog een keer opzoeken.

Wat ik leuk vind in aan dit album zijn met name de breakbeat-drums, de instrumentals van t album zijn creatief en smaakvol met lekkere soul samples. Het collectief rappers zijn erg aan elkaar gewaagd al voel ik de ene wat meer dan de andere, iets wat opvalt is dat ze ritmisch erg sterk zijn, je hoort dat ze echt super strak op de beat zitten. Erg knap maar tegelijkertijd vind ik het ook vaak een beetje binnen de lijntjes, ik vind hip-hop pas echt leuk worden wanneer mijn vader het verschrikkelijk vindt, (al denk ik niet dat hij dit album gaat luisteren) Wat bij is gebleven zijn de lyrics: we’re humble, but don’t mistake us for a corny ass crew. Ik vind dat bij uitstek de meest corny lyrics van t hele album.

It’s just okay, I appreciate the vibe and continuity during the album.

Decent alternative hip hop album 3/5

Cool

maneirin

What a fun sounding group. Up beats and the deep voices are excellent.

Not normally the type of music I would listen to but it was ok

This sounded pretty interesting, very cool beats and flow. I enjoyed it. It was kinda fresh considering the year it was released.

Sounds good but nothing really jumped out.

Pretty good, tiny bit of jazz in here with hip hop

J5 is golden. I really enjoy this album. It would’ve benefited from some additional clipping, however. Clocking in at just under an hour, it would’ve been an even stronger effort if was 45 minutes.

Pretty decent 2000s boom bap, What's Golden is actually amazing though there's def some filler here

The album is pretty easy to listen to, but I struggle to find the substance that makes it such a recommendation. I'll put it to my own lack of education in the genre.

simple and quite unpolished, but that is actually what makes them stand out and sound great. it's a great hip-hop record overall, maybe just a little too long. tracks 13-16 could definitely be dropped and the album would've been better. especially with the casual homophobia in "One of Them" kinda ruining the whole album for me.

This was a pretty good listen. I really liked Acetate Prophets

Not bad but incredibly goofy. Best Song: Day at the Races Worst Song: What's Golden

There’s a few real standout tracks on this album (A Day At the Races is a personal fave) and the whole thing has an infectious, fun energy to it, but there’s also way too much chaff that they should have really cut. There’s a 30-40 minute version of this album you could do that’s so much tighter. It feels a bit formulaic, but it’s a formula I like so I can’t be too down on it.

I was initially thinking the old school boom bap sound was going to throw me off this album because the tracks were running together too much and I was really lacking something standout and different, but thankfully, the middle third or so starts to break it up with What’s Golden and Thin Line probably being what hit more for me there. The big trouble though, aside from a lot of it sounding similar to me outside of the peaks, is the album is just too long and feels spread thin for it - shortening it up, putting more into the tracks, get some more variance, it’d be bumped up. All in all though, it’s fairly good rap, it’s just not my cut as a child of the 00s sounds tbh.

This is better than other 90s rap groups I’ve had so far (Arrested Development, The Roots), but didn’t find this that compelling even so. It’s a decently put together hip-hop sound occasionally throwing in other influences, and since I wrote about Jesse Jackson for my PhD I’ll give it points for the references in ‘I am Somebody’. Overall though, I still found it quite bland. Fine and well made, but not one I’ll return to.

A very nice, ‘positive’ hip-hop album from the six members of Jurassic 5. It starts off especially strongly as the opening trio of ‘Freedom’, ‘If You Only Knew’ and ‘Break’ are some of the best tracks, with great grooves. ‘A Day at the Races’ is another highlight, quite nostalgic for me due to its inclusion in Tony Hawk’s Underground, while ‘What’s Golden’ is a great bass-heavy banger. The quality tails off in the second half, and it’s a bit too long, but ‘Thin Line’ (featuring Nelly Furtado), ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘I Am Somebody’ are worth highlighting. A strong 3 stars.

pretty neat

There really is some great stuff here. The rapping and flow on some of the tracks is some of the best I’ve heard. Many of the beats have a great groove to them. However some tracks are much more forgettable than others. The best tracks are A Day at the Races and I Am Somebody. The worst track is absolutely One of Them. Typically, I don’t let poorly aged material affect my reviews too much (thinking about it now, I may have been too lenient about that in the past), but One of Them is very homophobic and heavily implies that all of “Them” are like what is described. 3/5

Solid from start to finish but, by the same token, no single track leapt out at me as being anything more than solid.

I like this

i wanted to like this a lot more than i do but something is holding me back... it feels maybe just a bit too digestible? i think i sound crazy i was gonna save my rating for until i could sit down with it with more focus but i don't think it'd bump my score up or down if i did fave track: one of them

3 1/2 Stars: This album is tight. Excellent production, Solid rhymes. It sounds a little dated like rap at the dawn of the century sounded like, but it's still a helluva good time.

6/10 - favorite songs 'A Day At The Races' and 'Freedom'

Did not know this group, pretty good. Gave me Tribe-ish vibes but with more of a harder rap edge

I liked this

Fantastic album with several hit songs, old school rap. I love Thin Line and What's Golden.

I kinda liked it. Would be 4/5 but it was a bit uneven and had some weird homophobic lyrics.

Dobra płytka, tak brzmi rapik, ale poprzednie recki miałem za wysoko ocenione. 3/5 jest uczciwe, bo pewnie nie wrócę do tego albumu xd

Started to be a good listened, then seemed to forget where it was headed and settled into gimmicks.

lowk after school special a banger josh ur wrong i enjoyed ts and it did not get weird ur just schizophrenic 7.3/10

ok

Charlie 2 na- ah I tried to place his voice, nice tracks here - decent album

This is good, but it's also kind of bizarre inclusion. This album sounds like it was released like 10 years before it was. This came out the same year as the Eminem show and the blueprint part 2. It came out three years after Dr Dre's 2001, another album where production is one of the main draws released by someone based in LA. I find it hard to think of something as essential when it so thoroughly sounds older than it is. That doesn't make it a bad listen, it's just not and album you have to hear by any means.

I liked the listen, but didn't take notes.

I liked it, despite the fact that their style was dated even for the time it came out. The track featuring Nelly Furtado was a standout.

ce n'est pas un coup de coeur mais je trouve que c'est très bon album.

Yea okay

It is not for me, but is clear how this album ended on the list. Very good vocals and lyrics, also the beets are really nice

3.5-3.75 pretty cool

I like old school Hip Hop, but this was nothing special.3/5

a lot of the songs get pretty repetitive quickly but it's good fav song: Break

I found many of the tracks on this album impressive, despite not liking rap music generally. I found myself listening carefully to the instruments and sometimes would try to block out the vocals. In doing so, I often detected some really good tuneful compositions. Having so often reviewed rap albums as not actually music, this one I found to be very musical and engaging as a result . Still not keen on the actual rapping.

Early 2000s rap isn’t usually something I find myself listening to. This is probably one of the stronger albums of the era, but it didn’t really grab me. That said, there were enjoyable beats, good rhymes, and a positive message that I could easily get behind.

the production is fun, After School Special is fun but this felt longer than it needed to be

It was pretty good

classsic

🤙

I actually weirdly liked this album, and that's really weird for me. I thought the concept of the album was really interesting and the music was actually kind of nice to listen to. What I mainly like about this album is that it isn't like other forms of hip-hop which is just constant swearing that makes me feel uncomfortable, I was able to listen to this album normally. However, it's still a genre that I despise, but it gets a high 3.

Not a big fan of this style of rap, but enjoyed the album. The lyrics were more meaningful than other similar albums I have heard

Solid beats, solid bars, nothing that really blew me away. Similar to how I felt about EPMD’s album on this list, I think I would have enjoyed this album a lot more if I’d listened to it back when it came out.

Jurassic 5 is a Los Angeles rap group which I never heard of until now. I think they should have eliminated about three tracks from this album, it seems a bit lengthy. The album started and ended well but bogged down in the middle. ‘I am Somebody” has a Sly Stone vibe, which I enjoyed. Overall this is sort of an eclectic rap album, better than most of the ones I’ve heard.

I've heard of this band, but I don't know if that's because we had them on here already or because I've listened to them in my real life. [According to my records, I briefly listened to them in 2007 and 2007 only. Hm. Doesn't bode well.] You know what.... possibly I mind-melded them with T.Rex + Electric Six. Understandable mistake. I think my college friend Alex liked them though. Chill beats, sometimes like jazz. I'm glad they're on here because this is a little different from most of the 90s hip hop and modern rap. But I also don't think the lyric delivery is that compelling. Slur count = 25. Highlights: 'Break' (never heard a group rap before!), 'What's Golden', 'Sum of Us'

flow muito bom, salvei algumas músicas na minha playlist. linda participação da nelly furtado.

A really strong album with interesting music and meticulously thought-out production. I enjoyed it more than I expected, though it isn’t my favorite style of music. Favorite songs: Freedom, What’s Golden

stabil

essa capa ta mim lembrando spring breakers FAVS (top 3): if you only knew, remember his name, sum of us mençoes honrosas: a day at the races, after school special, high fideelity, hey, i am somebody no começo fiquei meio assim hmmm e dps percebi q é um album hiphop generico, nao sei onde ele merece a participaçao nessa lista pq acho q em 2002 ja existiam varios assim, mas pelo menos é bom ne, imagine se fosse ruim! nota final: 3.5/5

Pretty good

Really great beats and lyrics; a little repetitive towards the end for me tho

I might be more into hip hop than I expected, this was pretty good!

The start is strong but it’s a little long. I really like the style. Their best track is not on this album though: work it out (ft Dave Matthews).

00’s Hip Hop ⭐️What’s Golden

Det meste er faktisk ok, men alle de konstante gimmick-afbrydelser undervejs bliver bare lidt for irriterende.

*63 Solidt men forudsigeligt efter et par numre. Der var lidt for mange fillers til at komme højere op, men bundniveauet var alligevel ikke til en 2’er for mig.

Det her album skulle have lov til at vokse på mig hele vejen igennem - Og det er gjorde det faktisk også. Jeg er ikke sikker på, hvorfor et album som dette lander på en liste som denne. Det er fint, men der er (for mig at se) ikke noget banebrydende i lyden eller nogle store numre, som kan forklare det.

Good, but not great. Would have rather another De La or Tribe made it. Or RUN-DMC or Sugarhill Gang made it at all.

It has good beats and raps and thankfully it doesn't suffer from cringe skits or excessive misogyny that I can remember (I'm 5 or six albums behind in typing reviews so I don't remember too many of the lyrical topics). I can't remember any standout tracks or anything so I'm not sure if it's a repeat listen but definitely not bad.

"What's Golden" looks like the biggest hit. It's very catchy, but kind of a departure from what I like about the previous tracks. I do very much like an album with an intro track. That feels very 90s to me. More distracting to me than what I usually listen to while I'm working.

beats are sick

Its solid

Crazy flute work. I like this. It's that early 2000s rap and r&b sound that I really like. It's just vibes. I really do like that flute. I wish I had found this in India it would've been so good. The tracks go by very quickly. I like the spoken word vibe. The tracks transition very seamlessly. I’m ngl I have no idea what they’re saying or talking about. Just some bullshit ngl. Interesting ig. Nelly Furtado? Canada reference. Some of these are kind’ve just forgettable. They transition very well but because of that they blend together somewhat and become homogenous. Holy shit they’re really coming for this guy. I am somebody that’s so true. Favourite: Sum Of Us Least favourite: Break

Pretty acceptable hip hop, the vocals aren't too fast, however the album does feel a bit too long.

It’s a fun album, some decent beats, some clever lines. Reminiscent of Tribe Called Quest, just not nearly as tight. It may sound odd but there were moments on this album that had me think of MF Doom as well, with the sampling and lyrical style. This album could certainly benefited from some pairing down as it ran far too long and some of these songs didn’t age very well. I respect my fellow Canadian, Nelly Furtado but Thin Line fell flat for me had me rolling my eyes. Still, there was plenty on here that was entertaining. 3 stars

cooler sound stabiler rap nichts revolutionäres

Hold On To This Feelin' 1001 Albums Generator 254 (3/24/2026) A fine bit of hiphop that I have trouble justifying on this list. The production on some of these songs, especially Freedom, If You Only Knew, Break, A Day At The Races, and One Of Them is really interesting. The sound here is a mix of boom bap and jazz rap, and in a lot of ways it existed as kind of a summary of the sounds of the previous decade when it released. It's just too long and quite top-heavy. 3/5. Favs: Freedom Break A Day At The Races Least Fav: After School Special

3.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/jurassic-5/power-in-numbers/ Cannot deny the quality of this. Beats are cool, rapping is very solid, but at some point it becomes a bit too much of the same. Another victim of rap albums being too long, I guess.

2.8

Old school vibe. Listenable without being essential. A tad formulaic maybe with lyrics often not saying much. Stand out tracks for me were A Day At The Races, Remember His Name and After School Special. A (maybe harsh) 3 for me.

Good, but uneven. Some tracks are just filler, but when it's good, it's great.

I remember this being outstanding when I used to listen to Jurassic 5, but in the context of this list I feel like it is more middle of the pack.

Nice clean rap, rich melodies. I somehow missed this group, deserves further listening

This review will not be lyric oriented, although I did read a couple of the tracks. "This is gonna be like Psyche Origami but technically better because they probably are the original" I say to myself as I hear the intro, I was kind of right (it does sound a little bit like them). Freedom has these syncopated slices of the guitar sample that are nice and the kick is lovely like a big ham hock being dropped onto the top of an empty cardboard box that came from a refrigerator. The chorus is clever with using the sample to name the song. If You Only Knew has Fluuuuuute. Break really shows off the layered vocals. Love the instrumental interlude React, really reminds me of something that would be on Psyche Origami's Is Ellipsis, A Day At The Races also reminds me of them in some way, I'm not sure, maybe it's the bassline. Remember His Name starts off with the words: "I was sitting at the television feeling disturbed" and this kicks off quite the story, top tier lyricism. With What's Golden being the hit of the album the sound makes sense for it. Thin Line is sooooo good, I love the Nelly Furtado feature and my mom does too. The chorus made me tear up reading it. The clean cut slices of the melodic samples I assume are mostly assigned to cut-chemist. Production, lyricism, features all good.

6/10 – Decent

The J5 EP had me hooked from the start and Quality Control came out while I was still DJing in college so I was excited to listen to more than What's Golden from this but it wasn't that great. Did appreciate what was essentially a Cut Chemist track at the end, though. 3/5

I found this to be surprisingly entertaining.

Not quite rap, not exactly trip hop but something along this lines. Cool from someone I've never heard of, not sure how well I'll render it though

A fun but forgettable album.

Groovy but overlong

I’m kinda surprised an album which sounds almost exactly the same as other hip hop entries 10 years prior but a lil more cleaner entered this list. Like I liked it I just didn’t get anything outta it tho.

This is such an enjoyable hip-hop album with great production and sampling work that work really well together. There is nothing groundbreaking in this, but it works well.

Good, classic hip hop.

I liked Remember His Name and Thin Line. The other songs made less of an impression.

Definitely very vibey and for sure radiates the color orange

Ça manquait de dinosaures, rien à voir avec Jurassic Park

Pretty good and fun album.

I'm not typically a hip hop listener, but I feel like this album was really well done and I can appreciate it. It's not likely to turn me into a giant hip hop fan, but I'm happy to have heard it.

I really enjoyed the more caustic songs on this album - the harder beats and the more challenging topics. Some overly long tracks, and my favourite was If You Only Knew. Perhaps a 3 - just not quite enough there for me to fully relax and enjoy.

Didn't know what to expect but did enjoy this, pleasant hip hop

i’m just generally not a huge fan of the more classic hip-hop sound; however listening was never entirely unenjoyable and there was a few songs that hooked me. •standouts: if only you knew, thin line, one of them •honorable mentions: freedom, what’s golden •favorite: thin line

really solid hip-hop

solide hiphop album, niets baanbrekend kwestie van rap ofzo, gewoon, solid flow...

Craig: okay, not that special to me Courtney: good album, very cool vibes.

é legal de escutar gostei

A fun album.

Decent early 2000s hip-hop. I liked the voice of the baritone guy (Chali 2na) and started getting annoyed when anyone other than him was rapping.

Viel Nostalgie bi jackson 5. Jurassic Park isch immer min Lieblingsfilm gsi. Jurassic 3 Pünkt

When hip-hop first started to develop, much of the focus was on ensemble performances by groups like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and The Sugarhill Gang. These were party groups, MCs, focused on moving a dance floor. That lineage lost favor with more serious acts, either through the grittier one-MC-one-DJ combos from New York or through more hardcore groups such as NWA. I see Jurassic 5 as a natural extension of the early groups. Their sound relies of relentless interplay of multiple voices and personalities. The lyrics are more focused on creative wordplay rather than content. That is a completely valid way for artists to express themselves. In fact, I've always been impressed with how the Jurassic 5 MCs execute their creative vision. It's just not my thing. Most of the rap I like is solidly placed in the hip-hop golden age, East Coast, crate-digging, jazz-influenced, boom-bap. On Power In Numbers, J5 has effectively split the differences. The production is aggressive, even dark in places. I was pleasantly surprised by how moving and appealing the beats were. Lyrically, the group seems to have matured as well. The verbal delivery is masterful as always. Here's the thing. I don't like "nice guy" rap. That's not to say that I don't like rap from good people. I just don't want to be told directly how nice an artist is or how whack gangsta rap is. If you have a voice, just use it. I'll see your value from what you produce, not from your complaints or overt virtue signaling. This is where I run afoul of many "alternative" rappers. As good as this record sounds, and how expert the lyrical delivery is, J5 just doesn't seem to fit the more hardcore mold easily. It feels like an identity crisis. I mean, did I hear this right, or is "The Thin Line" a celebration of being in the friend zone? Contrast with the copious use of the "N-word" on "One of Them," and it feels awkward and rubs me the wrong way. This album sounds great, and these MCs still display their acrobatic delivery skills, but that's not enough for me to return to this record. Three stars.

2,9/5

Parts of it were great, parts of it were just good. At no point was it bad, so that's good.

I liked this album lot more than I thought I would!

Remember His name is masterful. Great sampling all around and above excellent flow from the rappers here. 9 is great aswell with the singing and rapping blend. Usually I'm afraid when I see long hip hop albums from the 90's early 2000's, but this one is extremely fun and passed really quick! Yeh, it's not the most revolutionary thing I've heard, but all elements work very good, even the sound collage in the end. Another very high three, that like the b-52s record from yesterday, probably deserved a 4.

Decent hip hop album

This was quite cool, chilled hip hop. A lot of the songs sounded pretty similar, so much so it felt like a continuous loop of music. Not a bad thing, but I didn't feel there were many stand out tracks. Enjoyable but overall a bit forgettable.

Although I am not a learned man when it comes to hip hop, West Coast Alternative is in the wheelhouse. Some fun samples and turntablism.

Conscious, positive rap…not bad. Has good bounce and flows to it, and lyrics can be uplifting. Gets a little derivative with 17 songs.

3/5

Never heard this before. Old-school hip-hop in an era dominated by commercialised "gangsta" rap. Better than most. Probably wouldn't relisten though. 3/5.

It’s ‘giving unc’ as the kids would say. Hate to break it to the boys, but you are in fact corny. Maybe if this came out in the late 80s like it sounds, it woulda meant something.

🙂

Good old school boom bap type beat rap, J5 show a good command of a early 2000's east cost rap album. However it's a bit flat, I really like the last instrumental track, but the rest is a bit all same the same

It was decent.

Well done, but not for me. The funky interstitials were cool

It's a fun vestige of old school hip-hop but listening to this record it makes sense why this style went the way of the dinosaurs. It becomes uninteresting and feels like you can hear rhymes like this on any highschool playground nowadays. One of them also feels very out of place in this record that makes a point to push positivity on other songs

I wasn’t really into this album. I feel like this style of rap should be in my wheelhouse but is just misses. It’s too laid back without being fun, flowing but not in a good way and just overall kind of boring. I don’t hate it like jazz but it’s nothing I would seek out.

I’m not a fan of hip-hop, but the rhythms and flow on this are really good. Still not my thing, but it was quite enjoyable.

I'm not the greatest fan of hip hop, but I respect the genre and recognise that this is a very good album. Overall I enjoyed the album, it's an easy listen and oozes cool. It's just not an album I would play on a regular basis. I can't think of a stand out track that gripped me, the vibe felt similar all the way through. 6/10 for me (3 stars on the app). Can't rate it low as the talent and production is undeniable, just not for me.

It’s good, but I’m unsure of whether or not I’d say this album is critical/influential. It’s a good example of the style and genre, but I don’t know if it’s a stand out. Could just be my lack of familiarity with the history/genre.

pleasantly surprised by my enjoyement :) top songs; thin line, freedom, if you only knew, what's golden

Some good Bush era socially conscious hip hop. Reminds me of the Key and Peele Old School sketch. But, it was decent and the one guy has a very cool voice.

Who doesn't love J5? This is a solid record - very reminiscent of early hip-hop, which is their whole schtick. That said, the schtick wears off after a while. A solid 6/10.

Great, if not slightly safe rap.. Opened doors to many artists in the future. In isolation this album is fairly middle of the road with some great tunes and nice rhythm/funk but far from incredible.

75

Sounds like something that would've been on an early Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtrack

I like the flow and beat of this album, and it's pretty good lyrically. However it's a bit repetitive and too long imo. "One of them" was also weirdly hateful for a pretty upbeat album.

Decent rap for the times

Some very coooooool sounding musics and flows like rivers, the hits were really good, the other songs were like not quite as good echoes. 3.7/5.0 Best Song: A Day At The Races

I don’t mind J5, but this album doesn’t do a lot for me. It’s a little bit too much on the conscious hiphop scale for me, overall it’s not a bad album, but I don’t think I’d reach to chuck it on.

Good flows and instrumentals. The tracks are interesting and fun to listen to.

favorites: tracks 1,3,8,9

On the face of it this should be right up my street. Hip hop was a massive part of my teenage/early 20s soundtrack, coinciding with the golden age of the late 80s to early 90s. On first listen, this feels contemporaneous with that era, and with the Roots & Mos Def’s late 90s evolution of that sound. And that’s how it goes as it starts off with; some great flows, familiar-but-not-familiar beats and samples, and a renaissance of b-boyism. So far so good, but after a few tracks something feels off. It’s not bad, but it feels like it’s all a bit too studied. It’s something I can’t shake as the album plays through, and then it dawns on me; the problem is that it’s just too cleverly done. There’s a layer of grit and grime missing from the beats. The rhymes are expertly done, but rely too much on throwbacks to a bygone era, and it begins to feel one-dimensional. It’s not bad and it’s certainly not cynical, but it does feel a little too parochial and reluctant to innovate which is reflected in the way it feels way too long despite only coming in at 56 minutes.

Unusually, I was not late to the party with J5. However, I kind of lost step with them before this album was released. I felt they were on an upward trajectory from their earliest material through Quality Control. I’m hearing Power In Numbers for the first time and either it now seems dated or like I suspect, it sounds like J5 treading water. It’s sad to have to put it this way but maybe “another great J5 album” isn’t good enough. I guess by this stage my personal view is and artist should be pushing things forward. Maybe since this was followed by a disappointing album and the group falling apart (not handling the loss of Cut Chemist well?) the writing may have been on the wall.

Not bad

It's fine. The old school style is cool and was probably a welcome break from all the gangster rap that was dominating hip hop at the time. There's some nice samples and songs which have a strong soul influence. For me though, although it's solid and good, it's also unremarkable without any clear stand out tracks.

Started strong — i liked the first few songs a lot but my interest flagged toward the end. I might re-listen to some of the songs.

Only really listened to half, wasn’t bad but just didn’t stand out to me.

Nelly furtado was here 👁️👁️

Not my genre or vibe but it's better towards the end of the album

Ga erg goed op Thin Line met Nelly Furtado

Maybe I should have listened to Jurassic 5.

i can see myself relistening to this. the variety of instruments and styles???? the transitions between each song????

Never liked Jurassic 5 much. Love boom bap production generally but feels too derivative with subpar rapping.

2026.01.06.

i likey!

flute on "if only you knew" is sick. love the addition of a lil' jazz instrument solo, really fits the jazz rip vibes. dancing, sunlit streets, community

Not a big rap/hip hop fan, but this album isn't afraid to try different things in terms of sampling and backing music. Kind of a psychedelic vibe throughout. The album unfortunately suffers the same fate as many other rap records in that it has a few too many songs on it and feels a bit overloaded.

Good but didn’t knock my socks off

3.5

I like my conscious rap with more rizz basically. Loved some of those flows but yeah, a little lacking for me. I'll probably revisit it with more context. 1 - i have negative feelings 2 - i have no feelings *3* - glad i heard it 4 - "oh i like that album!" 5 - in the rotation

Took a while to get used to but it ended up being pretty good. Nothing too special

Enjoyed the production a lot and feel like there were a few songs that stood out (if you only knew i reckon) but not sure i was captured by the whole thing? Couple too many rhymes that felt like reaching for a turn of phrase because someone thought to put paracetamol in the line before. Overall p fun though!

Big Day Out mentioned!! My rap/hip-hop education really started in 2015 when I was tasked with putting together a History-of-Hip-Hop event for the USSC. Julian lovingly pulled together a playlist for the event (which never got used because DJ TJA was on the decks all night) and I still listen to that playlist almost weekly to this day. “What’s Golden” is like a top 5 song off that playlist for me, so I was stoked to see this album pop up yesterday. It’s by far the best track on the album and while I enjoyed listening to it in situ, “Concrete Jungle” being the first autoplay track after the album finished cemented for me that I didn’t really love it on the whole.

This was good. There are some great great songs here (What’s Golden) and lots of other really fun, well produced songs throughout. There’s not really a dud in the bunch but it also hasn’t grabbed me as something I want to listen to over and over again. Like it’s solid.

Songs from this album were in pretty heavy rotation for me back in the day, so glad to hear it all in context of the album, which is overall solid.

Highlights: A Day at the Races, What's Golden

Enjoyed the ride but didn’t feel strongly about any songs.

Not an album I would normally listen to. I found a couple jems on here. I especially like the song with the flute and the one with Nelly Furtado.

Enjoyed the Ozomatli overlap. Chali 2na fan.

Good album with some great tracks. Always loved thin line and what's golden. First album is still better but J5 are good overall.

If I liked hip hop, I'd like this album alot. 24 hours on i can remember none of it

Yep, don't mind this, if a bit on the long side at 56 mins. There's little chance that I would consider listening again though. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★★★☆☆ (6/10)

Totalno ok i ništa više od toga.

these guys have a naaaasty flow 😮‍💨 not super practical for me but i enjoyed it faves/new discoveries: break, thin line, after school special album art: very cool i know diddy was jealous

Fun beats, nice flow

Not my style of music but sooo vibey

Some solid songs in this album.

Wow holy shit

Arranca increíble y después cae un poco en ideas poco originales. Pero gran sorpresa, la pasé muy piola escuchándolo. 6/10

Wasn’t really listening much- could re listen but from what I heard was just hip hop

Effortless lyrical flows over solid beats and samples. Keeps a good energy throughout the record.

First Listen; 3.5; This was a fun listen. Interesting and fun music and socially conscious lyrics.

This started off promising, it’s always refreshing to hear a hip hop album that’s not full of misogyny and ridiculous posturing. The novelty started to wear off though and it all began to blend in to one. Still, at least it’s listenable, it’s got that going for it

good beats, bit boring album, nice in general, 3.5

Love the beats, love the sound of the lyrics, not enough hooks for me. When the songs have solid hooks it's pretty great (What's Golden as the prime example). But too many don't have hooks. Came close to 4, but couldn't get there.

Some great tunes, and impressive lyrical gymnastics. Feels somewhat dated now.

Felt more Hip Hop than Rap. Enjoyable.

Ganske bra, sterk 3. Hadde jeg hørt dette rundt 2013 hadde det vært en favoritt 🙃

Sounds like an 80s album in 2000s

Nice and fun.

Not really my cup of tea, however it had some good hooks.

This is more OG rap with a slight War vibe. Likeable.

This was surprisingly good. With a rap/hip-hop album emblazoned with parental warnings, my expectations weren't high, but I enjoyed the crisp delivery, limited profanity and smooth interplay between the members as well as the guest artists.

Faixa favorita: Sum of Us Letra favorita: “I spit Molotovs, it's time to floss My verbal affirmation is to always go off!” - A Day at the Races Como me senti: pronta pra festinha, dançante Resumo geral: Um hip-hop coeso, cheio de flow, rimas e harmonia entre vozes. Soa como um grupo trabalhando em conjunto, cada um do seu jeito sem tirar o espaço do outro. Reação pessoal: Esse álbum é para mim um grande suco dos anos 2000. É alto, é rápido, cheio de ginga e malícia.

Необычная манера исполнения и голос одного из участников. Но биты неинтересные, поэтому ни одна песня не зацепила.

It's chill to listen to, although I didn't particularly connect with any songs per se. And the album was a tad too lengthy for me. But definitely not bad.

What style is this? Reggae + rap + drum jam band + Japanese shamisen ? I enjoyed the last track 'Acetate Prophets', but it left me oh so very confused as to pick a genre, any genre. Interesting covers here and there. Rap alternative? Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): Acetate Prophets, I Am Somebody ⭐⭐⭐: Liked it..but I am perplexed why

I really enjoyed this album, pretty upbeat and positive for a Hip-Hop album. Awesome!

This is pretty good. Definitely a good group of rappers. Didn't know them at all, so cool to be exposed to them.

Musically and rhythmically, Power In Numbers had been my favorite rap album on this project so far. The beats are good, the raps fast, there are some cool instruments and samples utilized; yeah, its got a lot going on! It's lyrically dense too, and I wish I had more time to sit and digest it. Favorite tracks were "Break," "High Fidelity," and "Acetate Prophets" This was a cool album and a pleasant surprise from a group I've never listened to before, although it's not totally my style. I really liked the instrumentals and breakdowns though. With more time and listens this would probably bump up to a 4 but for now it's a solid 3.5/5 from me.

Finally an album that makes me feel something

The early 2000's were the golden age of hip hop like this album that's right up my alley. Solid beats, great flows, thoughtful lyrics. Favorite track: What's Golden

much better beats than i was expecting from the west coast but the Christian and homophbic were a major turn off for me

Never knew this group and liked it enough to let play through. May need more listens to decide on adding to my playlist.

Meh está bien

Solid mid-90s rap album. Fantastic drums and samples. The flow is definitely an evolved version of the early 90s style while also having a few sections that are an homage to the early style. I loved "What's Golden" and "High Fidelity". One of the better rap albums I've ever listened to. 6/10 - the second half of the album was weak.

that was fun. i liked the beats. i wasn’t paying much attention tho tbh sorry to all five jurassics

I AM, i am, SOMEBODY, somebody

I just love their smooth flow. The songs all blended together, but not in a bad way.

🤷‍♂️ Ok! Nice

Pleasant alternative hip hop. I can get into it. Eventually. 3/5

Was a really nice listen, don’t think it’s going to stick with me but I loved a few songs, particularly “if you only knew” and “thin line”

Hip hop is not my usual genre but this was pretty enjoyable! Was more upbeat than a lot of what I've heard in the field.

I really liked the flow, and the way this album is more reminiscent of older hip-hop/rap. Most songs are uplifting and empowering. Would have been a 4/5 if not for "One of Them," which is just several minutes of blatant homophobia for no reason.

I like it