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You might find it hard to believe but this year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Blu Cantrell’s hit song, “Hit Em Up Style.” The song was groundbreaking because not only did it speak about a woman getting revenge on a cheating man, the way she sought to do so was through spending his hard-earned money. Clever.
In honor of this hit, we’re taking a deep dive into the story behind this song. But before we get to that, we need to discuss the path which led Cantrell, whose real name is Tiffany Cobb, to this moment in time.
Before she decided to go solo, Cantrell had been trying to find her footing in the music industry for years. According to an interview Cantrell did with You Know I Got Soul, she shared that in the 90’s, she was singing background for Puffy Combs before she joined another girl group named 8th Avenue in 1999. Led by Teddy Riley, the group recorded songs for Blackstreet’s album Finally (none of which made it to the album) before Interscope Records disbanded them when Riley decided to reunite with Guy.
Eventually, Cantrell met Usher who introduced her to producer Tricky Stewart. Stewart’s initial plan for Cantrell was for her to join another girl group. But eventually, he came to the realization that she would be better as a solo artist.
With Stewart’s endorsement, there must have been quite a bit of excitement around Cantrell because there was a bidding war for her. Eventually, L.A. Reid and Arista Records won out.
That was the background of how Blu’s solo career began. Now let’s get into “Hit Em Up Style.”
