On this day (July 25th) in 1995, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony would radically change the trajectory of hip-hop forever. They released E. 1999 Eternal, the group’s second studio album after Creepin on ah Come Up in 1994 with classic records like “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” and “Foe tha Love of $.” Eazy-E served as the executive producer for the album, in addition to being the group’s mentor. Tragically, he passed away 4 months before its release date, giving E. 1999 Eternal an incredibly eerie feeling today.
Take “Tha Crossroads,” a titanic ode to grief, the fast lives and how quickly we can lose the people we love most in our lives. Everyone knows the refrain “I miss my uncle Charles, y’all,” a wail of mourning from Wish Bone from the tragedies of the streets. If E. 1999 Eternal ruminates on death and mortality as a fact of life, an unavoidable foe, then “Tha Crossroads” is its centerpiece. Despite their callousness, everything eventually falls apart and the grief encompasses them completely.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Understated Influence on Hip-Hop With E. 1999 Eternal
E. 1999 Eternal is also quietly very influential when examining the hip-hop landscape. In the sphere of midwest hip-hop, it opened up the margins significantly for who could receive airplay. Who knows if guys like Kid Cudi and King Chip ever blow up out of Cleveland if Bone Thugs-N-Harmony don’t take the massive leap first?
Similarly, they don’t get enough credit for introducing melody into rapping. People rightfully identify their flows as inimitable and wildly inspiring. But they pull off such bendy and radical tempos because of how they contort melody in their rapping. Singing and rapping can have real interplay because of how Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rap. The DNA of modern rap can trace back to records like “1st of Tha Month.” They’re one of the most underrated groups in hip-hop but their peak is undeniable. It always traces back to E. 1999 Eternal.
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