The song was recorded as a demo a year before the group's first release and features a sample of Herbie Hancock's song "Cantaloupe Island", it did not chart in their native UK. In the US, "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the group's only top 40 single. It was re-released in UK where it peaked at No. 23.

"Cantaloop" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 25, 1994 for sales of over 500,000 copies.

The original song, "Cantaloupe Island", is a 16 bar repeated chart consisting of F minor for 4 measures, D♭7 for 4 measures, D minor for 4 measures, then F minor again. "Cantaloop" excludes the D minor section, uses the F minor section during the verses, and goes between the F minor and D♭7 during the horn riffs and trumpet solo. The featured soloist is Gerard Presencer.

The song makes notable mention of the Birdland jazz club in New York City in its opening line – "Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have something special down here at Birdland this evening: a recording for Blue Note Records." The line, spoken by Pee Wee Marquette, is taken from Art Blakey's first Birdland album, A Night at Birdland Vol. 1.

There are recurring samples, particularly in the beginning, of two men saying "yeah!" and "what's that?". Both of these were taken from the intro to Lou Donaldson's song, "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)".

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