Naughty by Nature will perform at the Howard Theatre in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25. (Courtesy photo)
Grammy Award winning, platinum selling, legendary hip hop group Naughty by Nature kicked off 2016 with a celebratory 25th Anniversary Tour that began in Greensboro, North Carolina Jan. 27. The last show will take place on Feb. 28 in Philadelphia.
The Hip Hop trio are performing 27 shows in 32 days. The group will playing the hits from their platinum selling album “Naughty by Nature,” with songs such as “O.P.P,” “Everything’s Gonna be All Right,” “Hip Hop Hooray” and various songs from their album “Poverty’s Paradise,” the first album to win a Grammy for best Hip Hop album of the year.
“It was only fitting that we have this tour. I mean, who gets to say that they’ve been in this industry that long – 25 years?! That deserves a celebration and the shows that we’re putting on are the best shows that people and fans will ever see,” said DJ Kay Gee, a member of the trio, told the {AFRO}. “We respect some of the artists that are currently in the game, but nobody does it like Naughty by Nature.”
Hailing from the streets of East Orange, New Jersey, high school friends, [Treach, Vin Rock and DJ Kay Gee] began their career in 1988 under the initial title “The New Style” soon changing their name to “Naughty by Nature” after being discovered by Hip-Hop guru Queen Latifah, who helped hone their successful career.
“We think one of the main reasons we’ve been in the game so long is because of our creativity. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s every MC and rap artist had to have their own sound that ranged from militant to Afrocentric,” DJ Kay Gee said. “You couldn’t sound the same. Today, everybody has the same sounds and the same weird messages about doing drugs, so our youth have to be careful. Artists will have you thinking it’s cool, when a lot of those rappers aren’t even doing drugs.”
To date, the rap trio has released 7 studio albums, owns their own music label Illtown Records, and plans to release another a celebratory mix tape for fans and two documentaries. One documentary will highlight the group’s experiences.
“We didn’t really face any challenges while getting together and preparing for this tour,” DJ Kay Gee said. “It was just us getting back at it. For us, Hip hop is a lifestyle and culture. We grew up in hip hop and it changed our life.”
According to DJ Kay Gee the trio wants the youth to understand that they can be their own person and people will still like them even though they are different.
The trio will perform at the Howard Theatre Feb. 25.
“Anytime we put on a performance in D.C. or anywhere else, we’re always looking into the crowd to see what vibe we have. Are they new school or are they old school? And then we perform accordingly,” DJ Kay Gee said.