Meaning of “O.P.P.” by Naughty by Nature

“O.P.P.” is a song by the Grammy Award-winning American rap group Naughty by Nature. The lyrics of O.P.P., which are by the way not family friendly, are about being unfaithful to your partner.

Officially the initials O.P.P. stand for the phrase: “other people’s property”. However, what it actually stands for is ‘other people’s p****’ for guys and ‘other people’s p****’ for females. The band used the phrase ‘other people’s property’ as a euphemistic way to refer to either of the aforementioned offensive phrases.

The interesting thing about this song is that despite its meaning being very family unfriendly, its lyrics do not contain even contain a single offensive word.

Down with O.P.P.

Anyone who is “down with O.P.P.” is the type of person ready to cheat on his/her significant other.

“You down with OPP (Yeah you know me)”

Inspiration for the phrase

According to Treach (lead rapper of Naughty by Nature), he got the idea for the iconic line “down with O.P.P.” from a man who sold illicit drugs near where he lived. According to him, this man would often encroach upon the territories of other dealers to steal their customers. And in doing so, he’d say the phrase: “Down with O.P.M. – Other People’s Money”. According to Treach, he found the man’s words so interesting that he took it and used it in the song.

A More In-Depth Analysis of the Lyrics of “O.P.P.”: By Another Hand

There isn’t much ambiguity behind the meaning of this song. That is to say that whereas the chorus revolves around Treach verifying if “you(‘re) down with O.P.P.” or not, the first two verses are dedicated to effectively, even if indirectly spelling out what the acronym stands for. And ultimately “O.P.P.” represents two different phrases, but their meanings are fundamentally the same.

So after using the intro to fully bring in the instrumental, by giving a shoutout to the song’s pianist, Dave Bellochio, the lead vocalist, Treach sets off the first verse by noting that his goal therein is to “explain” “O.P.P.”.

And pretty much from the get-go, the rapper lets it be known that the O in the acronym stands for “other”, while the P represents the word “people’s”. But as for explaining that second and final P, doing so “is not that simple”.

Or let’s say that more accurately, in the name of keeping this track SFW, Treach cannot directly say what that second P stands for. Therefore, the vocalist offers the listener a number of clues as to what he’s getting at. 

For example, he implies that this final P is a five-letter word, and that it also serves as “another way to call a cat a kitten”. And to make a long, albeit obvious story short, what the P stands for is p*-sy which, besides being a nickname for a cat, is also a well-known colloquialism for a woman’s holy part.

“Gaming”

Furthermore, as relayed it is something which a guy gets occasionally, that is if “the other party isn’t gaming”. Treach goes on to clarify what he means by “gaming” in the bars that follow by using a counterexample.

He does so using the illustration of a guy who meets a girl and expeditiously proceeds to get her contact information, i.e. phone number. But instead of coming off like a feen, he waits a day and then proceeds to call. 

And upon doing so, he discovers that it isn’t her actual phone number but rather that of her friends or cousins. And whereas at first it may appear as if she is playing a game or frontin’, Treach is quick to point out that such is not the case.

Instead, she did so to prevent her actual boyfriend from finding out that she gave another guy her phone number. Or as the rapper goes on to elucidate, in this person’s mind “there no room for relationships… just room to hit it”.

Put more simply, this lady is not looking for anything long-term or serious but preferably uncommitted affair. And of course the elephant in the room is that there are moral issues with bonking another dude’s girlfriend, as Treach claims he has. 

So those who would not proceed to engage in such an act are classified as not being down with “O.P.P.”.  But as for the vocalist and likeminded individuals, who would hit a lady already in a committed relationship if opportunity presented itself, they’re the ones who are celebrated in the chorus that follows as being “down with O.P.P.”.

Ladies down with “O.P.P.”

So with that established, the second verse is dedicated to the ladies down with the cause. However, in their case that last P means something different, “another five-letter word” but one that ‘rhymes with cleanest or meanest’. 

And that, if you haven’t figured it out yet dear reader, would be the word p*-is, which doesn’t exactly rhyme with those aforenoted terms, though you have to give the Treach and the boys credit for trying.

So this time around, Treach is addressing the ladies in the audience by referring to ‘other person’s p–is’. 

And basically, he asks them if they were ever in a situation where they were so attracted to someone else’s man that they proceeded to seduce or allow themselves to sleep with him. This, in his opinion, is the female side of “O.P.P.”.

And Treach views such scenarios as being all good, so long as the parties involved leave what transpired behind closed doors. Or as the old saying goes, no harm, no foul. In other words, so long as no one witnessed the two of them cheating, then it’s not as if, under the vocalist’s estimation, they did anything wrong.

Therefore, the chorus that follows the second verse centers on celebrating females who are “down with O.P.P.”.

“O.P.P.” goes Wrong

Then in the third verse, Treach once again advocates sleeping with other people’s partners but this time around by illustrating a case of “O.P.P.” gone wrong. 

The story begins with one of his own girlfriend’s besties deciding to seduce the Naughty By Nature frontman, and as illustrated above, he has no qualms about an illicit side affair. However, in this instance, instead of packing her things and moving on, the girl proceeds to fall in love and tries to establish a real relationship with the vocalist. 

Treach uses this story to highlight two points. First is that when engaged in such activities you don’t ‘bring your heart’, i.e. entertain the possibility of a serious romance developing from an act of “O.P.P.”. 

And secondly, “rule number one” is that “you keep your mouth shut”, i.e. don’t talk about what transpired. And that, of course, is to prevent the possibility of the other person’s actual partner finding out what went down.

In Conclusion

So yes, we can bring this analysis to an end by safely concluding that “O.P.P.” is a song that advocates cheating. But more specifically, it’s not the type that you engage in to destroy another person’s relationship. 

What Treach is referring to is more along the lines of having a one-night stand with another guy’s girlfriend or another girl’s boyfriend or husband. That is to say that if practiced as idealized, the ‘other person’ will never find out the one-night stand took place to begin with.

Facts about “O.P.P.”

The song was written by all members of Naughty by Nature (Treach, DJ Kay Gee, and Vin Rock). And since the song heavily samples two other songs, including The Jackson 5’s global hit song “ABC“, 5 other songwriters are given credit on the track. These writers are: Berry Gordy, Jr., Alphonzo Mizell, Deke Richards, Liam Kantwill, and Freddie Perren.

The track was produced by Naughty by Nature.

“O.P.P.” officially came out on August 24, 1991 as the first single from the group’s second studio album entitled Naughty by Nature.

The song not only became one of the group’s most successful single, but also one of the most successful hip hop songs of all time. The fact that the lyrics appeal to both males and females contributed significantly to its success. On the US Billboard Hot 100, “O.P.P” peaked at number 6. On the U.K. Singles Chart, it peaked at the number 35 position.

Shortly after the song came out, the phrase “down with OPP” became one of the most common phrases in the United States.

In the early 90s, only a few rap songs had the strength to make the transition into pop radio. “O.P.P.” was one of the few rap songs of that time to make this remarkable transition. The song went on to become one of the most popular songs of the 90s.

In 2008, VH1 placed this track at the number 22 position on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Which songs does “O.P.P.” sample?

It samples the following songs:

1. The 1970 smash hit “ABC” by the American family music group The Jackson 5 (The Jacksons).
2. The 1973 funk/soul song “Synthetic Substitution” by the late American rhythm and blues singer Melvin Bliss.
3. The 1978 hit song “Oh Honey” by the English soul group Delegation.

Did “O.P.P.” win a Grammy Award?

No. However, “O.P.P.” was nominated for a Grammy at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards in 1992. It lost to the 1991 hit “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Which movies and TV shows has this song been featured in?

One of the most notable appearances of this song on television was in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Below is a clip from the episode on which the song was used. NOTE: The song starts from 1:33.

The video above is from the 9th episode of season 2 of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The episode is called “Cased Up”.

The “Naughty by Nature” Album

American hip-hop trio, Naughty by Nature, released their self-titled second album on September 3, 1991 through Tommy Silverman’s record label, Tommy Boy records. The 60 minutes 15 second-length album was recorded at the Unique Recording Studios in New York City and produced by the group in collaboration with Louie Vega

The album gained commercial success and peaked at the top of most American music charts shortly after its release. One of the tracks on the album, “O.P.P” was one of the biggest hits America in 1991.

Naughty by Nature is considered one of the all-time great albums to date, by many fans of the East Coast Rap genre.

As of this writing however, the album is out of print.

The album consisted of twelve songs in initial releases, but later another song, “Uptown Anthem” was added to subsequent editions of the album, bringing it to a 13-track collection. The album’s certified singles are as follows:

• “O.P.P” released on 24^th August 1991
• “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” released on 26^th November 1991
• “Uptown Anthem” released on 22^nd January 1991

The “Naughty by Nature” Album

American hip-hop trio, Naughty by Nature, released their self-titled second album on September 3, 1991 through Tommy Silverman’s record label, Tommy Boy records. The 60 minutes 15 second-length album was recorded at the Unique Recording Studios in New York City and produced by the group in collaboration with Louie Vega

The album gained commercial success and peaked at the top of most American music charts shortly after its release. One of the tracks on the album, “O.P.P” was one of the biggest hits America in 1991.

Naughty by Nature is considered one of the all-time great albums to date, by many fans of the East Coast Rap genre.

As of this writing however, the album is out of print.

The album consisted of twelve songs in initial releases, but later another song, “Uptown Anthem” was added to subsequent editions of the album, bringing it to a 13-track collection. The album’s certified singles are as follows:

• “O.P.P” released on 24^th August 1991
• “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” released on 26^th November 1991
• “Uptown Anthem” released on 22^nd January 1991