One of the biggest stories this week has been the apparent rift within veteran New Jersey Hip Hip trio Naughty By Nature. Treach took to Twitter yesterday, to publicly “fire” 24-plus-year rhyme-partner Vin Rock from the group. Vin replied, claiming rights to ownership of the group, stating “you can’t fire an owner.” Producer/deejay Kay Gee has remained quiet in the last 24 hours, but Treach spoke with AllHipHop.com about the root of the rift just hours before he released a diss song at Vin, “Tall Midget.”
“We never wanted to be the group that goes though anything that we can’t resolve on our own, or anything else,” Treach explained after seven group albums, including their 1989 debut recorded as “The New Style.” “Nobody—me being Treach, Kay [Gee] and Vin [Rock] being Vin – is larger than the group. We came [in] on some ego-free shit. Now, when somebody comes and gets larger than the group, it’s gonna be a problem.”
Stating the problem stems from ego issues, he outed Vinnie’s artistic contributions to the longtime Tommy Boy Records—and later Arista Records outfit. “If you see any of our albums, it says ‘written and produced by Naughty By Nature.’ Because, homie you, [Vinnie], was somebody that was over there beat-boxing and break-dancing and any lyrics you had anywhere, was written for you. Don’t never get larger than the group. The producer and the writer of the group are always like ‘we, we, we,’ not ‘me, me, me.’ Even if you don’t do shit, we gonna make sure you taken care of for the rest of your life.”
He continued, “How dare you ever play like you bigger than the group, or [call yourself] the owner? [You’re] the boss or you the shot-caller. Or you’re anything else other than what the fuck you are—which is a nigga that needs to be enjoying the fucking ride. Don’t never question who I am, what I do, how I am. Don’t stay in ya lane—play ya position. Dogs, you can be hired help at any time. You never wrote one hit. You never produced one hit song. You came on as a homie that was there…we threw you a lot of bones just to keep you up in there ’cause you was the homie, from the door, who was up in there. And we always fit you in when there wasn’t a spot for you to be in.”
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With the group currently touring—including an appearance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at next month’s sixth annual Roots Picnic, Treach explained regular Vin absences and his limited role on 2011’s Anthem Inc. LP. “You can be fuckin’ replaced, by just not having you there,” seethed the “Love And A Bullet” actor. “I do my own gigs—hosting, performing, everything. There has never been a time when they asked where the fuck was Vin. Don’t never question nothing I do, or play us out. Don’t never go on no side thing, don’t never let me find out about no deal behind my back that I gotta find out later, yo, ’cause I don’t work for nobody. I’m self-employed. And if anything, me and Kay on the same level. Look at the last Naughty [By Nature] album, [Anthem Inc.]. This [Vin Rock] don’t even have a verse on it.”
Perhaps the most jarring revelation made by Treach is that he and his longtime band-mate have reportedly not communicated on a personal level since some time in 2011. “Me and Vin haven’t really spoke in like two years, and do more than 100 shows a year-on the same stage.” Like Gang Starr, another legendary Class Of 1989 Hip Hop group that lasted over 15 years, Treach revealed that the silence is offstage. “Wouldn’t nobody know it, because the business is one thing, personal is something else.” In closing, he warned what finally prompted him to go public. “When shit is going behind people back and somebody is acting like they above people and other things are being set up that the groups doesn’t know about, it has to be stopped.
Read AllHipHop.com’s full interview with Treach, which includes audio.
RELATED:Treach – “Tall Midget (Vin Rock Diss)” [AUDIO]
