Naughty By Nature Reunites For New Album

It's turning into a good year for Naughty By Nature. In addition to being one of the five honorees on VH1's recent "Hip-Hop Honors" special, the hip-hop trio has reunited to record a new album set for first quarter 2009. The group last performed together in 2006 for a one-night engagement at B.B. King's in New York. 

"We've been talking about reuniting for about two years," group member Kier "DJ Kay Gee" Gist tells Billboard.com. "Then about three months ago, we decided to go ahead." Anthony "Treach" Criss and Vincent "Vinnie" Brown round out the trio.

The new album is tentatively titled "Anthem Inc." Plans are to release it independently, with the group currently shopping for distribution. A song the trio did in honor of its VH1 salute, "Hip-Hop Honors," is featured on the VH1 site. 

As for what fans can expect musically, Kay Gee explains, "We're going to make universal party tracks with great hooks; street anthems, social and political anthems, anthems for the ladies. Nothing has changed from that standpoint. But we're not 19-20 anymore, so things will be a little different lyrically. We don't want to make a record that sounds like we're just trying to chase 15-year-olds. We do want to appeal to them but at the same time, we want the music to be natural and comfortable for us." 

Despite the hiatus, Treach says the chemistry is still there. "It's like getting into a time machine going from the past to the future," he adds. "Vinnie and I have been touring. And both Kay Gee and I have been working on outside projects. So we didn't miss a beat when all three of us got back in the studio." 

Hailing from East Orange, N.J., Naughty By Nature charted its first crossover hit in 1991 with "O.P.P." The track, which sampled the Jackson 5's "ABC," climbed to No. 5 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two years later, Naughty By Nature copped a No. 1 R&B hit with "Hip-Hop Hooray." The group's last major hit together was 1999's "Jamboree" featuring Zhane. 

Kay Gee subsequently left the group in late 2000 to concentrate on his production company, Divine Mill. His credits include Zhane, Next and Jaheim. The last album Brown and Criss last recorded together was 2002's "IIcons."