With four albums neatly spanning the 1990s, Naughty By Nature is bound in the sonic and cultural fabric of that decade. The group’s original lineup supplied grim portraits of urban decay, visions pithy enough to be packaged and sold to the masses. But for a few years, the New Jersey trio saw into the future. Even if “O.P.P.” now feels like a lab-tested novelty hit—the headlong enunciation, the call-and-response chorus, the verse for the fellas, the verse for the ladies—it was a revelation in 1991. The song’s Jackson 5 sample is offset by winking innuendo; rather than leaning into the buttery groove or courting controversy outright, frontman Treach pursues a sly middle path. A leering toast to infidelity, it’s the sort of artifact the older kids on the school bus had to explain.
At a juncture where hip-hop might have become a commercial force or a niche subculture, Naughty By Nature visualized a global movement and an inclusive community. They also sensed a need for gatekeeping. “Hip Hop Hooray,” the lead single from 19 Naughty III, name-checks critical darlings Nice and Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, and Leaders of the New School, lauding them over household names like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. Ensuring hip-hop’s health would mean celebrating its triumphs while defending it from interlopers, and 19 Naughty III put a stake in the ground. It supposes a seemingly irreconcilable gulf between credibility and record sales—a gap that, time and again, the trio managed to bridge. NBN perceived rap’s cultural and political ascendance, but they couldn’t have anticipated its looming decentralization.
Grousing about sellouts is the fifth pillar of hip-hop; take EPMD’s finger-wagging “Crossover,” which scaled the Billboard charts six months before “Hip Hop Hooray.” On 19 Naughty III ’s second single “It’s On,” Vinnie denounces Sir Mix-a-Lot, whose “Baby Got Back” spent five weeks atop the Hot 100 in 1992. But the difference between 19 Naughty III and, say, De La Soul’s Stakes Is High is that 19 Naughty III was itself a platinum-selling juggernaut. Buried amidst 19 Naughty III’s nihilistic street anthems is a curious, if contradictory, meditation on art and commerce: How did a hardcore rap group become a staple of middle-school dances?
Hailing from the inland city of East Orange, Naughty By Nature didn’t put on for their hometown so much as for hip-hop in general. “The Only Ones” and “The Hood Comes First” extol authenticity in broad strokes, pledging adherence to the group’s humble roots and artistic standards. That’s not to say they were traditionalists—if anything, 19 Naughty III is defined by irreverence. One of the most advanced technicians of his generation, Treach raps about sex like a teenager who just filched a porno mag. On “Ready for Dem,” he’s a shock jock where guest Heavy D is a smooth operator: “You ain’t ready, remarkable, or regal/You’re the fucking reason that abortion shit is legal.” On multiple occasions across the record, Treach reiterates his wish to paint the White House black. It’s not quite a political statement, but it does suggest a certain Afrocentric retribution.