Educated man, from the motherland
You see, they call me a star but that’s not what I am
I’m a jungle brother, a true blue brother
And I’ve been to many places you’ll never discover
Step to my side, suckers run and hide
Africa’s in the house, they get petrified
You want to know why, I’ll tell you why
Because they can’t stand the sight of the jungle eye
When I first heard the intro lyrics for Jungle Brothers ‘Straight out the jungle’ back in 1988, I was 15 and it blew my mind. I fell in love with the JBs practically instantly.
The debut album from 1988 is a Hip Hop classic – the JBs are legends in the rich and wonderful tapestry of Hip Hop history. The follow up album in 1989 ‘Done By The Forces of Nature’ is another firm favourite. I love the Native Tongues collective which also includes A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Black Sheep, De La Soul and Chi-Ali.
Over the years, I have continued to listen to Jungle Brothers and always retained mad love for them and never got an opportunity to see them live until now – it only took me 37 years. I guess all good things come to those that wait!
I have to confess I was so tired the day they were going to be doing their London show I almost sacked it off. I’m glad I didn’t because my friend and I had a brilliant time, they were amazing.
The Jazz Cafe in London is my favourite venue for going to gigs. They have so many awesome artists there and due to its size, it feels like you’re at a house party and you always manage to get a great view of the stage. Over the last few years I have seen Pete Rock & C.L Smooth, Jeru, Masta Ace, Souls of Mischief, The Allergies, DJ Krush and even Alexander O’Neal perform there.
Kicking off the night and getting the crowd warmed up was Mr Thing, one of my fave DJs. He always rocks a night and my earlier tiredness and stress from a busy day at work was slowly disappearing.
Around 9pm we saw DJ Yoda come onto the stage and I have to admit I whooped like a teenage girl ‘cos I love Yoda, to see him as the JBs show DJ was a proper Brucey bonus!
When Mike Gee and Afrika Baby Bam came onto the stage a few mins later, I turned into a proper fan girl. It was almost like I had been teleported back to 1988. I have to confess that thanks to being perimenopausal (never thought I would mention this in a Hip Hop blog – hahahaha!) that I now have a really crap memory and couldn’t even tell you what their first tracks were ‘cos I was in a daze as the work tiredness and brain fog were slowly being overridden by my 15 year old self screaming in my head with excitement “ROSIEEEEEEE… YOU’RE FINALLY SEEING THE JUNGLE BROTHERS. HAVE FUN, BUT REMEMBER YOUR KNEES ARE FUCKED FROM YEARS OF RAVING AND MARTIAL ARTS, SO DON’T DANCE TOO MUCH!!”
I took a sip of water and said to myself “I can do this. I’m a MOTHERFUCKIN’ HIP HOP OGGGGGGGG”.
And I ended up having one of the best 1hr 10 mins of my life as they rocked the crowd and brought non stop good vibes, banter and positivity.
So, the tracks that I did remember (not in order) were:
- Straight out the jungle
- Feelin’ Alright
- Because I got it like that
- What “U” Waitin’ “4”
- Jimbrowski
- Beyond this World
- Jungle Brother (True Blue). They performed the urban takeover remix version which I LOVE. It was worth knackering up my knees from jumping around
- I’ll House You
The atmosphere at Jazz Cafe was great, a friendly good vibes crowd. Lots of Hip Hop heads in their 40s and 50s, Mike Gee acknowledged this and made a joke they could see from the IDs there were 60s, 70s and 80s babies in the crowd and I was thinking “FUCK YEAH!”. I’m so glad I was around to experience Hip Hop in my teens back in the 80s, It still makes my mind boggle that so many of my fave Hip Hop artists are only a few years older than me and they were killing it back in the 80s and 90s, some of them still are. Hip Hop was the soundtrack to my unhappy childhood and it’s been the soundtrack to all my decades and thankfully now in much happier times. I will always be an 80s and 90s Hip Hop fan, those years were pivotal in contributing to who I am today and what I stand for.
On my way home as I was waiting for the train I bumped into an ex work colleague who asked me if I enjoyed the show. We hadn’t seen each other for years so we were chatting non stop and his son asked him if he knew me and how did we meet. I told his son I used to work with his dad, we would be blasting out Hip Hop in the office and have sound clashes. We also ended up talking to some other people on the platform who had overheard us and they had also just been at the Jazz Cafe and they were also buzzing and loved the show.
Thank you Mike Gee, Afrika Baby Bam and DJ Yoda for making what was a really shit and stressful day at work, end on a brilliant high note.
This is the power of music, Hip Hop and positivity. I’ve connected with people and made many friends over the years through our mutual love of Hip Hop.
One love and big love.
Always.
beatsandbass 