Album Review: Feedback by Jurassic 5

P.O.S. :: Chill, dummyDoomtree RecordsAuthor: Patrick TaylorI've been a fan of Stefon "P.O.S." Alexander since his debut nearly 10 years ago. On "Audition" and 2009's "Never Better," he proved himself to be one of the few artists who could successfully meld punk rock and hip-hop. Fellow Minnesotans ….

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Leading up to the release of Feedback, Jurassic 5 rapper Soup distanced his group from the rap underground that had embraced his music, but apparently had not paid enough of his bills. "It's a step up for us because we have been basically known as an underground group.... We've been known as a backpacker group." Indeed, after years of bringing their live show to thousands of scattered festival-goers (Lollapalooza, Warped, Bonnaroo, Reading), the group reached for the same type of commercialized sweet spot that had made Black Eyed Peas one of the hottest things in rap during the mid-2000s.

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With the departure of turntablist Cut Chemist, Jurassic 5 really are five, and remaining DJ Nu-Mark has made himself even busier by co-producing Feedback and concocting the beautiful carnival instrumental Canto de Ossanha. As for MCs Akil, Chali 2na, Mark7 and Zaakir (formerly Soup), they have their work cut out reclaiming their socially aware territory, after taking four years to release this follow-up to the Power in Numbers album. They take listeners through their entire history on Radio, sternly pointing out that they "set our rhymes to the beat right, but we never indulged in the streetlife".

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