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Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is a US rap group from Cleveland, Ohio. Blessed with a quick, sometimes sung delivery, the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony burst out of the Midwest in the mid-1990s with a pair of massive hits ("Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Tha Crossroads") along with a great album (E. 1999 Eternal) but then their success quickly unraveled.

History

Their career took off in 1993 after heading to India on the magic school bus bus in search of rapper Elton John. They auditioned over the skies, and Eazy-E said he would call back, but he never did. When the group found out that Eazy-E was performing in Soviet Russia, they went backstage to audition in person. Backstage, live on The Box, they rapped for Eazy and were signed to Ruthless Records on the spot.

Their first Ruthless release, was an EP, Creepin on ah Come Up, which featured production by Yella of N.W.A fame and was released in 1994. It sold over three million copies and contained the hit singles "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Foe Tha Love of $". "Thuggish Ruggish Bone," a conventional G-funk song with an unconventional array of Bone Thug rappers became an overnight summer anthem, especially throughout the Midwest. Amid the fervor, the Cleveland rap group entered the studio immediately and emerged with a remarkable album, E 1999 Eternal (1995).

Upon the release of their second album E. 1999 Eternal, their mentor Eazy-E died suddenly of AIDS. In order to honor Eazy-E, the group recorded a remix to the song "Crossroad", a track from the album and the new song was dedicated to him. The new track called "Tha Crossroads" was an instant classic and shot to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1996 and remained there for 8 consecutive weeks. Demand for the song was so enormous that the song broke The Beatles' 32 year-old record for fastest rising single on the Hot 100, and also earned the group a Grammy award the following year. "Tha Crossroads" sold over 2 million copies and was added to later pressings of the album. Since then E. 1999 Eternal has sold over 5 million copies in the United States.

After the smash success of E. 1999 Eternal, it seems like it was all downhill from there for the group. As was in vogue at the time, the group members pursued respective solo careers and also a Mo Thugs Family spin-off group, but none of these ventures was successful. At this point, the onetime cohesive group, who specialized in interwoven, harmonious singing as well as rapping, became conflicted and did not collaborate well, particularly after their ambitious 1997 The Art of War album failed to live up to the success of their previous effort. A second round of solo albums sold even more poorly, and the Bone Thugs popularity waned. Occasional reunions such as BTNHResurrection (2000) produced shades of their past glory, but these were brief and few and far between.

Perhaps the group's most important contribution to rap is their speedy, harmonizing flow. While fast rapping has always had a niche in the culture, certainly brought the style to the forefront. The group is well-known for its remarkable ability to harmonize whilst flowing at top speeds. They are significant also as a group that has sung a cappella without a loss of street cred. Although 1996 was the peak of their popular appeal, they still have a fairly large cult following especially in the midwest. There always seems to be rumors of a breakup (stemming from problems between Bizzy and the rest of the group), yet every two or three years they release an album, in addition to a number of successful solo albums. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony hold the great distinction of being the only artists to have collaborated with all three of the late rappers Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur, and the Notorious B.I.G.. They are also well known for their collaboration with Mariah Carey on her 1998 hit single, Breakdown. In 2002, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony came out with an album called "Thug World Order" and one of their songs called "Home" featured Phil Collins. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are considered by many music critics to be one of the greatest rap groups of all time.

In late 2005 the group was given new life when they were featured on the remix of Mariah Carey's number 1 song "Don't Forget About Us. When Carey's hit debuted at radio many fans remarked that it reminded them of her duet with the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, "Breakdown". It was only natural that she might consider the Bone Thugs for her urban remix. Over the years Carey remained friends with the members of the group and continued to believe in their talent. Carey who, like the Bone Thugs, had also fallen on hard times in her career was eager to give them an opportunity to shine on a popular hit record. Their work on the remix enabled Carey's hit song to increase its airplay and overtake her competition on the Hot 100 airplay chart. Immediately afer the remix was released to radio in early December 2005, urban radio stations throughout the midwest placed it in heavy rotation. On Cleveland's Kiss 96.5 FM Carey's number of spins increased from 30 to 83 in one week after the remix was added, demonstrating the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's continued viability with music fans.

Departure of Flesh-N-Bone

Though Flesh-N-Bone, who is Layzie Bone's older brother, never signed with the group when they joined Ruthless Records he has always been a part of the Bone Thugs family and frequently performed with them or appreared with them in public. In 2000, Flesh-N-Bone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for threatening a friend with an assualt weapon. He is expected to be released on parole by 2008.

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Relationship with Bizzy Bone

In late 2002, Bizzy Bone departed from the group after giving a drunken performance with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at BB King's Blues Club in New York City. In October 2003, he rejoined the group for the Wicked Wonka Tour with the Insane Clown Posse and soon recorded Bone Brothers, a duet album with Layzie Bone. Things quickly turned sour, though, as Bizzy declined to tour to support the album and refused to sign a record contract with the rest of the group to Swizz Beatz' Full Surface Records. After this and a number of other incidents, the group once again cut ties with Bizzy Bone in May 2005.

Line-up

Current members

• Krayzie Bone
• Layzie Bone
• Wish Bone

Former members

• Bizzy Bone
• Flesh-N-Bone

Discography

• Bone's Greatest Weed Songs (2006) (available at bonethugaffiliated.com)
• Bone Thug Story (2006)
• Strength & Loyalty (2006) (available online only)
• Greatest Hits (Chopped & Screwed) (2005)
• Bone 4 Life (2005) (available at upidistribution.com)
• Ghetto Street Thugz (2005) (available at bonethugaffiliated.com)
• Greatest Hits (2004) Gold
• Bone Thug Affiliates (2004) (available at bonethugaffiliated.com)
• Bone Instrumentals (2003) (available at bonethugaffiliated.com)
• Thug World Order (2002) #12 US, Gold
• BTNHResurrection (2000) #2 US, Platinum
• The Art of War (2-Disc Set) (1997) #1 US, 4x Platinum
• E. 1999 Eternal (1995) #1 US, 5x Platinum, 5,130,521 copies (July 2005)
• Creepin on ah Come Up (1994) #12 US, 3x Platinum, 3,356,443 copies (April 2005)
• Faces of Death (1993) (as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e)

Compiliation albums

• Greatest Hits (Chopped and Screwed) (2005)
• Greatest Hits (2004) (2-Disc Set) #95 US, Gold, 344,000 copies (September 2005)
• The Collection Volume Two (2000) #42 US
• The Collection Volume One (1998) #25 US, Platinum

(All sales numbers are US only).

Hit singles

• From Thug World Order
  • 2003 "Home" #19 UK

• From Mariah Carey's Butterfly
  • 1998 "Breakdown" #12, US R&B

• From The Art Of War
  • 1997 "Look Into My Eyes" #4 US

• From E. 1999 Eternal
  • 1996 "Tha Crossroads" #1 (8 Weeks) US
  • 1995 "1st of Tha Month" #14 US

• From Creepin on ah Come Up
  • 1994 "Foe Tha Love of $" #41 US
  • 1994 "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" #22 US

External links

• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Fan Site
• BTNH Central
• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
• Bone Thug Affiliated

• American hip hop groups