Yeah you know me

Back when Naughty by Nature's "O.P.P." came out, I remember hearing rumors that they'd stolen the track from a breakbeat album by Tony D, a fellow Jersey guy and producer of the Poor Righteous Teachers and YZ, among many others. I don't think the Tony D record ever got distributed on the West coast, so it wasn't until a few years ago that I found it and finally heard the song. (Weekend Records, NYC, I miss you.)


Tony D: "Adams Nightmare" (Sure Shot, 1989)

As for whether Naughty ripped off the beat, I can't say. Sampling an obvious soul classic and putting it over the popular "Substitution" break isn't the most idiosyncratic pairing; the way both tracks use the "come on, come on, come on, let me show you what it's all about" vocal seems less like coincidence. In Naughty's defense, if they did steal it, they stole it from a record prominently labeled:



Thinking about the one Tony D album led me to think about one he released a few years later.



His hand-drawn covers make my eyeballs want to scream, but I always loved this track.


Tony D: "Inspiration Abstract" (Contract, 1995)

Which makes me think of this:


Jimmy McGriff: "Back on the Track" (Blue Note, 1969)

And this:


O.C.: "Ma Dukes" (Wild Pitch, 1994)

"Ma Dukes" is from O.C.'s Word... Life, which just got reissued with the rest of the Wild Pitch catalog; there's also a recent reissue with some bonus tracks. If I remember right, it's titled what it is because his mom sings the hook!