Straight Out the Jungle

Founding members of the Native Tongues family (which also included A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Black Sheep, L.O.N.S. and Queen Latifah among others), the Jungle Brothers were part of the first wave of "golden era" hip-hop coming out of New York in the late ‘80s. Armed with laid-back flows, imaginative production, and lyrics that fused proud Afrocentricity with a playful sense of humor, the trio of Afrika Baby Bam, Mike Gee, and DJ Sammy B dropped Straight Out the Jungle, their debut album, in 1988. They've managed to stay together (at least two of them) and release albums over the course of two decades, though their style changed dramatically, as they morphed into more of an electro-dance act. Nevertheless, this album remains outstanding, loaded with aging B-boy partystarters like "On the Run," "Because I Got It Like That," "I'll House You," and "Black Is Black" (featuring a young Q-Tip). Their follow-up records Done By The Forces of Nature and J. Beez Wit the Remedy are also impressive, but this one is arguably their finest hour.