Hip Hop Hooray – Naughty By Nature | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#8) & R&B (#1); 1993

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Despite the indisputable crossover success of O.P.P. coupled with the platinum figures of their self-titled 1991 album, Naughty By Nature was pegged by the pundits as a one-shot act. One-shot, that is, until the New Jersey trio’s second album, 19 Naughty III, bested the pop chart peak of the first – #3 vs. #16 – and sent yet another track into the upper reaches of the R&B and Pop lists.

Hip Hop Hooray, like O.P.P., was written by NBN members Vinnie Brown, Keir ” Kay-Gee” Gist, and Anthony ” Treach” Criss, and again mixed catchy pop elements with legitimate street cred.

Whereas O.P.P. was built on a prominent sample of the Jackson 5’s ABC, Hip Hop Hooray packed in a number of pieces lifted from records by everyone from James Brown to Peter Gabriel to Cannonball Adderley.

The result was an infectious track that topped the million mark, and entered pop culture history through constant PA play in stadiums and arenas across America.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

  • DJ Kay Gee

Lyrics Written by:

  • Ronald Isley
  • Ernie Isley
  • Rudolph Isley
  • Chris Jasper
  • O’Kelly Isley Jr.
  • Marvin Isley
  • Vincent Brown
  • Anthony Criss
  • Keir Gist

Check Out all the Song Meanings of the 90s
Top 100 Songs Of The 1990s

Ed Osborne

Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).