After 'Raw Deluxe' Sammy B left the Jungle Brothers. Looking from the positive side when there is a break up, "There is nobody who gets outnumbered," Baby Bam says. And surprising with spin off's remix' of 'I'll House You', 'Because I got it like that' and the more recent remix' off 'Brain' and 'Jungle Brothers'. It sounds if our brothers who are trying to survive the jungle are at a crossroad where they can go two ways. One of the corny remixes tries to get on the mainstream bus. "I'm a young Jungle Brother, although I look kind of old." Or the other way successful processing to another level were they achieve to have a new sound that is still Jungle Brothers. Maintaining true to their core fans from back in the days and to a new generation of HipHop fans, which have their own sound in HipHop.

The remix of 'Because I Got It like That' is a well rounded single. "It got something for the pop radio audience and for the drum & bass fans who are pointing back to HipHop as their forefathers." Wow, we are getting old if a younger generation is already pointing to us as forefathers. Trying to reach a younger and wider audience the new version of old material is done tastefully according to Baby Bam. Remix' were done by Stereo MC's, Richie Rich, Freestylers and Aphrodite. Taking it to a higher level what wasn't done when they were on Warlock with their debut album 'Straight Out The Jungle'. Because the label was to small. Now they are on Gee Street. And Gee got a deal with V2. So this is the time to take it to a higher level according to the Jungle Brothers. Not worried by damaging their integrity as artists because they think the remix' are done tastefully by a record company whose ears are to the streets. And now what the 'right' sound is. When you read a quote of Baby Bam in the HipHop Connection of Feb. 1999: "It was the same thing with Herbie Hancock. For years and years he played acoustic piano, the purists hated him. But he made his biggest records for that new and younger audience. It's the same thing for every great artist. You can only be great if you go through something like that." You hold your breath, for what is coming. Herbie Hancock did something new. If great underground artists like Jungle Brothers redo their old classics with this way of thinking in mind, it looks they took the wrong turn. Hopefully the next thing that we will hear is some fresh, fat NEW shit.

With their album 'Raw Deluxe' it was nice to see they were back. But can they maintain? There was a big hiatus between the last album on Warner Brothers 'J Beez With The Remedy' (1993) and the latest album 'Raw Deluxe'. After the successful 'Straight Out The Jungle' the Jungle went to Warner. On the money tip working for a big company should pay off. The brothers thought. Well the second album 'Done By The Force Of Nature' was not as successful as expected and the third 'J Beez With The Remedy' flopped. When 'Raw Deluxe' came out they told ART.12: "We stick to that what we had to do as men." When talking about the mainstream hype now-a-days in HipHop, Jungle Brothers are not an act which will revenue big hyped sales. But they have good basic revenue by delivering quality stuff without the hype. "The European and Japanese fans are a lot more checking for quality and are not much interested in the hype stuff. In the States you really have to hype it up to receive some attention. But we ain't going for the fast stuff. It sells, sells, sells and then it is over. Nothing more left", says Mike G. So they are making music with their soul and heart. When performing, the audience has to be able to feel it. "If people feel it's real they can identify them self with the music you make. That ensures you that your music stays. And you survive in this industry", says Mike G. So what is the meaning of the title 'Raw Deluxe' again? Mike G.: "Raw Deluxe: Raw because we want to bring the essential back into HipHop. Raw because we didn't pack it in a commercial sound. Like you see with many others. And we have a big variety in styles. So that is Deluxe. Raw deluxe: The best in unpolished rawness."
Let's hope so.

AQ