Anthony "Treach" Criss is easily identified as one of the iconic voices of hip-hop - the rapid-rapping and versatile singer who became one of the faces of Naughty by Nature during the '90s. Fans usually refer to some of Treach's songs (especially to "Hip Hop Hooray" and "O.P.P."). However, there is more to his musical career and life than several catchy melodies. It took a special artist's charisma to get him that success.
Life & style
Treach comes from East Orange, New Jersey – the same state that became home for many other East Coast performers of that genre. From his early childhood, Anthony experienced the environment which shaped his specific street-oriented worldview. While rap culture itself gradually transformed from mainly party records into something bigger, Treach learned to combine the elements of both directions successfully.
The choice of the stage name matched the traits Treach possessed – his voice was intense and energetic; however, he had the perfect ability to play with rhythms.
First group experiences of Tony
Naughty by Nature existed before Treach joined them officially as their rapper. Initially, the name of the group was "The New Style" until they changed it. With this transformation, they got their own unique sound, and Treach's voice became a part of it. In contrast to those rappers that simply tell a story (even a very interesting and vivid one), the vocalist used to rap from his own point of view.
Naughty by Nature successes & achievements
Thanks to the self-titled album released in 1991, the band managed to win great popularity and to become famous in many different parts of America. "O.P.P.", released that year too, became their breakthrough hit with the memorable melody.
In fact, a combination of humorous lyrics, a confident attitude and a catchy chorus is the winning card that allowed Treach and his group to enter the charts and, thus, to change the perception of the hip-hop community. They managed to prove in one of the first albums that street-oriented rap does not always fail to reach the masses.
Several years later, in 1993, the group continued to build its successful reputation with one of their anthems – the famous song "Hip Hop Hooray," whose popularity was also guaranteed by Treach's versatile and entertaining rap.
Moreover, in 1995 the group received a Grammy for the album Poverty's Paradise, which was recognized as the best rap album of the year. It became evident that besides entertainment value, Naughty by Nature had something else (namely, the ability to think about the issues faced by their society).
Some of the tracks released in that period and that made Naughty by Nature famous were "O.P.P." and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". Besides, the last-mentioned song proved that this group was not restricted only to creating catchy tunes – they could impress with profound meaning, deep reflections, etc., and the role of Tony there was crucial.
Later Naughty by Nature works & other achievements
Treach's contributions remained important in the further creative process – even on Nineteen Naughty Nine: Nature's Fury, released in 1999, which was the product of collaboration among three musicians whose skills complement each other perfectly.
Throughout the decade, they created songs with a unique sound due to the specific interaction between performers. At the same time, there are songs where the vocal work of Tony became the main feature – it makes the songs even more interesting and memorable since he can move from hard verses to catchy hooks almost immediately. Thus, his contributions helped Naughty by Nature stay alive even with changing preferences.
Acting
Similar to other successful performers of that time, the popularity that Treach achieved made him start working in movies. These performances became for him another way of using his charisma and ability to capture the attention of the audience (similar to performing hip-hop).
For example, he performed in films called Juice, Jason's Lyric and Dead Presidents. All of them became popular and reflected his personal experience quite well.
These screen appearances played an important role in the development of his career and his overall reputation. In spite of the change of direction, Treach proved his ability to work in a team and in a different context; he showed that he does not have to change anything in his acting style in order to become a good actor – on the contrary, he has to preserve the features which made him famous before.
That was the way he became a part of a new trend which was developing actively at that time in the hip-hop industry. At that time many musicians started appearing in films and TV shows. For them this became an additional tool for communicating with fans.
Lasting place in hip-hop
One more reason for Treach's longevity is that he is a perfect example of what a successful East Coast rapper is (at least of what one should be). Namely, he managed to combine such essential things as powerful lyrics, charisma and catchy hooks.
However, he was never an outstanding technical rapper; his breath control skills were impressive (he could perform songs really fast), and he was an entertainer who perfectly knew how to make songs sound grandiose.
It explains the fact that the songs by Naughty by Nature became popular, regardless of whether people listened to them at the time of their initial popularity or discovered them recently.
Also he plays an important role in hip-hop history – that is because it was a period when artists had to learn how to become popular while preserving their originality (and he performed in a way that proves that fact).
Thus, the story of his life and career tells fans a lot about Treach – a person from East Orange, with his own unique style and who became famous for catchy songs and rap.