Song:Hip Hop Hooray
Album:Greatest Hits: Naughty's Nicest
The rap group Naughty By Nature scored two top ten pop hits in the early 90s including Hip Hop Hooray in 1993. They were one of the more successful rap acts of the era. They drifted apart in the mid-90s and weren't successful when they tried to reunite. The three members of Naughty by Nature went to high school together in East Orange, NJ. Anthony Criss (Treach), Vincent Brown (Vin Rock) and Kier Gist (DJ Kay Gee) were discovered in 1989 by Queen Latifah. She became their manager and she got them a record deal with Tommy Boy. Before that they were known as New Style and they had released an album independently that was picked up by MCA. The CD Naughty By Nature was released in 1991. O.P.P. was the first single. It not only topped the rap charts but it crossed over to pop and it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album Naughty By Nature was certified Platinum. Their 1993 album 19 Naughty Ill was also certified Platinum. And the single Hip Hop Hooray reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. That kind of sustained success was unusual for rap acts. A lot of them were one hit wonders. Among the samples used were Funky President by James Brown, Don't Change Your Love by Five Stairsteps, Make Me Say It Again by Isley Brothers, You Can't Turn Me Away by Sylvia Striplin, 74 Miles Away by Cannonball Adderley and Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. Spike Lee directed the video which featured an appearance by Queen Latifah. What both songs had in common were very catchy choruses. Naughty By Nature started to fall apart when Criss got into acting. He's still doing that today. And Gist started his own record label which was very successful. So the group went on hiatus after the 1995 album Poverty's Paradise. They attempted to reunite a couple of times but they weren't successful. You can get all their hits on this comp. Here's the video for Hip Hop Hooray by Naughty By Nature.
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