Straight Out the Jungle, Mike Gee (born Michael Small; Harlem, NY), DJ Sammy B (born Sammy Burwell; Harlem, NY), and Baby Bam (born Nathaniel Hall; Brooklyn, NY) came together as the Jungle Brothers in the mid-'80s and began their recording career at the dance label Idler. The result of the sessions, Straight Out the Jungle, was released in early 1988. The album's Afrocentric slant gained the Jungle Brothers entry into the Native Tongue Posse, a loose collective formed by hip-hop legend Afrikaa Bambaataa, including Queen Latifah (and, later, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest). The album's most far-out cut was "I'll House You," a collaboration with house producer Todd Terry and an early experiment in what later became known as hip-house. The single "I'll House You," added to the album in 1989, is known for being the first hip-house record recorded outside of the Chicago scene, which was a club hit that drastically changed the way the hip-hop and dance-music industries worked. Their first album, Straight Out the Jungle, was released on an independent record label (Warlock). In spite of the commercial failure of Straight Out the Jungle, Warner Bros. Records soon signed the group and released Done By the Forces of Nature in November 1989. The album was a critical smash at the time, though it has since been largely ignored by hip-hop critics in favor of the similarly acclaimed alternative hip-hop album 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul, released the same year. Read more about the Jungle Brothers here.
The Jungle Brothers' Straight Out the Jungle Album Anniversary
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