Naughty by Nature
is a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop group that at the time of its formation in 1989 consisted of Treach, Vin Rock, and the DJ Kay Gee. The group formed in East Orange, New Jersey [1] (colloquially referred to as "Illtown" in the 1980s). The group first appeared on the music scene in 1989 releasing an album called Independent Leaders
under their then name the New Style. The album generated the minor hit "Scuffin' Those Knees". After the release of their first album, the group was mentored by fellow New Jersey native Queen Latifah, [2] and subsequently changed its name.
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NAUGHTY BY NATURE TICKETS
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History
Their first hit as Naughty by Nature was a track called "
O.P.P.", which sampled the
Jackson 5's hit "
ABC" and was released in 1991 on their self-titled album
Naughty by Nature
. The song peaked at #6 on the
Billboard Hot 100 [3], making it one of the most successful rap songs in history to that point in terms of crossover success on the pop charts. The song also has become well known in pop culture, being mentioned in TV shows and films such as
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
,
Malibu's Most Wanted
,
Monk
, and
The Office
. "O.P.P." also gained critical acclaim, being named one of the top 100 rap singles of all time in 1998 by
The Source
magazine
[4], and being ranked the 20th best single of the 90s by
Spin
magazine
[5]
The album also generated another hit called "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (the track was also called "Ghetto Bastard" on some explicit releases). That song detailed the experiences of
Treach growing up in poverty, and now rising up to live a better life. Powered by the success of that song and "O.P.P.", their self titled album went
platinum.
Fellow New Jersey native
Tony D, accused Naughty by Nature of stealing a sample from his breakbeat album
Music Makes You Move
and using it on their track "O.P.P." The matter was settled out of court. Between albums, the group also scored a major hit with the track "
Uptown Anthem", from the soundtrack to the 1992 film
Juice
. Treach also got a cameo acting role in the film, his first acting role.
[6] Fellow rapper
2Pac also acted in the movie, and Treach would befriend him. This led to a long acting career for Treach and a long friendship with
2Pac. When 2Pac died in 1996 Treach made a tribute song to him, called "Mourn You Till I Join You"
Later they had multiple hits from their third and fourth albums, called
19 Naughty III
and
Poverty's Paradise
respectively. Both albums reached the #1 spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop Charts. "
Hip Hop Hooray" was a success from the album
19 Naughty III
. Its video was directed by
Spike Lee and featured other hip-hop artists popular in the early 1990s, including
Queen Latifah,
Eazy-E,
Run-D.M.C., and
Da Youngstas.
Poverty's Paradise
won the Grammy Award in 1996 for
Best Rap Album [7], and spawned a hit song in "
Feel Me Flow" which peaked at #17 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Four years later in 1999 the group released their fifth album, titled
Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury
. The album was fairly successful, being certified Gold by the RIAA, and spawned the hit "Jamboree" that peaked at #10 on the
Billboard Hot 100 .
After that album's release a dispute regarding finances developed between Kay Gee and Treach, with Treach blaming Kay Gee for squandering the group's finances. DJ Kay Gee decided to leave Naughty by Nature in late 2000. He started to develop his own record label Divine Mill. The remainder of the group, Treach and Vin Rock, released an album in 2002 called
IIcons
, using a variety of different producers including
Da Beatminerz; the album, however, received a lukewarm reception from the public. ''
IIcons is their last album to date.
In May 2006 Kay Gee reunited with Treach and rejoined Naughty by Nature at a concert at
B.B. King's nightclub.
[8] They will be working together on their next album, tentatively titled Anthem Inc.
[9]
Naughty by Nature is well known for being one of the few rap acts who were able through their career to balance success on the pop charts with hardcore rap credibility.
[10] They are ranked the 814th best musical artist of all time by Acclaimedmusic.net.
[11]
They also perform
WWE Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon's entrance song "Here Comes the Money".
In later years, Naughty by Nature started their own music imprint, Illtown Records
[12], and released an album from their proteges the
Rottin Razkals. The group (mainly Kay Gee) worked closely with a number of R&B groups over the years particularly
Zhane and
Next.
Discography
Main albums
Album information
|
The Independent Leaders
(as The New Style)
- Released: 1989
- Billboard 200 chart position: -
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
- Singles:
|
Naughty by Nature
- Released: September 3 1991
- Billboard 200 chart position: 16
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: 10
- RIAA Certification: Platinum
- Singles: "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"/"O.P.P (Live)", "O.P.P."/"Wickedest Man Alive", "Guard Your Grill"/"Uptown Anthem"
|
19 Naughty III
- Released: February 23 1993
- Billboard 200 chart position: 3
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: 1
- RIAA Certification: Platinum
- Singles: "It's On"/"Hip Hop Hooray (Pete Rock Remix)", "Hip Hop Hooray"/"The Hood Comes First", "Written on Ya Kitten"/"Klickow-Klickow"
|
Poverty's Paradise
- Released: May 2 1995
- Billboard 200 chart position: 3
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: 1
- RIAA Certification: Gold
- Singles: "Clap Yo Hands", "Craziest", "Feel Me Flow"/
|
Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury
- Released: April 27 1999
- Billboard 200 chart position: 22
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: 9
- RIAA Certification: Gold
- Singles: "Jamboree"/"Dirt all by my Lonely"/"Holiday"
|
IIcons
- Released: March 5 2002
- Billboard 200 chart position: 15
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: 5
- Singles: "Feels Good"/"Rah Rah"
|
Anthem Inc.
- Released: 2009
- Billboard 200 chart position:
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position:
- Singles: "I Gotta Lotta", "Get To Know Me Better"
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Compilations
Album information
|
Nature's Finest: Naughty by Nature's Greatest Hits
- Released: March 9 1999
- Billboard 200 chart position: -
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: 92
- Singles:
|
Greatest Hits: Naughty's Nicest
- Released: June 10 2003
- Billboard 200 chart position: -
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
- Singles:
|
Singles
Year
| Single
| Chart positions
| Album
|
U.S. Hot 100
| U.S. R&B
| U.S. Rap
|
1991
| "O.P.P."
| 6
| 5
| 1
| Naughty by Nature
|
1992
| "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"
| 53
| 12
| 9
|
"Uptown Anthem"
| -
| 58
| 27
|
1993
| "Hip Hop Hooray"
| 8
| 1
| 3
| 19 Naughty III
|
"It's On"
| 74
| 43
| -
|
"Written On Ya Kitten"
| 93
| 53
| -
|
1995
| "Craziest"
| 51
| 27
| 5
| Poverty's Paradise
|
"Feel Me Flow"
| 17
| 17
| 3
|
"Clap Yo Hands"
| 105
| 70
| 33
|
1997
| "Mourn You Til I Join You"
| 51
| 24
| 2
| Mourn You Til I Join You/Keep in Touch 12"
|
1999
| "Dirt All By My Lonely"
| -
| 109
| -
| 19 Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury
|
"Live or Die"
| -
| 86
| -
|
"Jamboree"
| 10
| 4
| 1
|
"Holiday"
| -
| 101
| -
|
2002
| "Feels Good (Don't Worry Bout a Thing)" (feat. 3LW)
| 53
| 25
| 1
| IIcons
|
References
- http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/naughty_by_nature/artist.jhtml
- http://www.mp3.com/artist/naughty-by-nature/summary/
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifuxq95ld6e~T51
- http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm#singles
- http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html#Various
- http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1432607/19990210/naughty_by_nature.jhtml
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifuxq95ld6e~T52
- http://www.hiphophavoc4life.com/news/archives/2006_05_01_archive.html
- http://milk-mag.com/blog/2008/10/09/naughty-by-nature-reunites-for-anthem-inc/
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifuxq95ld6e~T1
- www.acclaimedmusic.net
- http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608001143/Naughty-by-Nature.html