(CONTENT TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA)
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony is an American hip hop group from the Glenville section of Cleveland, Ohio. They are best known for their fast-paced, aggressive rapping style and harmonizing vocals. The group was mainly produced by Los Angeles producer, DJ U-Neek. In 1997, the group was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance with their song "Tha Crossroads" from their E 1999 Eternal album. Since its conception in 1993,[1] the group has been honored with numerous other awards.
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony also collaborated with 2Pac, Eazy-E, Big Pun, and The Notorious B.I.G. being the only artists to work with all of them while they were still alive. They are currently signed to their own label, BTNH Worldwide with a distribution link from Warner Bros.
Contents
Early yearsFaces of Death
Formed in the early 1990s, the group consisted of four members: Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone and Wish Bone. Their first album, Faces Of Death, was recorded in 1993 under the name B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e. After adding current member Flesh-n-Bone to the group and heading to Los Angeles in search of famous producer and N.W.A. member Eazy-E, their careers took off. In hopes of securing a record
deal, the group was given an audition over the phone receiving an unfulfilled promise from Eazy-E to call them back. Discovering that Eazy-E was performing back in their hometown of Cleveland, the group took a charter bus back to their home turf to open Eazy-E's show and they were then signed to Ruthless Records on the spot.
Ruthless RecordsCreepin on ah Come Up
Released in June 1994, the EP Creepin on ah Come Up, was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's debut with Ruthless Records. After a slow start that saw the album's success limited to gangsta rap audiences, it broke through to the mainstream with the release of the singles "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Foe tha Love of $," the second of which featured a verse by Eazy-E. Videos for the mega hits "Foe tha Love of $" and "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" increased the group's reputation among audiences. Beats were supplied by Kenny McCloud, Rhythm D, DJ Yella, and newcomer DJ U-Neek. The album has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.[2]
E 1999 Eternal
In 1995 E 1999 Eternal saw Bone diversify its content and musical style. It debuted at #1 with 307,000 copies sold in its first week.[citation needed] The G-Funk style beats were smoothed by DJ U-Neek (with co-production from Tony Cowan and Kenny McCloud). The singles 1st Of Tha Month and Tha Crossroads were both huge successes, the second of which reached
#1 on the Billboard Hot 100. A considerable portion of the album's concept was built upon violent subject matter, yet Bone also incorporated deeper themes, as its songs dealt with more spirituality and occult mysticism. One of the group's more commercially successful albums, it has since been certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA.[3]
The Art Of War
In 1997, the group released the double-disc set The Art of War, backed by the single "Look into My Eyes", which also appeared on the soundtrack of the film Batman & Robin. The album saw Bone further explore a wide variety of subjects and styles, with even more focus on God and family and an overall more ambient, mellow sound. The album also included "Thug Luv" with Tupac Shakur.
The album is also influenced by the book of the same name by author Sun Tzu. The Art of War philosophy is littered throughout the album. the album had initial success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 (with 394,000 copies sold in the first week). "Look Into My Eyes" (which charted at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100)
BTNHResurrection
In 2000, Bone delivered BTNHResurrection, their first group album to prominently feature Flesh-n-Bone, whose presence was limited on previous releases because he had never signed with the group's label Ruthless Records. With Flesh-n-Bone appearing on fourteen of the album's sixteen songs, Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone took a lesser role, appearing on nine and eight songs, respectively. The album's first half featured a slew of hardcore and dark tracks, with the second half being considerably more introspective and soft. The album also featured one of the group's biggest singles, "Resurrection (Paper, Paper) in which only reached Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at #126.The album debuted at #2 on the charts, selling 283,000 copies in its first week.
After Ruthless
Strength & Loyalty
Originally to be called The Bone Thugs Story, Strength & Loyalty was released on May 8, 2007. Being their first major album after an absence of nearly five years, the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on iTunes and the Billboard Urban Music charts. The album contains guest appearances by Mariah Carey, The Game, will.i.am, Akon, Twista, Bow Wow, Yolanda Adams, and Felecia. Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" is sampled strongly for "Wind Blow."
Producers on the album included Swizz Beatz, Akon, Pretty Boy & Bradd Young, DJ Toomp, Jermaine Dupri, will.i.am, and others. The executive producer of the album was Swizz Beatz. Bone's video "I Tried" (Directed by Rich Newey) was launched on March 7, 2007, their first single from the album Strength and Loyalty, followed by the second single "Lil Love". This album and Bone were nominated for the Favorite Album (Rap/Hip-Hop) and Favorite Band/Group (Rap/Hip-Hop) on American Music Awards 2007[6] Bone Thugs-n-Harmony won the award for favorite Band/Group. The album has sold over 638,475 copies in the U.S. and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.[7] The group has also made a movie called I Tried
Reunion
In November 2007, Layzie Bone confirmed that he had completed the Bone Brothers III album with Bizzy Bone, spurring speculation of a full Bone reunion. In a video interview[3], Krayzie Bone stated that they all wanted to reunite but that record label issues may prevent an official reunion. Bizzy Bone had attended a Bone Thugs performance during the time and he and the three then-standing members had a "good conversation".
After nearly a decade of incarceration, Flesh-n-Bone was released from prison on July 13 of 2008 and was soon photographed with all four other members. The reunited Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have reportedly been seen in studio working together for the first time in many years. [9] In an interview, Bizzy confirmed his return to the group, spurred by Flesh's release and Layzie Bone's diplomacy; the five are indeed now working on a new studio album, Uni5, having recorded 10-20 tracks out of a possible 100-200. Producers are set to include Krayzie Bone, Damon Elliott (son of Dionne Warwick), Anthony Cowan a.k.a. Tony C, Scott Storch, and possibly Dr. Dre and Akon.[10]
Style and technique
Known for their flow, speed, and lyricism, Bone's style and technique can be described as melodic, rapid-fire and aggressive. Their flow is often interwoven at a high speed melodic pace or slow harmonic pace. They also tend to ride the beat that they're rapping over. Sometimes there are very few choruses separating their verses from one another. In the beginning, circa Faces of Death, Bone used a pseudo-Jamaican patois delivery with their trademark style, though they rarely do this now. Bone's subject matter has both spiritual and occult undertones (e.g., "Hell Sent", "Intro", "Mr. Ouija", "Mr. Ouija 2" and "Da Introduction"). At first, their subject matter was almost always exclusively about violence and smoking marijuana. Today, however, their subject matter includes other topics such as urban socio-political issues, their old friend and mentor Eazy-E and religion. Besides minor changes to subject matter and sound, their lyrical style, locution, and overall methodology remain intact.
Sales
The group has become one of the most commercially successful rap acts, selling over 30 million records in the United States, and over 50 million records worldwide.[13][14]
Awards
EMEKA ONYEJEKWE AKA MEKKA DON
