All That We Do

Album Review

Fifteen years after they formed, barnstorming hip-hop mainstays Jungle Brothers kept struggling for a degree of respect and recognition, releasing their third straight album for a different label (this one is basically self-released). For a producer, the duo made an odd choice: veteran house legend Todd Terry, who had rarely worked in hip-hop before but boasted a long pedigree in New York's club scene (he'd also produced the Jungle Brothers' club crossover "I'll House You" more than a dozen years earlier). Except for a few odd tracks where Terry and the JBs attempt to duplicate the pimp roll of the Dirty South, his broad talents are a perfect fit for the rangy JBs, who move easily from smooth, summer-day soul ("Candy") to stark electro-bass ("You in My Hut Now," "What's the Five O") to energetic old-school party music ("Do Your Thing," "Buggin'"). The raps and tracks rarely vary, but Mike G and Afrika's sexed-up tales are hilarious and display a Neptunes-style weirdness that puts them right back into the hip-hop mainstream.