Classifying genres of music into neatly packaged stereotypes is nothing new. For example, over the years it has been comprehensively assumed that punk-rockers rarely bathe and male folk singers have a slight feminine quality. For rappers, the cliché is all the more accentuated. If you don’t carry a gun or smoke spliffs then supposedly you ain’t a true ‘gangsta’.
For Naughty By Nature – a group that spat to prominence alongside the likes of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg – the stereotype has never been more irrelevant. While they may have the street cred, they also have a sense of humility that grinds against the rapper persona. As Vin Rock explains, it is an approach they attribute to the earnest and battle-hardened streets of New Jersey.
“Jersey always influences our music,” Rock explains. “Early on in New York [the home of hip-hop] we were trying to perform and got booed as soon as we told the crowd where we were from. When we got home we went back to the drawing board and decided that we would always represent Jersey and let people know that they have something to say as well.”
This steadfast attitude – as well as a robust back catalogue – has rewarded NBN with two decades of unabashed loyalty from fans. Despite this popularity, it has taken nearly ten years for the duo to record a follow-up to their last LP, IIcons. Rock attributes the hiatus to a number of factors, not least of all the blossoming Hollywood career of MC Treach (the other half of the group) and the absence of producer DJ Kay Gee.
“Initially it was Kay Gee that took the hiatus in 2000,” Rock says. “At the same time we [himself and Treach] were working on TV projects, producing other artists and still touring but without any new music. Eventually it took Kay to say, ‘Look it’s time to get some new music out there and feed the brand’. So it went from there.”
“In the end it was [due to] demand and definitely love for the music that we came back.”
For the new album, tentatively titled Anthem Inc, Rock promises a combination of new-school production and trademark Naughty By Nature sizzle. In keeping with this philosophy, the group has also opted to remaster and repackage many of their older hits as part of the record.
“What we have is a then and now,” says Rock. “We remade some of the classics so we could own those masters. We stripped the samples and cleaned everything over so it’s a whole new energy and a little different with the vocal performance. It’s a really good sound.”
“The other half of the record are all new tracks. At this point we’re pushing to make ten or eleven songs. So, really, fans will get a whole new album as well as a throwback.”
One constant in Naughty By Nature’s repertoire is touring. Despite the lack of new material over the past decade, NBN often stretches themselves to well above 100 shows in a year. They are also not ashamed to ring out the tracks – such as ‘O.P.P’ and anything off 19 Naughty 111 or their self-titled debut – that consolidated their foothold as crossover trendsetters in the early 90s.
The group will be landing here in late October to shake Newcastle’s Fat As Butter festival along with the likes of Empire of the Sun, Cloud Control and Sparkadia. Given their experience at Good Vibes not long ago, it’s a gig Rock and his entourage are warmly anticipating.
“Last year we did the Good Vibrations festival but Fat As Butter, as we understand it, is geared more towards hip-hop,” says Rock. “So because of that we will be doing a different set that is more straight up and down and raw.”
With the new album near release, they’ll also be offering a glimpse into some more recent material.
“Right now we have a lot of new songs out. Probably about six new songs will be in our show from the album.”
Unlike some of their contemporaries, Naughty By Nature do not use their upbringings as a crutch for respect and success. There’s no joints, no stab wounds, no chest thumping. Instead there is a considered approach that crumbles the rapper stereotype and reinforces the trio’s work ethic and considerable influence.
Hip Hop Hooray indeed.
– Paul Bonadio
