Naughty by Nature Plays a Total of 20 Minutes at LIV

What constitutes a “concert”? Does there need to be a definite amount of time onstage or number of songs that a band must perform? Normally, we expect and receive at least a solid hour of music with an encore thrown in at the end. It's standard practice.

But Naughty by Nature deviated from this at LIV Miami this past weekend.

Friday night was the second stop of a 24-date tour for the New Jersey natives. It's the precursor to a second 25th-anniversary tour, scheduled for later this fall, and to a pair of EPs the group is recording via a freshly launched Kickstarter campaign. In a news release, the band stated the following:

“Kickstarter ensures that we will be able to have complete creative control over our new music. We will be able to do it the way that we want. More than anything we want to deliver a fresh new EP that also has that classic Naughty vibe. It has been years since we’ve all been in the studio together and the process of working on these songs has been really exciting creatively.”

That “classic Naughty vibe” is thereabout what we expected when their gig at one of South Florida's most popular nightclubs was announced. Instead, it was the musical equivalent of blue balls. 
There was a healthy crowd at the 18,000-square-foot late-night venue — not sold out, but still a good number of people lured in by the prospect of seeing one of the '90s' most quintessential rap groups. With chart-topping hits sprinkled throughout, Naughty by Nature managed to stay relevant throughout much of the decade. The duo's reunion after an ugly breakup was unexpected yet welcome.

Having recently released a new single, “God Is Us,” with Queen Latifah and also celebrating the anniversary of the group's 1991 self-titled debut, Naughty by Nature had plenty of options on the table for a setlist. As it happened, Treach and Vin Rock opted to jump up on the DJ booth, with Kay Gee spinning, do a medley of songs that included “O.P.P.,” “Hip Hop Hooray,” and a couple of rap hits such as Kriss Kross' “Jump.”

About 20 minutes later, they were done. 
Yeah, that was naughty all right, in the same way a cat stares you in the eye as it knocks a vase from the highest shelf.

During their brief time up there, Treach and Vin Rock bounced with the LIV dancers, thanked the crowd for 25 years' worth of support, and boogied off, leaving DJ Kay Gee to fill the rest of the evening with a mix of old-school and modern-day hip-hop jams.

Looking at the original LIV flier announcing Naughty by Nature's appearance, it's clear that no promise of an hourlong set is made. They were indeed there, but hardly. A long line at the bathroom and you would've missed most of the “show.” Here's hoping next time they visit South Florida, we can feel their flow for just a little bit longer.