"Player's Anthem" is the first single released from the

Junior M.A.F.I.A. Junior M.A.F.I.A. was an American hip hop group from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City. The backronym M.A.F.I.A. stands for Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitudes. They were formed and mentored by New York rapper The Notorious B.I. ...

's debut album ''

Conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

''. Produced by

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

, the song contains a sample of The New Birth's song "You Are What I'm All About". Featuring a chorus by

the Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

, "Player's Anthem" became a big hit for the group, peaking at 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA on September 7, 1995 for sales of over 500,000 copies. The remix sounds similar to the original, but samples "Memory Lane" by

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

. The song also contains a sample of Doug E. Fresh's "

La Di Da Di "La Di Da Di" is a song performed by Doug E. Fresh, who provides the beatboxed instrumental, and MC Ricky D (later known as Slick Rick), who performs the vocals. It was originally released in 1985 as the B-side to " The Show". The song has si ...

" featuring

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. His songs " The Show" and ...

. A French musician, Jérémie Mondon (a.k.a.

Demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

) contains a sample from this song for the track called, "Streets" for his album, "Midnight Funk".

Live performances

Junior M.A.F.I.A. and The Notorious B.I.G. first performed the song live at the 1995 Source Awards on August 3. They also performed the song live in an episode of The Grind on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in 1995, in an episode of

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987, to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harve ...

which aired on November 18, 1995, and at

Stadion Feijenoord Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on July 6, 1996.

Single track listing

A-Side

#"Player's Anthem" (Dirty Version)- 5:24 #"Player's Anthem" (Radio Version)- 4:10 #"Player's Anthem" (Instrumental)- 4:10

B-Side

#"Player's Anthem" (Dirty Remix)- 4:10 #"Player's Anthem" (Radio Remix)- 4:17 #"Player's Anthem" (Remix Instrumental)- 4:10

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end chart

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1995 debut singles Junior M.A.F.I.A. songs The Notorious B.I.G. songs Dirty rap songs