I seem to notice a few people talk about Naughty By Nature almost in the same way they diss Creed and/or Nickelback. Can anyone tell me why they NBN have such a negative rep? Is it because they are faux ghetto/not as 'hard' as they claim? I dig a whole ton of their songs, and Treach was one of Pac's closest mates so to me that gives them some cred.
Ahh, so its too 'mainstream' for rap is it? Is that what it is? I swear to the universe that I am sick of people discrediting music purely because it's too commercial or whatever. I like some mainstream, I like some indie stuff....if it sounds good I listen to it.
What would ever give you that idea? Spoiler <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ipy58SaIRhs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ipy58SaIRhs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
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Why do you really care what others think of the music you like? Regardless of genre, there are going to be groups/artists that folks just simply love to eviscerate. Who cares if some of those artists are one's that we like to listen to? If Naughty By Nature is what does it for you, then cool. And, by the same token, I'm fairly certain (maybe?) that there are people out there that really like Nickleback. Either way, there's no need to wait for other people to 'legitimize' what you like.
Their best hits were two goofy anthem songs that relied on samples of popular songs and generic catch phrases. They did this at a time when the VERY BIGGEST commercial draws in ALL of rap music were MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. That kind of guilt-by-association made them an extinct species by fall of '93: when John Singelton movies, Death Row and Bad Boy made gangster rap both terrifyingly authentic and unexpectedly marketable. Also, Mr. Rocket, the group was around the U.S. almost twenty years ago; and novelty rap music has literally no shelf life. Limitedly objective or enduring musical value in terms of instrumental, vocal or even writing talent (no symbolism or metaphors) that targets a small (black) and fickle (young people) demographic. But to be an identity-starved, middle-class black kid in the early '90s, man I ate this crap up. I remember the bus ride back to school after Winter Long Weekend, Third Form year: "hip-hop hoorayyyy-hooooo-haayyyy-hooo.."
