What's the 411? is the debut album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on July 28, 1992, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. After signing a record contract with Uptown, Blige began working on the album with producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. Other producers and songwriters included DeVante Swing, Tony Dofat, Dave Hall, Mark Morales and Mark "Cory" Rooney. The resulting music covered hip hop soul, contemporary R&B, and new jack swing styles.
Naughty by Nature is an American hip hop trio from East Orange, New Jersey, consisting of Treach, Vin Rock, and DJ Kay Gee.
Anthony Depula, known professionally as Tony D, was an American hip hop artist from Trenton, New Jersey.
19 Naughty III is the third album from Naughty by Nature, released on February 23, 1993, through Tommy Boy Records. Recording sessions took place at Unique Recording Studios, Soundtrack Studios and Electric Lady Studios in New York City from February 1992 to January 1993. Three singles were released from the album, the group's second top 10 hit, "Hip Hop Hooray," as well as the minor hits "It's On" and "Written on Ya Kitten." Production was handled entirely by group member Kay Gee himself, with additional production from S.I.D. Reynolds. It includes guest appearances from Heavy D, Queen Latifah, Freddie Foxxx and Rottin Razkals.
Down with the King is the sixth studio album by American hip hop group Run-D.M.C., released on May 4, 1993, by Profile Records. The album was produced by Pete Rock, Q-Tip, EPMD, DJ Kay Gee of Naughty by Nature, Jam Master Jay, The Bomb Squad, Daniel Shulman, Run-D.M.C., Chyskills, Jermaine Dupri and Clifton "Specialist" Dillon.
Poverty's Paradise is the fourth album from Naughty by Nature, released on May 30, 1995, as their final album under Tommy Boy Records. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. A single released from the album, "Feel Me Flow", achieved major success, peaking at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, two other singles "Craziest" and "Clap Yo Hands”, achieved minor success, the former peaking at number 51 on the Hot 100.
Nature's Finest: Naughty by Nature's Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album from Naughty by Nature, released on March 9, 1999, by Tommy Boy Records. The compilation contains songs from the group's second, third and fourth albums that they released while with Tommy Boy, as well as four songs from the soundtracks to Juice, Poetic Justice, Nothing to Lose and Ride. It peaked at #92 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
"O.P.P." is a song by American hip hop group Naughty by Nature, released in August 1991 by Tommy Boy as the lead single from the group's self-titled second album, Naughty by Nature (1991). It was one of the first rap songs to become a pop hit when it reached No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 35 on the UK Singles Chart. Rodd Houston and Marcus Raboy directed the music video for the song. Its declaration, "Down wit' O.P.P", was a popular catchphrase in the US in the early 1990s.
"Hip Hop Hooray" is a song by American hip hop group, Naughty by Nature, released in December 1992 by Tommy Boy Records as the first single from their third album, 19 Naughty III (1993). The song spent one week at number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. It contains samples from "Funky President" by James Brown, "Don't Change Your Love" by Five Stairsteps, "Make Me Say it Again, Girl" by Isley Brothers, "You Can't Turn Me Away" by Sylvia Striplin and "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel. Pete Rock made a remix that samples Cannonball Adderley's "74 Miles Away". It was certified Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 1,100,000 copies in the United States. The music video for "Hip Hop Hooray" was directed by Spike Lee.
Queen Latifah is an American rapper, jazz/blues singer, and actress. Born Dana Owens, she has released seven studio albums, six of which were hip hop-influenced albums and two that were all-singing jazz-influenced albums. She has released a total of twenty-three singles as well. She has been given the title the "Queen of Jazz Rap".
"Uptown Anthem" is a 1992 song by hip-hop group Naughty by Nature. It was made for the soundtrack for the movie Juice. Naughty by Nature rapper Treach had a cameo acting role in the movie. Rapper 2Pac, who stars in the film, is featured in the video.
"Feel Me Flow" is a song by American hip hop group Naughty by Nature, released in May 1995 by Tommy Boy Records as a single from their fourth album, Poverty's Paradise (1995). The song was the most successful single from the album, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart in mid-June and at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-July. The sole rapper on the song is Treach. The accompanying music video shows him near a pool and the ocean in the midst of a heat wave, and also shows clips of the winter and people snowboarding. The song was later featured in the 2002 film 8 Mile.
"Jamboree" is a song by American hip hop group Naughty by Nature for their fifth studio album Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury (1999), featuring a chorus with R&B group Zhané. The song was a relative commercial success, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number-one on the Hot Rap Singles, becoming their first song since "O.P.P." to reach number-one on the Rap charts. It also spent 5 weeks at number-one on the Canadian RPM Dance Chart. The song was certified gold on August 3, 1999, becoming the group's fourth and final single to reach at least gold status.
"Everything's Gonna Be Alright" is the second single released in November 1991 from American hip hop group Naughty by Nature's self-titled second album (1991). The song is titled "Ghetto Bastard" on uncensored versions of the eponymous album. While not as successful as their previous single, "O.P.P.", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" managed to make it to 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 9 on the Hot Rap Singles. The song would later appear on both of the group's compilation albums, 1999's Nature's Finest: Naughty by Nature's Greatest Hits and 2003's Greatest Hits: Naughty's Nicest. It was rerecorded for the 2011 release, Anthem Inc.
"It's On" is a song by American hip hop trio Naughty by Nature, released on June 8, 1993 by Tommy Boy as the second single from the trio's third album, 19 Naughty III (1993). The song was produced and written by the three members of the group, and found decent success on the US Billboard charts, making it to number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 48 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It samples jazz artist Donald Byrd's "French Spice", for which he received writing credits. The official remix was produced by the production duo The Beatnuts and featured on the B-Side of the single.
American hip hop group Naughty by Nature have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums and eighteen singles.
Naughty's Nicest is a compilation album released by Rhino Entertainment containing the greatest hits of hip hop group Naughty by Nature.
Let Me Clear My Throat is the third and final studio album by DJ Kool, released in April 1996 on American Recordings. Let Me Clear My Throat was DJ Kool's most successful album chart-wise, becoming his only one to reach the Billboard 200, where it peaked at 161. The album is best remembered for its title track, "Let Me Clear My Throat", which became Kool's only top-40 hit and reached gold certification for sales of over 500,000 copies. "I Got Dat Feelin'," which sampled Naughty by Nature's "Uptown Anthem", also made it to the Billboard charts.
Anthem Inc. is the seventh album from Naughty by Nature. The album marks a 20-year anniversary for the hip-hop trio. This is the first Naughty by Nature release featuring all three members - Treach, Vin Rock and Kay Gee - since 1999's Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury.
"Synthetic Substitution" is a 1973 song by Melvin Bliss. Originally starting life as a throwaway B-side, with "Reward" as the A-Side, the song failed to chart anywhere on its initial release because of the collapse of Opal Productions, the parent company of Sunburst Records. However, after the song was sampled by Ultramagnetic MCs, many other artists followed suit, and eventually the song became one of the most sampled songs of all time.
