Naughty By Nature has become the latest artist to return from rap music's not-so-distant past, and next month the rap trio will release its first new album in four years, "19-Naughty-Nine - Nature's Fury."

Like most hip-hop albums of the last few years, Naughty's new album is loaded with collaborations with other prominent rap acts -- including Master P, Silkk the Shocker, Mystikal and Big Punisher.

MTV News talked with Naughty By Nature recently, and Vinnie explained how such a cooperative mood in rap today has made such guest appearances a standard component of most hip-hop records.

"Well, the thing with [all] the artist collaborations now," Vinnie said, " I guess a lot of artists are smarter... now. A lot of artists were ignorant in the past by 'territorializing' themselves -- not wanting to collaborate."

he continued. "One market could be hot this year, and be cold the next. So I guess a lot of artists are smarter now in that they're conscious about being diverse and [do so with] collaborations" [28.8 RealVideo].

Before the release of the new record, Naughty plans to help freshen audience's memories of their past glories by issuing a greatest hits collection, entitled "Nature's Finest," on April 6.