Don’t Sleep on Treach – What’s Your Favorite Naught By Nature Anthem?

 •  Bloggers  •  by XXL Staff  •  32 Comments

There’s no dodging it—this entire week has been Recovery central. Literally every minute spent in the XXL’s offices this week has been dedicated to blasting Eminem’s latest in my iTunes, and, frankly, the damn thing just keeps sounding better and better.

I went into this blog week hoping to come up with some left-field ideas akin to some of my past blogs here; the one where I paralleled rap crews such as Young Money and G-Unit to Shirley Jackson’s amazing short story “The Lottery,” or dreamt up a few rapper/author collaborations in the vein of 50 Cent and Robert Greene. But then Recovery surfaced online, and all mental innovation was abandoned. “Almost Famous” and “Cinderella Man” established permanent residence instead.

And for that, I apologize, XXLmag.com heads. You deserve more than one-sided blog posts; I got you next time, with five posts instead of only three.

Since it’s Friday, and my weeklong presence is about to dissipate into a weekend full of Cuervo shots and icy Coronas (that’s how we do in Hoboken, y’all), let’s wrap things up in my beloved home state of New Jersey. Specifically, in East Orange, the native land of Naughty By Nature, one of my favorite groups back in the day.

Treach (one of hip-hop’s most overlooked lyricists, ever); Vinnie (the perfect sidekick); and producer/DJ Kay Gee (who had dope beats by the pound). 19 Naughty III is a slept-on classic, folks; it’s time to accept that fact and spread the word. Let’s not forget about Poverty’s Paradise, which I’ll forever remember as the first CD I ever skipped school to buy (in those wonderful Nobody Beats The Wiz days); just don’t tell my parents about that, okay?

I could write a dissertation on the summer jam genius that is “Feel Me Flow,” but that’s for another time, another blog week. Today, let’s pay attention to Naughty’s comeback record, “I Gotta Lotta,” which made its way online earlier this week, somewhat inconspicuously. To put it bluntly, this ish knocks; it’s that “Dirt All By My Lonely” disposition recaptured and done right. I’d be lying if I said I knew that Naughty had this kind of resurrection single left in them; that pie smushed across my face right now tastes quite good, though.

“I got a chip on my shoulder that Bill Gates ain’t make,” says Treach. And who can blame him? Dude is never regarded as an all-time great lyricist, even though his resume is a hit parade. There’s no shame about it—this entire blog post is meant to showcase “I Gotta Lotta,” and nothing more.

So, as the weekend begins, let’s all salute Treach, Vin Rock and Kay Gee. Track down a mp3 of “I Gotta Lotta” and bump that ish out your car speakers. Or, revisit one of the following Naughty gems from the past, three choice NBN tunes handpicked by yours truly. —Matt Barone

“Feel Me Flow”
Even though it’s a bit cool here in NYC, it’s still the beginning of summer; here’s the perfect way to get in that mood.

“Hot Potato”
Treach trading bars with Freddie Foxx…fantastic!

[audio:http://www.xxlmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/11-naughty-by-nature_19-naughty-iii_hot-potato1.mp3]

“Ghetto Bastard”
No explanation needed; this is an undeniable hip-hop classic.

Rottin Razkals “Ah Yeah”
Naughty’s one-time protégés; I loved this record so much that I bought the full Razkals album, which, sadly, wasn’t totally up to snuff.

“Uptown Anthem”
From the film Juice. One of the best soundtrack singles ever?  Yup, one of the best soundtrack singles ever.

“Craziest”
To paraphrase Ol’ Dirty Bastard: “As hard as Naughty gets.”

[Audio:http://www.xxlmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/10-craziest.mp3]

“Connections”
I just love the way Treach opens this track up with such ferocity.

[Audio:http://www.xxlmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/21-connections.mp3]

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  • http://Pierzy11@gmail.com Pierzy

    People always sleep on groups more than individual artists…maybe it’s the name recognition?

    Treach & Black Thought definitely have something in common.

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  • Worley

    I was in that “Nobody Beats the Wiz” zone with you. They had the CDs cheaper than anybody else at a time when Coconuts and Tower were price fixing with the record companies.

    My top 5 NBN joints: OPP, Hip-Hop Hooray, Uptown Anthem, Dirt By My Lonely and Ghetto Bastard (hands down my favorite).

  • naughty niggaz is tha craziest

    how can u even vote a fav nbn anthem that 2 dam hard like fav pac track

  • Lowedwn

    “Dirt all by My Lonely” and “Craziest” hands down.

    And Pierzy is absolutely on point Trigga Treach and Black Thought are constantly and unfortunately overlooked for the ill lyricists they are.

  • http://pimpinpens.blogspot.com enzo

    uptown anthem

    reminds me of the movie Juice

  • TicNitty1

    I’m with you on this group. They are in my top 5 fav grps of all time and Treach is in my top 10 fav emcees ever. He had voice, flow, rhyme cadence and was lyrical….what more do you want? He was Big Daddy Kane and Rakim rolled in one package imo.

    Ghetto Bastard is my pick but all of those are classics. Their 1st self titled album is my fav but 19NaughtyIII is not far behind.

    Remember Heavy D’s opening verse on “Ready For Dem”?….crazy!

  • Curtis75Black

    I repped every cd they dropped and they aged gracefully. I don’t have a favorite track because Treach even today is one of the Illest emcees ever. Hot Potato and 1,2,3 always bring the funk. They have too many classics. That new song is funky as Hell.

  • balaramesh

    @Pierzy,

    yeap, treach is dope enough to be compared to black thought. i kinda forgot how ill he actually was…wow, this was back when the rappers on the radio could actually….rap

    eminem and redman are the only ones that consistently gave props to treach.

  • hannibal cannibal

    Klickow Klickow off the Poverty’s Paradise is one of the sickest posse cuts ever!!

  • Brooklyn

    this is hard because i loved every naughty by nature song. but i have to say that “o.p.p.” is probably THE anthem. turn that shit on and everybody and their mama knows the lyrics.

  • Master CHeef

    cosign

  • http://www.bboycult.com $yk

    My fave 1 is one no one talks about…

    ‘Crewz Pop’-Da Youngstaz

    • oskamadison

      Wudup, $yk?

      Ah, Crewz Pop, one of (many) Treach-ghostwritten jewels. How about Latifah’s “Had It Up 2 Here”?

  • MindState

    When I was like 10 or 11, I cant even describe how much I was feelin’ Uptown Anthem. That was my SHIT… for real, but I couldnt buy the Juice soundtrack cuz I was too young. Of course I got it eventually though…

  • El Tico Loco

    I was just listening to Time to flow off of D nice’s album.

  • AZ40

    I told my bro how dope and slept on treach is 2 years ago and he laughed…Damn you for makin’ me choose my fav anthem by nbn

  • Rob Markman

    Naughty is soooooo underrated. “Uptown Anthem” is probably my fav, but “Feel Me Flow” and “Craziest” are the shit…
    “I’m hitting Jermaine in Atlanta he owes me loot for that jump shit!”

    • RDS

      I’m going to have to concur wholeheartedly with you. I’ve got “Craziest” and “Feel Me Flow” on my phone. I love “Uptown Anthem” and “O.P.P.” because they’re party tracks, but “Feel Me Flow” is absolutely chill. I’m actually having a very difficult time choosing my favorite. Why is NBN not mentioned more often, now that I think about it?

      -R

  • Fireforreal

    Naughty is the shit for the fact the always had cool radio joints that you can tell they really wanted to make and weren’t forced to but also had so street shit to make you really think. I always wondered why Vinnie never rapped as much but he’s nice and so is treach. They did some shit a few monthes ago with Apple and was online speaking the real to young artist’s about flossin and really taking care of your paper. Maybe it’s just me but that shit means more than the size of your chain.

  • hoihoi

    Jamboree

  • Shinobi Shaw

    as an Emcee Treach was one of my biggest lyrical influence growing up! first two albums & “Uptown Anthem” were my knocks! & I got caught by that Rotten Razkals joint too!

  • mr. quiji

    Poverty’s Paradise is still one of my favorite albums. I wanna hear the mighty Kay Gee collab with some of these newer cats like J. Cole that would be tuff, always been a fan of his production

  • Face Phoenix

    Why front? Uptown Anthem – EASY. As for just a regular party I’d go for O.P.P. but for personal use – Uptown Anthem. I’m about to rip that to my PC right about… NOW!!!!!!!

  • Fireforreal

    Poverty’s paradise had some good jointz on there. It was a slept on almost classic.

  • C Bo

    Damn, that gotta lotta songs the shit

  • Jon Dog

    Remember “Hip Hop Ride” by Da Youngstaz. Man, I still bump that once and a while, got a catchy ass beat to it.

  • Money Mitch

    Treach is a straight monster on the mic!! Chain remains is pure lyricism at it’s finest the whole poverty’s paradise is packed full of crazy lyrics

  • mac

    you down with naughty
    you know me
    how sick would xxl be if they had download links(way sicker!)

  • TheRefriedMexican

    IT’S GOTTA BE UPTOWN ANTHEM AND WITH 2PAC MAKING A CAMEO IN THE VIDEO. THAT WAS THE CHERRY ON TOP
    +++
    ++
    +

  • Q461

    i would love to see a Treach solo record… Black Thought too…. both are underated artists…. B-real did and he’s the lead MC of Cypress Hill…. Thought and Treach need to come thru with solo albums on the real…

  • kedordu

    written on ya kitten remix