April 27, 2017

Naughty By Nature "Nature's Fury" (Snippet Tape, 1999)

Naughty By Nature 'Nature's Fury' (Snippet Tape)

Let me start off by saying, 'Nature's Fury' is not Naughty By Nature's best work; however, I do think Treach is one of the most underrated writers and lyricists, so I wanna take every opportunity to shine a light on his catalog. With that said, 'Nature's Fury' is Naughty By Nature's 5th studio album, it was released on this day in 1999 through Arista Records. In the mainstream, 'Jamboree' was a charting single in '99 and was widely considered a comeback hit for Treach, Vinnie & Kay Gee after they'd taken a 4-year break between releases. Meanwhile, 'Dirt All By Lonely' worked because it fed the underground too. They went down South to tap Master P, Silkk The Shocker & Mystikal on 'Live or Die,' which I'm certain I skipped over, but I trust some people liked it, and the last single was 'Holiday.' In the climate of music in '99 and given their past success with crossover hits, their reach for getting back on the charts didn't surprise me, but it wasn't quite the album I was hoping for at the time. It lacked some of the more balanced album cuts that Naughty always kept to feed the streets. Even the track with Big Pun was a miss in my eyes. On a brighter note, the 'Nature's Fury' snippet tape was put out in advance of the album and had Treach rhyming over 4-5 short instrumentals in between snippets from tracks off the album; it's perhaps the only unique piece of promo I have from this album and it was hand-delivered on cassette. You can hear the mix below.