Nasty Girl - Nitty

ALL TIME GREATEST SINGLES - #976

NASTY GIRL

Nitty

(J. Barry, A. Kim, R. Martinez, F. Ross) Universal 075021039162

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Chart Entry: 24th January, 2005

Highest Position: #1

Accreditation: Platinum

Points: 103,378

From the album "Player's Paradise".

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There was something missing on the cover of pop-rapper Nitty's one and only album, Player's Paradise. No "Parental Advisory" sticker meant that true rap and hip hop fans were going to steer clear of this album. To further deter those hardcore hip hop lovers, Nitty stated that he set out to model himself on Will Smith, his sole mission "to make hip hop fun again". It was clear that Nitty's music was aimed for an age group way below the hip hop norm, leaving his window of success very limited as the teenies quickly grew up in search of something harder.

Growing up in The Bronx as Frank Ross, Nitty "rebelled" against that backdrop which has seen many hardened entertainers be influenced by the less than luxurious surroundings. He turned that negative energy into positive, honouring the usual themes of hip hop music, but adding a sense of respect in his delivery. If he's getting sexy with the ladies, then he's doing it without degradation.

As usual with hip hop music, Nitty was aided by well known samples to kick his music along. That squeaky clean mentality is most evident here, with The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" helping "Nasty Girl" to become the massive hit that it was. He further cemented his lighthearted musical style with the follow-up, "Hey Bitty" which used a sample from Toni Basil's 1982 hit, "Mickey". The generation gaps combined with the nostalgic retro samples catering to the 30+ crowd, and trendy hip hop sounds giving the teenagers something to spend their pocket money on.

In what used to be an unheard of occurrence, the early to mid 2000's saw a barrage of unknown artists debut at #1 with their very first release. Extensive marketing campaigns and heightened exposure on radio and television helped these artists to literally become overnight sensations. Nitty reinforced its worth when "Nasty Girl" hit #1 in January 2005 in its first week of release. He defied the norm that saw many similar chart feats drop considably from the top and out of the Top 100 rapidly, but after a second week at #1, Nitty still held in the Top 5 for a total of seven weeks. Not so lucky was "Hey Bitty" which just missed the top ten by peaking at #11. Strangely, it has become quite a common occurrence to see a #1 smash followed up by a #11 hit.

Nitty took a back seat to his own career after his 2005 success subsided. He is yet to provide a follow up album to Player's Paradise, but with seven years passing since its release, it looks like it may never happen. Nitty still has his finger on all the buttons, though, turning his attention to producing. It may only be a matter of time before his own recording itch returns to provide us with some more of his "playboy rap".

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Chart Run: 1.1.2.2.2.3.5.7.10.13.16.17.29.36.47.64.64.62.91.81 (20 weeks)

(ARIA Top 100)