The New Style, a group composed of Treach at rapping, Vin Rock as hype man and Kaygee in the role of producer, made his debut in 1989 with "Independent Leaders", an album now forgotten and overshadowed by its new debut: leaving the MCA Records, the group signs with Tommy Boy and changes its name to Naughty by Nature, publishing an eponymous "debut" in 1991.
Kaygee's production is decent, accessible, simple jazzy rhythms, hard, lean drum machine, tight syncopated, hardcore samples and pop production, there's nothing exceptional in the sound chosen by the group to act as a musical background to the tight bars of Treach, on the contrary, the rhythms are functional to the delivery of the rapper: the lyrics and technique of Vin Rock are pretty simple, while Treach offers fast but always clear lines, with an excellent technique that has dazzled several enthusiasts inducing them to catapult this effort among their classics, however this record is very far from being considered one of the best of its genre.
The narration made by the MCs is good, some gloomy topic, some sad storytelling, positive tracks and also the R&B filler ("Rhyme'll Shine On"). Overall, it's a decent, solid album, livened up by the Treach technique and substantially free of weaknesses, albeit without bangers or classics: of course, there's the hit "O.P.P." (#6 on Hot 100, it topped rap singles), which presents a vicious female sample looped in the background, but not it really stands out from the other solid pieces on the LP. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (in the top ten among rap singles) and "Uptown Anthem" are two other minor hits that lead the whole CD to the gold certification in Canada and to the platinum in US. Distributed worldwide by Warner Bros., welcomed positively by specialized critics, the album peaks #10 on the hip-hop chart and is one of the best-selling rap album of the year both in 1991 and in 1992.
Rating: 7/10.
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