Naughty by Nature: Anthemic Hip-Hop

Solidly members of hip-hop's '90s elite, East Orange, NJ trio Naughty by Nature still have plenty of fuel in the tank. Although best known for old school hits "Hip-Hop Hooray" and "O.P.P.," Treach, Vin Rock and Kay Gee never stopped recording new material. Celebrating their third decade of hits with the release of December 2011's Anthem, Inc., NBN fire off wordy bangers like "Naughty Nation" and "Throw It Up (feat. Tah G Ali)." The latter features modern synthy production augmented with jazzy flutes—a club track that bridges their various musical eras nicely.

Then there are inspired tracks like "God Is Us (Feat. Queen Latifah)," which implores listeners to "go hard for your family" and "love your mother," while offering other positive community-focused messages. It's refreshing to hear vets who still represent conscious rap properly.

For a limited time you can download that track plus four more, absolutely free. Get one song below, or grab all five on the album page. Naughty by Nature may not bark through gritted gold fronts like some of their younger contemporaries in the rap game, but the new album more than proves the worth of their talent and their love of hip-hop past and present. For that, we definitely shout, "Hooray." –Tomas Palermo, Google Play

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