The boys are back in business

The best writers have the ability to make ordinary events into extraordinary experiences simply by going beneath the surface and describing the events in a way that isn’t what traditionally comes to mind. Jurassic 5’s new track, their first in a decade, “Customer Service” demonstrates that the legendary rap super group hasn’t lost their touch and are still some of the realest emcees and most creative writers in the game. “Customer Service” is a classic 90’s/early 00’s narrative rap, focused around the story of trying to return a pair of shoes after being sold two left shoes. A seemingly trivial theme, it seems, but what seems is not always what is. Backed up by instrumental samples of Edwin Birdsong’s 1971 bass-heavy experimental funk track “The Spirit of Do Do,” emcees Chali 2na, Akil, Soup aka Daakir, and Marc 7 manage to make returning a pair of shoes an anthem about disdain for authority and old school aggression and toughness.

Not hiding from the fact that they are no longer exactly young bucks, Jurassic 5 also mention being married and having responsibilities to support their families, a sign of the group’s intention to not try to live in the past, being who they were fifteen years ago, but to create real, original, relevant raps that reflect their current moment. While their lyrical content has been brought to the present, the group has left their signature vocal delivery and simple instrumental styles intact, much to our delight. Iconic flows that unleashed a barrage of verbal assaults are abundant in this timeless crew. Welcome back, Jurassic 5, you’ve been missed.