Naughty By Nature Up Close and Personal at The Grammy Museum Experience

Brian Hester Reporting

Feb. 26, 2020

Naughty By Nature memebers l-r Vin Rock, DJ Kay Gee, and Trench with moderator Mark Conklin Director of Artist Relations and Programing for The Grammy Museum Experience Photo Courtesy of GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center

The GRAMMY Museum Experience: Prudential Center opened a few years back in an 8,200-square-foot interactive exhibit in Newark, bringing with it a mixture of items highlighting the history of the GRAMMY Awards and focusing on the continuing achievements of New Jersey-born artists. The Garden State has given us legendary artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, and Lauryn Hill, and many more.

A fan takes a photo at The Grammy Museum Experience Naughty By Nature event. Photo Courtesy GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center

The museum provides many one of a kind experiences and allows visitor to play instruments and experience a drum lesson from fames E Street drummer Max Weinberg as well as a chance to go into the virtual studio in an interactive exhibit with recording icon Wyclef Jean.

Just having a little fun with The Supremes feature at the museum. The iconic photo in the background was taken from video of a performce of Stop in The Name of Love, one the the bands biggest hits Photo by Brian Hester

“The Experience highlights the power music has to inspire, educate and celebrate," says GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli. "There is something for everyone – from exhibits designed to educate to those that underline the history of music and its special place in our culture.”

The most epic of moments. Live. Photo Courtesy of GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center

With so many amazing exhibits I find it hard to select my favorite. One item of interest is the live interactive interviews and experiences with Gammy winning artist in the most intimate of spaces. The museum hosts these events on a regular basis. To see more click here. This past Tuesday I had the privilege of attending one of these events featuring an evening with internationally renowned recording artists Naughty By Nature. This powerhouse trio rose to fame from East Orange, NJ in the early 1990’s through hard work, hustle, constant drive and of course a ton of God given talent. This group has sold millions of records worldwide and have been ambassadors of Hip Hop across the globe.

Photo Courtesy of GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center

The interview portion of the evening was well moderated by Mr. Mark Conklin, Director Artist Relations and Programing for The Grammy Museum Experience. The band shared stories of struggles, setbacks and success as well as highlighting the groups link to the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. The bands multi-platinum song “Hip Hop Hooray” is the team’s current victory and is played after each home win. The Devils share the building with the Grammy Museum. That would be better stated the other way around as the Devils are the main tenant of The Prudential Center or The Rock as the venue is known.

Free stickers such as the one pictured were handed out at the event. These stickers were a fundemental part of the street level marketing and a signature sign of the bands creative hustle back in the 1990's. Photo by Brian Hester

A few clips from the most epic of up close and personal preformances. Naughty By Nature Live at The Grammy Experience Museum at The Prudential Center at Newark, NJ Please excuse the shakiness at the begining, this is live Hip Hop at it's best and the whole building was rocking.

DJ Kay Gee, Vin Rock and Trench of Naughty By Nature pose for a photo after thier powerhouse prefromance. Photo by Brian Hester

DJ Kay Gee, Vin Rock and Trench of Naughty By Nature pose for a selfie for a photo after thier powerhouse prefromance. Photo by Brian Hester

After the moderated portion of the interview the band took questions from the audience at the sold-out event. As I mentioned and cannot stress enough, this was the most intimate setting for an event that I have ever had the pleasure of attending. When I say up close and personal, well look at these clips. The group took a short break after the interview and then returned to the stage to preform several of their biggest hits, but first Trench asked the crowd to stand up and make room to dance. And we did. Amazing. Hats off to everyone at the Grammy Experience Museum for creating this incredible space and evening. I am certain we will be returning to cover future events. The museum is only a short train ride from NYC. If you are a native or just visiting this stop is well worth the visit. For tickets to upcoming events and additional info on The Grammy Museum Experience click here.

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