The group formed in East Orange, New Jersey, and first appeared on the music scene in the late 1980's releasing an album titled The Independent Leaders, under their then name The New Style. The album generated the minor hit "Scuffin' Those Knees". After the release of their first album, the group was subsequently mentored by fellow New Jersey native Queen Latifah and consequently changed their name.
Their first hit as Naughty By Nature was a track titled "O.P.P." ("Other People's Parts"), which sampled the The Jackson 5's hit "ABC" and was released in 1991 on their self-titled debut album. The album also generated another hit titled "Ghetto Bastard" (the track is often referred to as "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"). Fellow New Jersey native Tony D, accused Naughty by Nature of stealing a sample from his breakbeat album Music Makes You Move and using it on their track "O.P.P.". The matter was settled out of court. Later they had multiple hits from their third and fourth albums, titled 19 Naughty III and Poverty's Paradise respectively.
"Hip Hop Hooray" was a success from the album 19 Naughty III. Its video was directed by Spike Lee and featured other hip-hop artists popular in the early 1990's, including Queen Latifah, Eazy-E, and Kris Kross.
The group also scored a major hit with the track "Uptown Anthem", from the soundtrack to the 2Pac movie Juice.
In later years, Naughty by Nature started their own music imprint, Illtown Records, and released an album from their proteges the Rottin Razkals. The group (mainly Kaygee) worked closely with a number of rnb groups over the years particularly Zhané and Next.
An ongoing dispute between Kaygee and Treach saw Kaygee leave Naughty by Nature in late 2000 to concentrate on his Divine Mill label. The remainder of the group released an album in 2002 titled Iicons, using a variety of different producers including Da Beatminerz - the album however received a lukewarm reception from the public. Treach is rumoured to be releasing a solo album soon. Kaygee has been extremely successful building his Divine Mill imprint with 2 platinum plus albums on both (Divine Mill acts) Jaheim and Next as well as songs on albums from Syleena Johnson and Charlie Wilson among others. In May 2006 Kay Gee reunited with Treach and Naughty by Nature at a concert at B.B. King's nightclub. They will be working together on their next album.
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From Wikipedia:Naughty by Nature is a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop trio that at the time of its formation in 1989 consisted of Treach, Vin Rock, and the DJ Kay Gee. They are known for being one of the few rap acts who were able to balance success on the pop charts with hardcore rap credibility. The group formed in East Orange, New Jersey (colloquially referred to as "Illtown" in the 1980s). The group first appeared on the music scene in 1989 releasing an album called Independent Leaders under their then name the New Style. The album generated the minor hit "Scuffin' Those Knees". After the release of their first album, the group was mentored by fellow New Jersey native Queen Latifah, and subsequently changed its name.