Interview: Jeremiah Jae And Oliver The 2nd: 'Take It Back To The Essence'

Jeremiah Jae and Oliver the 2nd are cousins who grew up in Chicago and Los Angeles, respectively. Already from a musical family — Oliver's father, Phil Perry, is a smooth jazz R&B singer and Jeremiah's played keys with Miles Davis and produced a few of his records — they have formed Black Jungle Squad, a collective of relatives and close friends. "Taking it back to the days when there was a lot more crews in hip-hop," says Jeremiah. "Like Native Tongues or Boogie Down Productions. Just the vibe of different people coming together and making stuff."

Last year the two of them made made a conceptual mixtape called RawHyde. This spring Jeremiah produced Oliver's first solo project, called The Kill Off. The next project from the crew, nominally Jeremiah's, builds from another iconic TV show — Good Times. It's a lot of work, but they don't plan to slow down any time soon. When asked what the end goal is, Jeremiah says "If I could just keep doing this 50 years later." "Keep doing this and, more importantly, keep control of this," adds Oliver. "That's the measure of success to me: it's when we substantiate ourselves."--FRANNIE KELLEY

Producers: Mito Habe-Evans, Frannie Kelley, Ali Shaheed Muhammed; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Olivia Merrion, A.J. Wilhelm; Editor: Olivia Merrion; Special Thanks: Friends & Neighbors, Cedric Shine; Executive Producer: Anya Grundmann.