Last night (February 7) in New York City, longtime rap veterans the Jungle Brothers performed with all three original members for the first time in years at SOB’s. Billed as both a Jungle Brothers show and Native Tongue reunion, the announcement of the show had fans of the rap collective salivating at a chance to witness Hip-Hop history. Mike G of the JBs spoke glowingly of initiating the concert and reforming the crew. However, one member of Native Tongue was none too thrilled by their inclusion on the bill.
In an exclusive sit-down with HipHopDX, Mike G spoke about the development of the show and why getting the Brothers back on the scene was important to him.
“They wanted to pay homage to us in a certain extent and represent one time for New York because we haven’t performed in New York for such a long time,” said Mike G. “We just had wanted to hook up an official Jungle Brothers show and hopefully get some of the other guys to come and that’s really what it is.”
Mike G promoted Native Tongue and the crew’s legacy often in the interview. On the bill for the show, it featured “special invited guests A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Black Sheep and Monie Love of the Native Tongues” along with long-split crew Leaders Of The New School. It appears, however, that Mike G and the Jungle Brothers may have overstepped their boundaries by placing the names on the flyer.
Monie Love tweeted last night regarding the news of the show, and it appears the JBs or the show’s promoters never extended an invite to any of the Native Tongue crewmembers. “Pos(one of the founders) absent/Dove..Absent…..Q Tip(another Founder)Absent…Latifah…Absent.Monie..Absent Phife Absent,” tweeted the rapper and media personality to her manager. Monie Love followed that tweet with, “Lol that’s like me promoting special invited guest Queen Latifah knowing damn well I ain’t reachout to her. Hell….why stop there ……?”
Perhaps the Native Tongues aren’t officially reinstated as we hoped?
