Twenty years after breaking into the mainstream with their self-titled debut album, hip-hop group Naughty by Nature will celebrate their two decade milestone by releasing their forthcoming album, “Anthem Inc,” this May.
“With ‘Anthem Inc’ we will be doing some re-recordings as well as some brand new music,” group member Vin Rock tells Billboard.com’s The Juice about what fans can expect on the new set. “You’ll be able to get some of Naughty ‘then’ and some of Naughty ‘now.'”
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“Anthem Inc” comes nine years after Naughty by Nature’s last album, “IIcons,” and frontman Treach says there’s a logical reason for the delay. “It was politics,” he says flatly, “We weren’t planning on releasing an album until we had the right deal. We found out the right deal would only be for us to go independent which we are.”
Naughty recently released a promo single from “Anthem Inc” titled “Flags,” which they recently performed on the David Letterman show. The group also premiered two versions of an accompanying music video, one titled “Life Cut” and the other “Death Cut;” the former features an appearance by Ice T.
Video: Naughty by Nature on the David Letterman show Video: Naughty by Nature Performs Medley on ‘Letterman’
With their comeback album, Naughty by Nature hopes to deliver music with a message and give those that may not be as familiar with them a fresh introduction. “One thing we think is missing in the game now is that artists are just out there rhyming. There’s no more content to records,” says Vin Rock.
“Our whole thing is we’ve been seeing the game change like every five years for the past twenty years,” adds Treach. “Even though when we were pushed to the side and seen as an older group and like our time was up, we changed the game and did other things. When you lay certain blueprints, it’s like you never lose that sheet. You can always go back there and re-establish yourself, re-invent yourself. We’ve never been afraid to do either.”
Naughty by Nature is currently on tour with Salt-n-Pepa on their “Legends of Hip-Hop” tour, alongside Doug E. Fresh, Kurtis Blow and Kool Moe Dee.