"Ante Up (Robbin-Hoodz Theory)" (also simply known as "Ante Up") is a song by American hip hop duo M.O.P. from their fourth studio album ''

Warriorz ''Warriorz'' is the fourth full-length studio album released by M.O.P., a hip hop duo composed of emcees Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The album was released on October 10, 2000. Despite the growing popularity of M.O.P., this album marked their la ...

'' (2000). Seen as their breakthrough single, it was released in 2000 and reached number 7 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. A remix of the song features

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

Remy Ma Reminisce Mackie ( Smith; born May 30, 1980), known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper. Discovered by Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad. In 2006, she released her debut stud ...

rtin and Teflon. The remix CD includes an additional version which features

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot ...

Background and composition

In an interview with Zilla Rocca at Passion of Weiss, "It's a saying that we got from my mother, every time someone comes through the door she’s like, 'Where it's at? Ante up.' Just the fact that we took it from the street corner—there was two meaning to the record. It was ante up, we've been in this game too long you guys see how we demolish the stage, how we make short work of the main major artists when we get on their records and you still won't give us the props and the recognition that we deserve." The song is based around a sample from the

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

song "Soul Sister, Brown Sugar".

Music video

The music video for the song features M.O.P. performing the song at Herbert Von King Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, on stage. It features cameo appearances from

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

, Lord Have Mercy,

Easy Mo Bee Osten Harvey Jr. (born December 8, 1965), better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, known for his production work for artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Miles Davis, as well as his affiliatio ...

Ralph McDaniels Ralph McDaniels (born February 27, 1959) is an American music video director, DJ and VJ. He co-created and co-hosts the music video program ''Video Music Box'' with Lionel C. Martin. Biography McDaniels was born in Brooklyn, New York. His p ...

DJ Green Lantern James Christopher D'Agostino (born July 7, 1975), professionally known as DJ Green Lantern, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Rochester, New York. In 2002, D'Agostino was signed by American rapper Eminem, to become the official DJ for S ...

Buckshot A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired thro ...

Black Moon Black Moon may refer to: * Black moon, one of four astronomical events involving new or dark moons * Black Moon (person) (c. 1821–1893), Lakota (American Indian) headman * Black Moon or Lilith (hypothetical moon), a hypothetical natural satelli ...

Steele Steele may refer to: Places America * Steele, Alabama, a town * Steele, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Steele, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Steele, Missouri, a city * Lonetree, Montana, a ghost town originally called Steele ...

of Smif-N-Wessun,

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of t ...

Afu-Ra Aaron Phillip (born January 31, 1974), better known by his stage name Afu-Ra, is an American underground rapper. A member of the Gang Starr Foundation, he has worked closely with its members, including Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja, Big Shug an ...

, and

Tony Touch Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance ...

Usage in media

"Ante Up" was featured in several films within years of its release, such as ''

The Last Castle ''The Last Castle'' is a 2001 American action drama film directed by Rod Lurie, starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Delroy Lindo. The film portrays a struggle between inmates and the warden of a military prison, based o ...

'', ''

Brown Sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

'', '' Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star'', the dance film ''

You Got Served ''You Got Served'' is a 2004 American dance drama film written and directed by Chris Stokes, who was also the business manager of the performers who were the film's main characters: recording artist Marques Houston and the boy band B2K. The plo ...

'', '' 30 Minutes or Less'' and '' A Simple Favor''. The song was also featured in an episode of the short lived television series ''

Robbery Homicide Division ''Robbery Homicide Division'' (''RHD'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 27, 2002 to April 21, 2003, created by Barry Schindel with executive producers Michael Mann and Sandy Climan. Overview The ...

'', as well as an episode of ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

'' ("The Chopper") and an episode of ''

The Mindy Project ''The Mindy Project'' is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its run of six seasons on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Un ...

'' ("In the Club") and '' Superstore'' in the fourth episode ("mannequin") In 2003, the song was sampled by

Javine Hylton Javine Dionne Hylton (born 27 December 1981), often known simply as Javine, is an English singer and songwriter. She represented the UK at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with "Touch My Fire". Hylton has also had a string of singles in ...

for her debut single " Real Things". However, it gained mainstream attention after being sampled by

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied w ...

in the song " The Time Is Now". M.O.P. eventually sued, but later dropped legal proceedings for the alleged unlawful sampling. The guitar version of the song can be heard in the video game '' Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition''. In 2014, it was used for an advert for O2 Bundles in the UK, and is used in British TV show ''

Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports. First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the f ...

'' in a segment entitled "that's obscene, that is". In 2017,

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

and member of the

Sidemen A sideman is a musician who performs live with a band of which they are not a permanent member. Sideman or Sidemen may also refer to: * Sidemen, Bali, a district in the Karangasem Regency of Bali * Sideman (bishop), a 10th-century Bishop of Cred ...

, W2S, sampled the song for his

KSI Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), known professionally as KSI, is an English YouTuber and rapper. He is a co-founder and member of the British YouTube group known as the Sidemen. He is the CEO of Misfits Boxing and ...

diss track ''KSI Sucks'', which, as of January 2023, has over 70 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. In 2018, W2S sampled the song again for his

RiceGum Bryan Quang Le (born November 19, 1996), better known as RiceGum, is an American YouTuber and rapper, best known for his diss tracks and online feuds with other YouTube personalities. Since creating his YouTube channel, his channel has receiv ...

diss track, entitled ''Ricegum Sucks''. This has, as of January 2023, over 30 million views on YouTube. In 2017, the song was featured in the trailer of the game ''

Tekken 7 is a fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the seventh main and ninth overall installment in the ''Tekken '' series. ''Tekken 7'' was released to arcades in March 2015. An updated arcade version, ''Tekken 7 ...

''. In 2017, the song is also heard in the movie ''

Bodied ''Bodied'' is a 2017 American battle rap comedy-drama film directed by Joseph Kahn. It was written by Alex Larsen and produced by Eminem, his manager Paul Rosenberg, and Adi Shankar. The film first premiered at the 2017 Toronto International ...

''. In the 2018 movie '' A Simple Favor'', Stephanie Smothers (

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

) is seen rapping this song in her car. In 2021,

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

Background and composition

Music video

Usage in media

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References