In 1986, Anthony "Double T. Treachery" Criss formed the East Orange, New Jersey group The New Style with Vincent "Vinnie Rock" Brown and Keir "DJ Kay-Gee" Gist. Through the acquaintance of DJ Cee Justice — Lakim Shabazz DJ, part of a The 45 King crew and one of Flavor Unit original members — the group was put in contact with Bon Ami Records, the first label founded by Sylvia Robinson after taking a break from a now in free fall Sugar Hill Records in every respect and which would close in the same period.
Despite an endless legal dispute with MCA during her time at Sugarhill, Sylvia Robinson, followed by her son Joey Robinson Jr. who in this period mainly deals with other cousin labels of Bon Ami, such as Unidisc and New Day, somehow manages to have the first studio album of the group distributed by MCA. Before New Style, only Robinson herself and New York rapper The Great Peso had recorded for Bon Ami, the last solo single of his career after having released on Next Plateau, CCL Records, Tuff City, Enjoy, Easy Street, Elektra, Tommy Boy, and Mercury.
The album is almost entirely self-produced with two beats left to Bon Ami in-house producers Swing and Unique, both emerging: around the same time, the former put his signature on a beat for the group Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five, who signed to New Day Records. There are no guests. The mix is perfected by the boys of the group Boogie Down Productions Dee Square and DJ Doc.
The boys do nothing to distinguish themselves from the rest of the hip-hop scene of the time, not helped by a fluctuating production by Kay-Gee that does not reward their fairly regular and easy-going style of execution of the rappers. Treach doesn't disfigure or impress, the hooks in this project sound really bad, on the other hand the production offers interesting variations, nothing really worthy of note. The entire project seems effortlessly put together. Even the cover screams "Sugar Hill", fonts, titles, images glued like a collage.
"Scuffin' Those Knees" is chosen as unique single of the whole record and it does not get a response from the public, as well as the entire CD, which is a flop being released with the major MCA, a story unfortunately regularly seen with the releases managed by the labels under the control of Sylvia Robinson. It could easily be the end of the group if it were not for Queen Latifah, who takes them to Tommy Boy, advises the group to change their name to Naughty by Nature and rewrites the history of the trio.
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