O.P.P. By Naughty By Nature - Songfacts

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O.P.P.by Naughty by Nature

Album: Naughty By Nature (1991)Charted: 35 6 License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• This song is about cheating. If you're "Down with O.P.P.," it means you are willing to cheat on your boyfriend or girlfriend. Not exactly family values, but it's presented in a fun and clever way that never spells out exactly what the song means. There are no dirty words in the lyrics, although a ludicrous "clean" version was released with the words "cleanest," "meanest" and "kitten" edited out. This is most likely the first time the word "kitten" has ever been censored.
• The jubilant track is based on the 1970 Jackson 5 song "ABC." Early hip-hop songs tended to use short loops from often-obscure soul tracks, but by 1991, many artists were sampling huge chunks of songs, making them almost covers. "O.P.P." was surprising in how much it relied on "ABC," incorporating Michael Jackson's distinctive vocal trills along with the musical essence of the song, which was a #1 hit on the mighty Motown label."O.P.P." was released in the summer of 1991, months before Gilbert O'Sullivan's lawsuit against Biz Markie established that samples had to be cleared. It appears that Naughty By Nature's label, Tommy Boy, did get permission to use "ABC," but when "O.P.P." first appeared, the writers' credits went to Naughty By Nature plus Berry Gordy, who was one of four writers of "ABC" but also head of Motown, so he likely did the deal. Later, the other three writers of "ABC" were added to the credits.
• The lyrics explain that "O.P.P." stands for different things depending on your gender. The first two words are "Other People's," but for guys, the last P is a "five-letter word rhyming with cleanest and meanest." For girls, it's "Another way to call a cat a kitten." In the end, they keep it clean by saying the last P stands for "Property."
• "Down Wit' OPP" became a catch phrase in many cities where this song was popular. In New York, people wore T-shirts saying "Ya Down Wit OPP?"
• Naughty by Nature is comprised of the rappers Treach and Vinnie, and DJ Kay Gee. Treach, who was 20 when the song came out, wrote the lyrics and was lead rapper on O.P.P.
• Treach got the idea for the lyrics from a drug dealer in his neighborhood that used to move in on other dealers' territory and say he was "Down With O.P.M. - Other People's Money." Treach liked the phrase but decided to change the meaning of the last P."O.P.M." had its own moment though. In 1991, the same year "O.P.P." was released, a Danny DeVito movie came out called Other People's Money.
• Treach has had several acting roles, including the movie Juice and the HBO series Oz. He was married to Sandra Denton for two years starting in 1999. She's "Pepa" from the group Salt-N-Pepa.
• The group made sure the lyrics related to both men and women, which gave it a broader appeal. They also wanted to make sure the audience could participate in the song ("yeah, you know me...) so when they played it in clubs the audience wouldn't just stand there.
• This was one of the first rap songs that crossed over to pop radio. Many Top 40 stations refused to play it because they thought it would drive listeners away, but many added it as it became a hit.
• The video was a big hit on the show Yo! MTV Raps, which was where they played most rap videos at the time. MTV had a rapper named Todd 1 remake the song as "Down Wit' MTV," which also got a lot of airtime.
• When Naughty By Nature promoted this song on visits to radio stations, they recorded customized bits for the stations with their call letters in place of "O.P.P." For instance, at the Syracuse, New York radio station WJPZ, the group recorded themselves asking, "You down with JPZ?"
• This was used in the 1991 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Cased Up," and in the 2020 episode of Fresh Off the Boat, "The Magic Motor Inn." It also appear in these movies:The To Do List (2013)Up In The Air (2009)Fired Up! (2009)Jarhead (2005)Malibu's Most Wanted (2003)Celtic Pride (1996)Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)House Party 2 (1991)
• In a season 2 episode of The Office ("The Dundies"), Michael Scott opens the annual Dundie Awards with his own version of this song. Instead of "You down with O.P.P," he sings, "You down with our Dundie."
• This was referenced on NewsRadio in the season 2 episode "Xmas Story." When Mr. James asks, "Hey, what up, G? You down with O.P.P.?" Dave replies, "Well you know me."
• This samples Slick Rick's exclamation "hit it!" from his 1985 Doug E. Fresh collab "La Di Da Di."

• More songs from Naughty by Nature
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Comments: 6

• George from Vancouver, CanadaI don't condone messin' with other people's pu--y, but the song isn't saying go do it, they're asking if you do, &, seemingly, claimig they're okay with it.
• Camille from Toronto, Oh I don’t condone cheating in any way, but these cleverly naughty yet clean lyrics mixed with the innocent, upbeat Jackson 5 ABC tune looping in the background and easy-to-sing-along-to chorus is extremely fun to listen to.
• John from Sunshine Coast, AustraliaExcuse me you need to listen to this song properly: O is for other P is for people the last P well that's not that simple. It's kinda like another way to call a cat a kitty.It depends on your views but the last P stands for partners or if you are possessive it stands for property - people who realize they don't own their partners are down with OPP but the gender relative alternatives are other peoples pussy or other peoples penis.
• Yaakov Globman from Illadel/philly, PaOPP used to mean, "Only Peppa's Property!" On youtube, you can find a lot of people jackin' (rapping on top of) the beat,check it out, don't sleep! Also, check out Trigga Treach's mixtape, "tribal treach." I used to have da god's ill Naughty by Nature watch, which their management says they can't replace cuz the guy who made it doesn't work there anymore, but someone's gotta have it, willing 2 pay mad loot to replace it, help!When I had their watch, some girl told me, "they're old, played out," I wuz like, "my watch says I'm naughty by my nature, but don't mentally rape a brotha talkin' bout how they played out, old, cuz I ain't tryna hear that crap, so put that ish on hold as i wrecks, cuz ain't nobody can spit like Treach snaps necks as he wrecks, so don't eff wit da blessed, unless u can do better, if not, shut up and get yer ish 2gether!" having shared that, I feel so much better!
• Lara from Hackensack, NjIn "Sister Act II" they sing "You know me, I'm down with G-O-D" in their finale.
• Jared from Memphis, TnTreach was in lots of movies including Juice, The Playas Ball, Jasons Lyric, Metoer Man, and 3am. He was also on a couple of episodes of Oz, Third Watch, and Living Single.

see more comments

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