Blu Cantrell, “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 51^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2022), we recollect and reflect on “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” by Blu Cantrell. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome – we don’t discriminate ‘round here! In the 51^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2022), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)”, performed by 🎙 Blu Cantrell.

Theme & Lyrics ✍ 

“While he was schemin’ / I was beamin’ in the Beamer just steamin’ / Can’t believe that I caught my man cheatin’ / So, I found another way to make him pay for it all.” Oh, snap 🫰🏿, 🎙 Blu Cantrell! The R&B singer broke through big time with 🎵 “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)”.  The 2001 gem appears on her debut album, 💿 So Blu. Make no mistake about it, “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” was a gargantuan hit, peaking at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and helping So Blue secure gold certification. The record samples Frank Sinatra (🎵 “The Boy’s Night Out”), giving it some jazziness for a contemporary R&B joint.  “Hit ‘Em Up Style” was produced by 🎛 Dallas Austin.

So, what’s the premise? Basically, Blu’s no-good man is cheating on her and she makes him pay by spending his money! Essentially, she’s a woman scorned but she’s not leaving empty-handed (“(Oops!) For all the lies you told / This is what you’re owed”).  In the second verse, she sells his stuff, pays the bills late, and puts on a show to make him cease his cheating ways.  Of course, nothing is more effective than the chorus, which after more than two decades, remains potent:

“Hey ladies, when ya man wanna get buck wild

Just go back and hit ’em up style

Get your hands on his cash and

Spend it to the last dime for all the hard times

Oh, when you go, then everything goes

From the crib to the ride and the clothes

So you better let ’em know that

If he mess up, you gotta hit ’em up.”

Final Thoughts 💭 

Men don’t cheat on your women.  Likewise, women, don’t cheat on your men.  STOP CHEATING!!! That said, 🎵 “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” is all about a cheating man, a perfect scenario for an R&B song (it’s more fun when the men cheat in these songs, don’t you think).  Many would’ve killed for this timeless, 🎙 Blu Cantrell gem.  SOOO GOOD!!!

🎙 Blu Cantrell • 💿 So Blu • 🏷 Arista • 📅 2001

Blu Cantrell, “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 51 (2022) [📷: Arista, Brent Faulkner, Gerhard G., JL G via Pixabay,  Karl Hörnfeldt via Unsplash,  The Musical Hype]