Produced 50-50 by DJ U-Neek and Eazy (with a little assist from DJ Yella on “Foe The Love of $”), it had a profound G-funk influence, but way slowed down, darker, and atmospheric. It featured classics like the title track, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” and “Foe The Love of $”, which featured Eazy-E himself. Signed to Ruthless Records by Eazy-E in 1993, they released a bomb (in a good way) of an EP called Creepin on Ah Come Up. Enterpri$e – was comprised of Bizzy Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, Wish Bone, and (somewhat unofficially at this time) Flesh-N-Bone. But, I’d like you to consider, would we have had this massive of a melodic movement without BTNH?įorming like motherfucking Voltron out of Cleveland, Ohio, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – then called B.O.N.E. Throw in autotune and you have the basis for most of pop rap’s mainstream make-up for the last decade. Artists gotta be that (at least) double threat. Rappers sing, singers rap – it’s not a new thing, but it’s something that really took the world by storm as of late. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that we wouldn’t be where we are now with hip-hop and r&b if it weren’t for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. and had just as much impact as both those other acts did on our music today. My dad is your most average middle-aged white guy ever, and even he will admit he’s always liked “Tha Crossroads”. Even people who don’t like hip-hop usually can appreciate some of their tracks and moments. It’s no wonder that he did sign them when he heard them, because it doesn’t take a genius then or now in my opinion to see the greatness of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. These are the guys who pooled their money together for one-way tickets to LA to try to track down Eazy-E so he would give them a chance. This is a truly eclectic rap album at a time where that just absolutely wasn’t a thing.īone Thugs did their own thing from the start, and were bold in a lot of their moves. The group is featured on Midwest classics, West Coast classics, and Southern hip-hop classics playlists on Spotify, and for good reason. This was a period where hip-hop rivalries were still raging, and Bone Thugs shrugged that aside and took some of the best parts of it all, making the absolute masterpiece that E. That all sounds impressive enough as is, but those are all elements that were popularized from hip-hop subcultures all around America. All of this was done with catchy and memorable G-funk beats, AND they incorporated really dark lyricism to help elevate the evolving horrorcore movement.
They balanced incredibly melodic singing bits filled with harmonies from the entire quintet in “Tha Crossroads” with blistering bars that got them respect from gangster rap fans with tracks like “Mr. It’s easy to argue there wouldn’t be rappers like Drake or Tech N9ne if it weren’t for the popularity of Bone Thugs. Most other hip-hop I heard at that age didn’t have that balance and it just didn’t click for me like this did. I loved the singing to their songs, but also liked the blistering bars interspersed. It’s one of my earliest memories, and more importantly for this writing, it was my first taste of hip-hop.įor quite a few years Bone Thugs were the only rap group I liked, and it was for one of their most unique and prominent aspects.
I vividly remember listening to “Tha Crossroads” sitting in their bedroom. This album came out when I was only a year old and was a regular in my sisters’ listening rotation while I grew up. 1999 Eternal in particular is a landmark album for the genre, and it’s one that holds a special place in my heart as well. I truly believe the sound of rap today would not be the same if it were not for Bone Thugs. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were easily one of the most influential rap groups of the 1990s.
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