Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony -- the resilient group comprised Cleveland, OH, natives Anthony "Krayzie Bone" Henderson, Charles "Wish Bone" Scruggs, Steve "Layzie Bone" Howse, and (from nearby Columbus) Byron "Bizzy Bone" McCane -- redrew the hip-hop map. When Bone burst onto the scene, commercially successful hip-hop came almost exclusively from New York and California. A telephone audition with Eazy-E of L.A.'s most notorious group, N.W.A, provided Bone with its break. Eazy-E sent Bone bus tickets to Los Angeles, where the group signed to Ruthless Records. Bone's unique sound -- light-speed, snappily syncopated raps combined with round-toned, sweet soul harmonies -- was already in evidence on its eight-song debut proper, Creepin On Ah Come Up. Their grimy East Cleveland street origins and Eazy-E's gangsta tutelage informed the EP's breakout hits "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "For tha Love of $."

In March 1995, while Bone was recording its full-length debut, E. 1999 Eternal, Eazy-E died of AIDS. His passing deepened Bone's sense of purpose. The group's tribute to its mentor, "Crossroad," got a radio-ready remix rebirth as "Tha Crossroads" and became its biggest hit, tieing the Beatles' 32-year-old record for the fastest-rising Billboard single. Clad all in white, the group performed the song on that year's Grammy Awards, and took home the trophy for Best Rap Performance.

Followup double album The Art of War spawned hit singles "Look into My Eyes" and "If I Could Teach the World" but was plagued by an excess of rote material. (This problem can be attributed at least in part to Bone's prolific output, making both Collection CDs welcome distillations of their weighty catalogue.) The Art of War did, however, contain the Cameo-sampling nugget "Blaze It," suggesting that even though Cypress Hill are hip-hop's most famous herb advocates, Bone's blissful, plentiful pot paeans take you higher. Though there is something to recommend on all of Bone's solo albums, the group recognizes its superior unified strength. Later albums BTNHResurrection and Thug World Order even suggest that their soul-stirring singing is well suited to the mellowness of age.

Now that there are rap superstars from every corner of the country, it's easy to overlook Bone's early role in expanding hip-hop's geographic boundaries. That it also broadened the genre's artistic parameters is to the group's lasting credit. When its staccato rhyming cadence is purposely copied -- as Biggie Smalls did on his rousing Bone collabo "Notorious Thugs" -- it makes the group's unique identity clear. Having recorded with everyone from 2Pac to Mariah Carey, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony remains one of popular music's most intriguing and enduring propositions. (PETER RELIC)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide