Jurassic 5's roots lie in the L.A. Underground, a hip-hop movement centered around The Good Life Caf'pen-mic space in the heart of South Central Los Angeles' old jazz district, where dozens of MCs and DJs would congregate regularly to perform. During its most prolific period (1991-1994), the L.A. Underground was a Mecca of musical innovation, spawning groups like The Pharcyde and Freestyle Fellowship; more importantly, the movement encouraged its artists to constantly balance progressive styles and good music - an idea that still resonates with J5, the most successful group to emerge from that scene.

Jurassic 5 formed in 1993 as the union between two separate hip-hop groups, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee, both frequent participants at The Good Life. The two groups came together to release a spontaneous, one-off single, ""Unified Rebelution,"" which made a deep impression with true hip-hop heads everywhere. Its success emphasized the chemistry each of the artists had with one another and they decided to form Jurassic 5 as a singular musical unit.

The rest is well documented. Their self-titled EP was released in 1997 on the group's own independent imprint, selling tens of thousands of copies around the world. Signed to Interscope Records shortly thereafter, with a re-release of their EP, J5 found themselves mentioned in the same breath as groups like The Roots, De La Soul, Mos Def and Talib Kweli - artists who served as an important and welcomed counterpoint to the prevailing standards of hip-hop music.

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