1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 657. Jungle Brothers – Done By The Forces Of Nature (1989)

 

The “1089 Albums” list that I’m using has (as far as possible) arranged the albums in chronological order, so I don’t think they’re necessarily the same as they are in the book. This seems to have resulted in chunks of similar genre music, like a badly mixed Cup-A-Soup. Some alt-rock earlier, how another hip-hop album follows Queen Latifah. And actually the Queen features on this, along with some of her collaborators - Monie Love, Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest)  and De La Soul, so it feels like a continuation. 

It’s of the lighter side of hip-hop,as you might be able to tell from the people above. Good Newz Comin’ is an instrumental (unusual for a genre that is partly defined by the vocal style) that blends Afro-beat drums and a wandering South African guitar style (which I can’t find a name for, but it must have one) with the opening chant from Hooked On A Feelin’ by Blue Swede (You know the one - “Ooga chaka ooga ooga chaka etc.”. Which depending on your age will make you think of Dancing Baby / Ally McBeal or Guardians of the Galaxy).  

But often the tracks are a celebration of African heritage. Acknowledge You Own History is a cry for black history to be recognised - “The only history we make is if we kill somebody” and “All you read about is slavery, never 'bout the Black man's bravery”. You’re not even allowed to read about that in some places these days, in case it’s embarrassing to Dear Leader. Soul II Soul’s Carno Wheeler features on Black Woman - “You are the future, you are the wisdom, the wisdom that the evil forces tried to hide”. This stands in some contrast to Belly Dancin’ Dina about a genie-like fantasy woman who disappears just when the narrator is about to finally get to touch her, leaving just a whiff of perfume and a whispered promise - “The hips did dips, so I did flips, the pucker of her lips could sink battleships”.  

Coming on the back of Queen Latifah it felt like more of the same, which it is albeit from a slightly different angle, and that respect it reminded me of some of the “yet another psychedelia album” from the late Sixties. What it does show, however, is the growing interconnected network of hip-hop artists, and yet another showcase for the notion of "black identity" based on African roots. Which we all have, but for some of us our ancestors were forcibly moved more recently than others - mine escaped religious persecution in the 13th Century, not sold as slaves in the 18th for example.