Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

While rap's bicoastal monopoly is formidable, some lucky group from another corner of the
country snatches the headlines once in a blue moon, confounding East Coast and West
Coast alike. Arrested Development did it a few years ago with their radio-friendly,
Southern-fried sound. Now it's Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's turn. The group hails from the
heartland of Cleveland – E. 99th and St. Clair to be exact – which they call Land... More >

If the popular songs you love are gunslinging tales recited over a faux Bernie Worrell tootle, of course this wordy quintet will sound like some kind of change. Unison chants, schoolyard tunes, and goopy slow jams may not be how to rock anybody else's world, but gangstawise they add up to a new flava, kinda. Anyone musical enough to hum good, however, will find the concoction unfathomably dull even if they don't notice the cold hand of Eazy-E deadening beats from beyond the grave. (Grade: C)