Back to Nature: Why I'm STILL a Naughty Fan.

Ingore the links. I know what I'm doing here, but this Blogger shit just doesn't wanna work that way.

It's obvious to anybody who hears it, but worth repeating: Treach is a wicked emcee. After 20 years of rhyming and a stab at action movies, he's still dropping unpolished rhymes that make your head spin.

"Au contrare, mon frere; this is all my hair/ I wouldn't cut it for the..." oh wait.

Didn't realize this, but Naughty By Nature has gone Indie via "Illtown Records." Shoulda known too, since they're just the sort of guys to want to keep the whole cheque (i.e. smart move). And when you carry the title of "icon" you can more or less get away with doing whatever.

Independence: "I got a chip on my shoulder that Bill Gates ain't make."

A lot of what's said on this new aural assault is simply a matured reiteration of that for which Naughty has always unflinchingly stood: The Hood Comes First. Hip Hop is the Voice. And I got a lotta love for anyone who helped me get these heavy rocks on my knuckles.

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got/ I'll still drop a bomb on your whole block.

For those who don't remember, Naughty kicked off the New School of the 90s with the anthemic "OPP," followed up in 1993 with "Hip Hop Hooray." These are their best-known and weakest tracks. No kidding. In keeping with major-label tradition, the best songs were B-sides.

No more. The songs are still solid urban anthems, but now the best songs of the pile get their video and rotation; that's the new Naughty.

Some of the new tracks are produced in the same vein as the Naughty we know. "I Gotta Lotta" is braggadocio at its finest, with Treach driving a trashy shuffling beat like a platinum-plated Cadillac. "Flags" is a continuation of "Ghetto Bastard" and "Daddy Was a Street Corner," but from the perspective of a qualified OG - all grown up & with a broader perspective (i.e. "I" has become "We"). The chorus sums it all up: "You gotta cook beef or you don't eat/ and that's why we cry out loud."

The production has gone beyond the R&B-inspired head-nodders I remember. Some of these tracks (most notably "Get to Know Me Better" and "Hip Hop Honors") are 100% club bangers. They'd come across as generic if it weren't for the signature vocal stylings of Vinnie and Treach.

It's like New Jersey, but clean.

The only complaint I have about this drop is the obligatory slow-jam, "Hip Hop's Pain." In fairness, that's the track I always have trouble with on any album. A friend of mine once said "Duke, you don't have a slow-jam in you." And it's true. Got em all out of the way when I was young, mushy and stupid.

The Jeru-produced "Pain" is musically reminiscent of Biggie's "Juicy." Lyrically it's KRS-One meets Rap Superstar - a warning to the youngsters of the New-New School of the dangers of the music industry, and a call to action for purity and realness. In a phrase, "Keep It Real" is not just some bullshit people used to say... Okay, it is; but it started somewhere real, and can go back there too.

When "Keeping It Real" Goes... missing?

Over all, this new thing reminds me of why I'm a fan of these guys. As emcees they continue to grow and experiment, and never cease to improve their own style, while raising the bar for everybody else.

At the same time, Naughty has stuck to their roots. If the style and techniques have changed, the message has not; it is only that the perspective has matured. It's no more about being the top gangster or using O.E. as mouthwash. Now it's about Peace, Love, Unity & Respect.

P.L.U.R.

Okay, okay... The respect was always there for them that earned it. But peace is a new thing coming from Naughty. Something I wouldn't mind hearing more of.