Back in 1986 three talented young guys (Treach (Anthony Criss), Vin Rock (Vincent Brown), and DJ Kay Gee (born Keir Lamont Gist)) from New Jersey got together as The New Style, and released an album called the Independent Leaders.
Soon after, a certain Queen Latifah took them under her wing, and they went on to achieve meteoric success under the name of Naughty By Nature.
As a group they were fire, and for a while, I had Treach figured as one of the best ever to do it.
OPP is a Hip-Hop anthem of gargantuan proportions. It's really difficult not to understate how massive or ubiquitous this track was back in the early nineties. The fact that the boys would follow it up with a series of anthems (Ghetto Bastard/Everything's Gonna Be Alright, Uptown Anthem, Hip Hop Hooray and more) is a testament to how skilled the boys were with creating catchy, dance floor friendly Hip Hop whilst retaining their rugged East Coast credentials.
Back to OPP, it has great pedigree; taking it's main hook from ABC by The Jackson 5 (1970), the oh-so-dope drums from Melvin Bliss's Synthetic Substitution (1973), as well as elements from Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's La Di Da Di from 1985.
Featured on here is the original and two other mixes.
I don't think Other People's Productions Remix is as good as the original, but the Fairplay Mix (sampling the Soul II Soul track of the same name) is well worth having in your collection. Both of these were by Funkie Junkie & Skin Up.
Uptown Anthem, featured on the Juice OST was a standout track among many great songs, and alongside OPP, makes this a great release.
- O.P.P. (Vocal Edit)
- Uptown Anthem (Video Mix)
- O.P.P. (Other People's Productions Remix)
- O.P.P. (Fairplay Remix)
