Why I Reacted To This Album
Jurassic 5 have a reputation as one of those groups people point to when they say they “don’t really like hip-hop, but…” Quality Control is the album that earns that reputation, so it was worth revisiting properly.
The Video
About This Album
Quality Control is the second studio album by American alternative hip hop group Jurassic 5, released on June 6, 2000, by Interscope Records. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 77 based on 17 reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews.” In 2015, it was included in Paste’s list of “10 Hip-Hop Albums for People Who Don’t Like Hip-Hop.”
First Impressions
The multi-MC trade-offs and DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist’s scratch work make it obvious from the jump that this is a group built around old-school fundamentals done at a very high level.
My Reaction
Quality Control holds up as a showcase of pure rap craft: six voices trading bars with real chemistry over turntablism-driven production that never feels dated. It’s an easy album to recommend to people who think they’re not into hip-hop, because the focus is squarely on musicianship and wordplay rather than anything trend-chasing.
Rating
81/100