he Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop group, and founding members of the Native Tongues collective. The Jungle Brothers pioneered the fusion of jazz and hip-hop and also became the first hip-hop group to use a house-music producer.



The group began performing in the mid-1980s and released its first album, Straight Out the Jungle, in July 1988. With Afrocentric lyrics and innovative beats, the Jungle Brothers were critically acclaimed and soon joined the influential Native Tongues collective. The original trio comprised Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Sammy B left the group after the release of Raw Deluxe in May 1997.

Their first album, Straight Out the Jungle, was released on an independent record label (Warlock). Soon after they were signed by Warner Bros. Records, with whom the group released Done By the Forces of Nature in November 1989. In 1990, the Jungle Brothers contributed the song “I Get a Kick” to the Cole Porter tribute album “Red Hot + Blue” produced by the Red Hot Organization. Following a four-year break, the Jungle Brothers returned in 1993 with J Beez Wit the Remedy.

The Jungle Brothers involved themselves with an emerging Hip Hop organization called Ill Crew Universal (ICU) which released worldwide compilation albums and supported independent Hip Hop artists. Their fifth album, V.I.P. was produced by Alex Gifford of Propellerheads and, during production, they added their vocal stylings to the Propellerheads tracks “Take California (And Party)” and “You Want It Back”. Their latest album to contain new releases is 2002’s All That We Do.

In 2001, their song “What’s the Five 0” was featured in the music video game Frequency.

In 2004, the Jungle Brothers joined with British producer Mr On to produce “Breathe (Don’t Stop)”, a version of “Breathe and Stop” by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, combined with a sample of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (the idea was taken from a bootleg remix combining vocals from “Breathe and Stop” and music from “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”).

In 2005, the Jungle Brothers released a greatest hits and classic remixes and rarities double album, This Is…, which included remixes by The Wiseguys Urban Takeover, Natural Born Chillers, and Stereo MCs.

• Jazz
• Dance
• Rap & Hip Hop