Chali 2na

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Chali 2na (born Charles Stewart in Chicago, Illinois, in 1971) is an MC for the hip-hop group Jurassic 5. His deep voice is one of the most recognizable in all of hip-hop. He moved to South Central Los Angeles, the home base of Jurassic 5 since the group's inception in 1995, at a young age, and was raised by his grandmother. His stage name is a reference to Charlie the Tuna, the deep-voiced animated mascot of Starkist.

He and Cut Chemist became friends in high school. Teamed with Mark 7even, they were part of a seven-man group called Unity Committee (the other members- Kermit, Metalogik, Lonjevity and Jahli- later formed a group called Darkleaf, to which Cut Chemist routinely pays homage.) The Unity Committee crew would often spend Thursday nights performing at The Good Life Café, a vibrant L.A. institution where rappers and spoken word poets showed off their skills in an open mic format. They were, along with another three-person troupe called the Rebels of Rhythm, routinely chosen as the crowd's favourite performers. The two crews also appreciated one another's styles, and they teamed to record a 12" single, "Unified Rebelution", in 1995. The Rebels of Rhythm were MCs Akil and Zaakir (aka Soup) and DJ Nu-Mark; the six men banded together to form Jurassic 5. In 2006, Cut Chemist elected to split from the group to pursue a solo career.

He is a founding member of the racially integrated activist salsa funk band Ozomatli; although no longer an official member (having been replaced as resident MC by Dabu of 4th Avenue Jones), he continues to collaborate with them on occasion and maintains his friendships with them. Along with salsa, his music and theirs have been influenced by reggae and soul music; he is also a fan of house music.

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[edit] Religious and political perspective

2na is a pluralist in regard to religion. Like all three of his fellow Jurassic 5 MCs, he is a devout Sunni Muslim, and frequently extols belief in God as a saviour from deceit. In the portion of the liner notes allotted to him on Jurassic 5 album sleeves, he invariably begins his list of acknowledgments with the shahadah.

A vocal critic of George W. Bush's presidential administration, especially in regard to the War in Iraq, he has made comments in interviews suspecting that Bush's incentive for war had largely to do with a lust for cheap crude oil, and that the Bush Administration is under the influence of Freemasonry. He has also accused the Bush Administration of warmongering, and criticized what he perceives as President Bush's vigilantist desire to exact revenge on Saddam Hussein for plotting to assassinate Bush's father, George H.W. Bush. He is a vocal admirer of Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael and Jamil Al-Amin. On a track called "Coming War", recorded with Ozomatli, he details a list of concerns about government malfeasance, including the manufacture of chemical and biological weapons, and the sanctioning of drug trafficking and drug addiction as a means to keep inner-city populations suffering. Another verse in this vein was that which he contributed to "Frgt/10", a Linkin Park track off of the band's Reanimation project, which remixed Hybrid Theory songs to feature other artists.

A certain moralism is latent in a number of verses he has composed. His verse on "Contribution", a downbeat track wherein Jurassic 5 express concern for the struggles of urban families, is devoted to a deftly rhymed, sincerely felt sermon on the perils of "latchkey kids" and irresponsible parenting, ending in a plea for fathers to spend time with their children. According to interviews, his upcoming album features a song entitled "The Righteous Way", where he further explores this verse's themes.

On "Gotta Understand", a track from Jurassic 5's 2006 album Feedback, 2na expresses the belief that women and men belong together (that "every queen needs a king with her"), and that he disagrees with the decision by some women to deliberately elude loving, monogamous, heterosexual relationships. He prefaces this remark with a disclaimer ("Please understand it's not to offend or seem bitter...")

[edit] Near-death experience

In 2000, while heading to Nashville, Tennessee as a stop on the Warped Tour, Jurassic 5 were involved in a tour bus crash whereupon the driver fell asleep at the wheel and sent the vehicle careening off into a six-foot ditch. Chali 2na and two of his colleagues were injured and hospitalized, with 2na sustaining the gravest injuries. He was treated for a fractured skull, and as a result, a titanium plate was implanted into his head. 2na has stated that survival of this near-death experience has made him more conscious of his religion.

[edit] Collaborations ("J5's Ambassador")

Chali 2na has become something of an ambassador for Jurassic 5 to the hip-hop community at large, because of his propensity for collaborations with other MCs. Many (but not all) of his featured guest appearances are catalogued on Welcome to the Fish Market, a mixtape he released in 2004.

He is a good friend of, and frequent collaborator with, the senior British hip hop star Roots Manuva, having worked with him as a tag team on a number of songs (including "Revolution 9", which appears on Welcome to the Fish Market and Dub Come Save Me, and "Join The Dots", which appears on Roots Manuva's second proper album, Run Come Save Me). He has also referenced his friend in rhyme.

[edit] Solo album (Fish Outta Water)

Welcome to the Fish Market was compiled and released in order to whet 2na's listeners' appetites for a solo album, tentatively titled Fish Outta Water, whose release date has been pushed back several times but which is apparently due for release in Spring 2006. On the album, 2na will reputedly delve into some of the formative experiences that have molded and affected his nature, including an unspecified tragic incident that occurred when he was eight years old. Prospective collaborators include Beenie Man (with whom he recorded the single "International"), Raphael Saadiq, and his longtime friend Rakaa Iriscience (frontman of Dilated Peoples, another Los Angeles-based group with whom Jurassic 5 has consistently allied itself.)

"Don't Stop", the would-be first single off Fish Outta Water, appeared in January 2006. It showcased 2na's familiar rapid-fire flow; in its lyrics, 2na professed his unwavering dedication to hip-hop culture, insulting rappers who neglect to pay proper respect to pioneers like Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. He also spoke deferentially of the beloved fallen gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur, perhaps in response to the occasional criticism of Jurassic 5 and other like-minded "true-school" troupes by those who feel that their "conscious" moralizing can become as stagnant in its orthodoxy as thug-rap clichés can (2na's awareness of this notion is corroborated by his disclaimer on "Gotta Understand". The song's chorus was sung by neo-soul artist Anthony Hamilton. It was featured in the soundtrack of the videogame NBA Live 06. A second Chali 2na solo song, "The Anchor Man", is to be featured on the Dan The Automator-curated soundtrack to the latest installment in the game series, NBA 2K7.

[edit] Partial list of noteworthy collaborations

  • Three separate tracks with different members of the onetime Pharcyde (who, like Jurassic 5, got their start at the Good Life Café): "Hard Times" (performed with the remaining members of the Pharcyde after the departure of Fatlip, included on the 2003 complilation NVA: Straight from the Crate, Vol. 1); "Follow I'll Lead" on Tré Hardson's 2002 album, Liberation; and "Today's Your Day (Whachagonedu?)" on Fatlip's 2005 album The Loneliest Punk
  • Several performances with Supernatural, an LA MC famous for his prodigious freestyle talent, and beatboxer and LA radio personality Click the Supa Latin, including "Work It Out"
  • "Chicagorillas", on which he highlights emerging Chicago-area talent, including his brother Laidlaw
  • Appearances with Akil on one track off of each of the two LPs by the UK's DJ Format ("We Know Something (You Don't Know)" in 2003 and "The Place" in 2006)
  • Freestyles with various LA underground MCs (including Phil Da Agony, Defari, Self Scientific, Dilated Peoples, Son Doobie of Funkdoobiest, and Cali Agents) at the behest of DJ Babu, Click the Supa Latin, or Sway & Tech's Wake Up Show radio program
  • "Faster Than You Know" with the Spooks
  • "God Bless" with LMNO (the track in which he references Roots Manuva)
  • "The Sweet Science" with Racso of Cali Agents, in which the two employ a boxing motif
  • "Wanna-Beez" with former LA magazine editor T-Love
  • "2Night" with Breez Evahflowin (on which he is referred to as a "special guest")
  • "Full Contact" with Swollen Members, also featuring Evidence of Dilated Peoples
  • "International" with Beenie Man (a single from Fish Outta Water)
  • "That's What I Got" with the Brazilian rapper Marcelo D2 from his 2006 LP Meu Samba é Assim, also featuring Cut Chemist
  • One track on each of the two albums by the UK's DJ Format ("We Know Something (You Don't Know)" & "The Place"), both also featuring Akil
  • "Funky For You" on Return From Mecca, the 2006 'comeback' album from the remodeled X-Clan
  • 2na is confirmed to have been requested to appear on the legendary Percee-P's first official album release in his 27 years as a rapper.
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