Can't believe this song is 10 years old. It was the first time I heard J5 and it introduced me to the underground scene in L.A. Since it's West Coast Wednesday, indulge me for a bit on one of my city's last great groups.
Believe it or not, this song got play on Power 106 and its video got plenty of play on BET and MTV's hip hop shows. If y'all remember The Box, I remember watching the video there a few times as well.
2000 was the year L.A. had a great scene of underground artists. Besides J5, Dilated Peoples dropped their debut and Black Eyed Peas' 2nd album had me thinking they'd get a chance to blow up. Never would've guessed that BEP would be where they are now, J5 would be non existent and Dilated is the only group carrying the torch from that era.
Hearing this reminds me of the lack of groups we have in hip hop today. The chemistry that Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir and Marc 7even had in the song where they dropped great verse after verse is almost unheard of now. Not to mention having two DJ's do their work like Nu Mark and Cut Chemist.
I love the creativity in the video - especially that kid laughing his butt off and spilling his ice cream. Akil's first verse about the power of words is still one of my favorites (not surprised, right?) and I always laugh because I got Chali 2na mixed up with Terrence Howard back then.
Enjoy y'all
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