Throwback Thursday: M.O.P. “Ante Up” (Video)

As I was reading Burmy's latest article I came across his mention of M.O.P.'s "Ante Up" and remember just how dope that track is. "But it's not nearly old enough for me to use on Throwback Thursday", I thought. Nope. "Ante Up" dropped over a decade ago, making it a legitimate throwback. Feel old yet?



The Refined Take:

1) I never really noticed this until now, but was the jacking in the intro a set up? Are those girls with M.O.P. as a distraction so they can jack that dude, or did M.O.P. simply take advantage of a good situation? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

2) "Kidnap that fool!" has to go down as one of the most unlikely anthem hooks in hip-hop history. Even in 2000 we were more than used to chorus' about drinking, smoking, f**king and murder, but for some reason kidnapping feels like it's on a whole other level. I can guarantee you Shug Knight heard this song and was like, "kidnapping fools...hmmmm...that's a great idea."

3) Apparently M.O.P. sued "wrestler/rapper" John Cena and the WWF - I'm sorry, the WWE (I'm old school like that) - for using a sample of "Ante Up" as Cena's theme song "My Time Is Now". The case was dropped, so it's unclear if an out of court settlement was agreed upon. Sorry M.O.P., but I don't hear it. Does anyone else?

4) For the record, Mos Def's "Speed Law" is essentially the same song, just musically approached completely differently. Manhattan keep on making it, Brooklyn keep on taking it.

5) So where's M.O.P. now? It's a long story, but basically after years of major label hell they're operating independently and gearing up for a new album. At this point there's almost no way they'll ever have success on the level of "Ante Up", but that doesn't mean they can't continue to have a long and solid career with their core fan base.