| Everything's Gonna Be Alright | |
| Cover: | Everythings Gonna Be Alright.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Naughty by Nature |
| Album: | Naughty by Nature |
| B-Side: | "O.P.P." (Live) |
| Released: | November 26, 1991 |
| Recorded: | 1991 |
| Genre: | Hip hop |
| Length: | 3:16 |
| Label: | Tommy Boy |
| Producer: | Naughty by Nature |
| Chronology: | Naughty by Nature |
| Prev Title: | O.P.P. |
| Prev Year: | 1991 |
| Next Title: | Uptown Anthem |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
"Everything's Gonna Be Alright" is the second single released in November 1991 from American hip hop group Naughty by Nature's self-titled second album (1991). The song is titled "Ghetto Bastard" on uncensored versions of the eponymous album. While not as successful as their previous single, "O.P.P.", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" managed to make it to 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 9 on the Hot Rap Singles. The song would later appear on both of the group's compilation albums, 1999's and 2003's . It was rerecorded for the 2011 release, Anthem Inc.
The song's chorus is derived from Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry".[1] [2]
Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Follow-up to platinum single "O.P.P." is not as light and fluffy, though it will establish rap act as lyricists to be reckoned with. Story lines about surviving fatherless homes seem to be all the rage at the moment. Here, topic is handled with an intelligent and optimistic hand."[3] New Musical Express said, "Here they hook up to the jamdown sound of Bob Marley and the Wailers' classic of yore and impregnate it with their own special blend of ghetto wisdom. A subtle and welcome switch from the usual Uzi-toting brag that many rappers prefer to spout and a clear indication that rap has still got a lot to say."[4] A reviewer from Music & Media noted that here, the "talented rap crew" had replaced the reggae beat of the Marley song with a modern dance groove, complimenting it as "easy programmable."[5]
Jesse Ducker from Albumism said in his 2021 retrospective review of the Naughty by Nature album, that "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" is "the stronger and more incisive recording [than its [[O.P.P. (song)|predecessor]]]." He described it as "unremittingly bleak", adding, "I can think of few songs that are better at presenting a first-person account of despair and poverty."[6] Jean Rosenbluth from Los Angeles Times wrote that in the "bittersweet" song, the group delivered "an astonishingly powerful song (melody and all)" that is second in life-in-the-ghetto resonance only to the Geto Boys' "Mind Playing Tricks on Me".[7]
A music video was produced to promote the single,[8] featuring the band rapping as they walk on sidewalks throughout the inner city. While hanging out they chase away a drug dealer and scare him with a machete. The video was later published on Tommy Boy Records' official YouTube channel in June 2018. It has amassed more than 2.8 million views as of October 2021.[9]
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[10] | 76 |
| Europe (European Dance Radio)[11] | 11 |
| UK Dance (Music Week)[12] | 29 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[13] | 53 |
| US Hot R&B Singles (Billboard)[14] | 12 |
| US Hot Rap Singles (Billboard) | 9 |
| US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard) | 8 |
. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 . Joel Whitburn . 2013 . Record Research . 603.
. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 424.