Naughty By Nature

iTunes Editors’ Notes

The massive crossover anthem “O.P.P.” was both a gift and a curse for the New Jersey-based trio Naughty By Nature. The song brought the group’s music to a huge audience that might have never otherwise heard them, but the single’s runaway success obscured the rest of Naughty By Nature, an album that should have gone down in history as one of 1991’s toughest and best-built rap albums. “Tight” has become an overused hip-hop colloquialism, but there is no better word when it comes to describing “Yoke the Joker,” “Everyday All Day” and “Wickedest Man Alive.” Everything fits together like a fine mechanism, and the Naughty By Nature machine runs like clockwork. The fast-paced rhymes of Treach and Win Rock connect like chain-link. “Everything’s Gonne Be Alright” and “Thankx for Sleepwalking” proved the group’s expertise at melding pop hooks to roughneck New Jersey beats, but thankfully they also included “Let the Ho’s Go,” “Guard Your Grill” and “Uptown Anthem,” which are pretty much pure roughneck. And all these years later, their breakout hit still sounds amazing.