Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

Ron Wynn from AllMusic stated that "when words and music mesh", as on "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)", "Us3 show how effectively hip-hop and jazz can blend."{{cite web|first= Ron |last= Wynn |title= Us3 – Hand On the Torch |publisher= AllMusic |accessdate= 9 November 2020 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/hand-on-the-torch-mw0000105450}} Another AllMusic editor, Stewart Mason, complimented it as "excellent" and "probably the best acid jazz single ever".{{cite web|first= Stewart |last= Mason |title= Us3 – Flip Fantasia: Hits & Remixes |publisher= AllMusic |accessdate= 9 November 2020 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/flip-fantasia-hits-remixes-mw0000237731}} Larry Flick from Billboard said, "Tired of the same old urban grind? Here's just what you need: a zesty stew of traditional jazz-fusion, hip-hop, and classic funk. Live horns (with a trumpet solo that works!), imaginative use of samples from Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloop{{Sic}} Island", and diggy-diggy-bop rapping render this an essential playlist addition."{{cite magazine|first= Larry |last= Flick |title= Single Reviews |magazine= Billboard |date= 13 March 1993 |page= 118 |accessdate= 26 October 2020 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1993/BB-1993-03-13.pdf |author-link= Larry Flick}} The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen noted its "trip-hop mood".{{cite web|first= Christopher |last= Thelen |title= Hand On The Torch – Us3 |publisher= The Daily Vault |date= 31 December 1998 |accessdate= 22 November 2020 |url= http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=641}} David Hajdu from Entertainment Weekly named it "one of the best singles of the year".{{cite magazine|first= David |last= Hajdu |title= Hand On the Torch |magazine= Entertainment Weekly |date= 14 January 1994 |accessdate= 11 November 2020 |url= https://ew.com/article/1994/01/14/hand-torch/ |author-link= David Hajdu}} Linda Ryan from the Gavin Report commented, "It just doesn't get cooler than this! US3 combine jazz, hip-hop and house grooves for a fresh sound that begs to be discovered in a big way. If you thought Guru's Jazzmatazz was phat and all that, wait 'til you hear US3's "Cantaloop!" I prefer either the Radio Edit or the Groovy Mix. Aw, yeah."{{cite magazine|first= Linda |last= Ryan |title= Alternative: New Releases |magazine= Gavin Report |date= 8 October 1993 |page= 54 |accessdate= 16 October 2020 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Gavin-Report/90/93/Gavin-1993-10-08.pdf}}

The Irish Independent deemed it "excellent".Irish Independent. 5 October 1993. p. 22. Calvin Bush from Melody Maker called it "exultant".{{cite magazine|first=Calvin|last=Bush|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52933073798/|title=Albums|work=Melody Maker|date=24 July 1993|page=35|access-date=5 June 2023}} Another music critic, Peter Paphides, felt "this new colourful little number is piquant yet sweet, adventurous yet convivial, brusque yet somehow inviting."{{cite magazine|first=Peter|last=Paphides|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52974886566/|title=Singles|work=Melody Maker|date=18 September 1993|page=36|access-date=17 June 2023|author-link=Peter Paphides}} Alan Jones from Music Week named it Pick of the Week, praising it as a "superb" rap and "funky, spunky, tasty, sample-strewn and cool jazz jam".{{cite magazine|first= Alan |last= Jones |title= Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles - Pick of the Week |magazine= Music Week |date= 18 September 1993 |page= 16 |accessdate= 2 April 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-09-18-I.pdf}} The magazine's Andy Beevers gave it four out of five, noting that the song "is even more catchy than "Tukka Yoot's Riddim". Rahsaan is the rapper this time and the vibe is funky rather than ragga influenced."{{cite magazine|first= Andy |last= Beevers |title= Market Preview: Dance |magazine= Music Week |date= 11 September 1993 |page= 14 |accessdate= 2 April 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-09-11.pdf}} Neil Spencer from The Observer considered it the "standout" of the album.Spencer, Neil (11 July 1993). "Pop Releases". The Observer. Dimitri Ehrlich from Rolling Stone found that "Cantaloop" "is as easily digested as the fruit it's named after."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/us3/albums/album/283686/review/5943096/hand_on_the_torch|title=Us3: Hand on the Torch|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501071046/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/us3/albums/album/283686/review/5943096/hand_on_the_torch|archive-date=1 May 2009}} Adam Higginbotham from Select named it a "outstanding effort" and "infectious".{{cite magazine|first=Adam|last=Higginbotham|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/03/albums2.jpg|title=New Albums|work=Select|date=August 1993|page=103|access-date=1 January 2025|author-link=Adam Higginbotham}} Charles Aaron from Spin wrote, "When this gem popped out of the sound system at Madison Square Garden (Knicks 98, Clippers 77, January 11, 1994), even Woody Allen quit slouching. For the 20-second time-out, I could envision a jazz orchestra doing hip-hop repertory in a racially mixed midtown disco. And it was a really good idea."{{cite magazine|first=Charles|last=Aaron|title=Singles|magazine=Spin|date=April 1994|page=96|accessdate=27 January 2023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLwsk0pC50gC|author-link=Charles Aaron}} Troy J. Augusto from Variety described it as "a smooth, midtempo jazz track" that heavily samples the Herbie Hancock track.{{cite magazine|first=Troy J.|last=Augusto|url=https://variety.com/1994/legit/reviews/us3-1200436822/|title=Us3|magazine=Variety|date=5 April 1994|page=|accessdate=2 March 2022}}

A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Charles Wittenmeier. It earned an award in the category for Best New Artist Clip at the 1994 Billboard Music Video Awards in Los Angeles.{{cite magazine|first= Larry |last= Flick |title= Dance Trax: M People's 3rd deConstruction Set To Bear 'Fruit' |magazine= Billboard |date= 19 November 1994 |page= 33 |accessdate= 10 October 2020 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1994/BB-1994-11-19-N.pdf |author-link= Larry Flick}} The video was later made available on YouTube's Vevo channel in 2009, and had generated more than 14 million views as of early 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwBjhBL9G6U|title=US3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) [Official Video]|publisher=YouTube|date=12 March 2009|access-date=4 January 2023}}

"Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" was awarded one of ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Awards in 1995.{{cite magazine|first=|last=|title=Congratulations To Our Winners|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1995/BB-1995-07-01.pdf|magazine=Billboard|date=1 July 1995|page=16|accessdate=28 November 2022}}

American online publication Slant Magazine listed the song at number 76 in their ranking of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s" in 2011, writing, "They got the beats. They got the rhymes. Us3’s sole pop hit, “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)”, is a cheerfully funky fusion of jazz and hip-hop—nothing more, nothing less. What it lacks in social consciousness it makes up for in musical brinkmanship: The production’s exciting explosion of frenetic horn riffs, interrupted only by a sick trumpet solo by Gerard Presencer, samples Herbie Hancock and Lou Donaldson, among others, and grooves in scary synchronicity with the uncannily delivered lyrics by one-time member Rahsaan Kelly. The mood is creative, idealistic, and laidback, suggesting the good vibes of A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets. It’s a sweet, slick, funky maelstrom of sound that’s also a time capsule of a gorgeously short-lived musical form. Diddi-diddi bop."{{cite web|url= https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/best-singles-of-the-1990s/3/ |title= The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s |work= Slant Magazine |accessdate= 3 May 2021 |date= 9 January 2011}}

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"Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" is played in the films Super Mario Bros. (1993), Jimmy Hollywood (1994), Renaissance Man (1994), It Takes Two (1995),{{cite web|title=It Takes Two (1995)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113442/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd|website=imdb}} Sisters (2015),{{cite web |url=https://www.insoundtrack.com/movie/sisters-2015|title=Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) [Goldfish Remix] Goldfish & Us3 in Sisters Movie| website=InSoundtrack}} and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), and in the TV shows New York Undercover, Hindsight, the Baywatch episode "Someone to Baywatch Over You" (1994) and the Australian news satire Frontline. It is also featured in the PlayStation 4 video game Knack II (2017), during the end credits showing Knack in his various sizes dancing to the song,{{Cite web|url=https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/knack-2-ps4/|title=Knack 2|website=Playstation|access-date=2017-09-10}} and was used as the theme song for The Connection radio program on WBUR.{{cite book|title=The Connection|url=http://www.theconnection.org/|publisher=WBUR}} In 2024, the song was used as background music in U.S. TV commercials for Johnsonville Sausage's "Keep It Juicy" campaign.

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Category:1992 debut singles

Category:Us3 songs

Category:Jazz rap songs

Category:1992 songs

Category:Songs written by Herbie Hancock