A 15-minute renaissance with Jurassic 5

It's Fri., Oct. 13, and Jurassic 5's Chali 2na is nursing a bottle of ginger beer in an attempt to regain his deep baritone after a cold has rendered him hoarse. In a couple of hours 2na will laugh off his sore throat and take the stage at Toad's. In the meantime, this affable MC sets aside a chunk of his time to talk with the Herald outside the club.

Yale Herald: There are themes that come up in a lot of your songs: some of you don't drink, you talk about positivity, and you talk about humility. Is there a message that Jurassic 5 sets out to convey?

COURTESY WWW.PLINKO.COM J5's Chali 2na founds another civilization.

Chali 2na: You already said it: positivity and humility. These are things that are the foundations of all of our characters. So the overall message from us is not necessarily a message more than it's a vibe—because I could tell you my beliefs and my stance on life, and then [another Jurassic 5 MC] could tell you something that would be different. It's more a vibe that you catch, a positive vibe that makes you feel good, that makes you want to party with us, that makes you feel not alienated from us like some kind of glass wall between me and you.

YH: How does your sound come together?

2NA: By accident.

YH: What comes first—the beats or the rhymes? Does it happen live or in the studio?

2na: There's really no set way that we do our thing. Some of the songs have come about by a verse being written first. Like say "Jurass Finish First" [from Quality Control]. I was on tour with Ozomatli, and I wrote the first verse and I thought, "My God, this would be an incredible song." But we didn't have the music or nothing. Then later, that verse inspired the music and the rest of the song. Sometimes Akil will have a chorus. Sometimes we'll all sit down together and write.

YH: This summer you played shows with Fiona Apple and the Warped Tour. How does it feel to play to such diverse audiences?

2na: I feel like a missionary, man. You know what I mean? Like going to some island that ain't never seen "civilization." You know, it's cool to be able to show and talk to people who ain't necessarily into what you're doing at first—then you show it to them and they like it...On the Warped Tour, there were some times where kids did not accept us—you know, throwing bottles. But we took it from the stage to the booth, and we won them over. It's a beautiful thing.

YH: Are there certain records that have been important to you?

2na: Anything by Bob Marley, man. And Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. That whole album was really influential in me loving music and appreciating it, because I really got into instrumentation, although I'm not really a trained musician. Anything by Earth, Wind, and Fire, cat—these are things that my Mom [listened to]. Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac.

YH: What's it like to play shows where most of the people are white college kids?

2na: Our music appeals to white college kids, man. I mean, it's a frustrating thing in the sense that you want gratification from your people too. But it's a double-edged sword—because you want your music to reach everyone. I never thought that even anyone would like what I'm doing—so I can't complain. I'm definitely happy that anybody would like this shit, and I'm definitely grateful. My mission, though, is to infiltrate the neighborhoods where Jay-Z and Dr. Dre catch on. It's like, the gangstas had their fifteen minutes, the blingers had theirs, and I want our fifteen minutes—you know, Jurassic 5, Dilated [Peoples], Talib Kweli; that renaissance.

YH: It seems like you guys are knocking on the door.

2na: Yeah, exactly—it's like, "let me in!" It's definitely excitement, just to be able to live our dream, man. I'll tell you right now: if this shit is over today, we've done so much that the average person who dreams about this shit would love to do. I mean, man, one of my fantasies when I was in high school was to rock in front of a crowd of 10 or 12 thousand people and then just put my foot on the monitor and bust a verse. Well I got that! I've been waiting for that moment for so long—and I got that shit. We were in England, and I'd never seen so many people in my life. And it was bliss—I was like, "Oh my god, I did it!" I was blown away. I can't complain about that.

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