Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Young Thugs video from the album T.H.U.G.S.

It’s hard to believe that its been a decade since we last heard Biggie Smalls and his notorious “Uh uhs” in real life. The memory of when I first heard the news is still vivid. My dad was over to take my sister and me for the weekend and I barely reached the kitchen when he told me that the Notorious B.I.G. was dead. To say the moment felt surreal would be understatement.

I just bought the recent issue of The Source the night before with Biggie on the cover and a great feature article where he talked about how he was coming back for his number one spot. My last thought before going to sleep was, he was coming back and no rapper could come close to stopping him. Everything about him seemed larger than life, the rhymes, the flow, the suits, the way he took care everyone, how personable he was on camera and then suddenly it all stopped.

“The Greatest Rapper of All Time died on March 9th”
-Canibus “Second Round Knockout”

People will debate who the greatest rapper of all time is until they are blue in the face, but everyone will agree that Biggie Smalls was the illest. It was an arduous task but I made a list of the ten best Biggie verses of all time. Some people’s favorites were left out, and I apologize. Biggie probably deserves three or four top ten lists. The hardest omissions were “Mo Money Mo Problems”, the storytelling verses like “I Got a Story to Tell” and “Niggas Bleed”, the sentimental “Sky’s The Limit”, the underrated “Everyday Struggle”, the cult classic “Last Days”, guest appearances like “Get Money” and “Benjamins”, and my favorite line ever from the track “Ready to Die” where Big rapped “I got techniques dripping out my butt cheeks / Sleep on my stomach so I don’t fuck up my sheets”.

10. “Flava In Ya Ear (remix)”

Memorable Lines
Niggaz is mad I get more butts than ashtrays

I see the gimmicks, the wack lyrics / That shit is depressing, pathetic, please forget it / Mad cause my style you admiring / Don’t be mad UPS is hiring

Comments
Whoever thought it was a good idea to start this posse cut mad a big mistake. Biggie stole the show and made the other rappers look average including the extra animated Busta Rhymes (and you know how I feel about the Dungeon Dragon and Posse Cuts). Craig Mack and Big put Bad Boy on the map and it was only fitting that they remixed (considering they invented the remix) one of their earliest hits.

9. 1st Verse “Long Kiss Goodnight”

Memorable Lines
I make your mouth piece obese like Della Reese

You know the rules / Went from BK to New Jeruze / Look at the planes we flew / Bitches we ran through / Now the year’s new / I want my spot back, take two

Comments
After his car accident, Biggie was hospitalized for a few weeks and watched a lot of movies. One of his favorites was “Long Kiss Goodnight” with Geena Davis and Samuel Jackson. He was often accompanied by his then girlfriend who was looking to become a rapper. Big suggested that she take the name of Geena Davis’ character in the movie, Charlie Baltimore. I did not include the verse because of the story but instead because of the hunger Biggie rapped with on the first verse. He was telling all other rappers that they were playing for second place.

8. 1st Verse “Dead Wrong”

Memorable Lines
Relax and take notes, while I take tokes of the marijuana smoke / Throw you in a choke gun smoke, gun smoke

I guess I was a combination of House of Pain and Bobby Brown / I was “Humpin Around” and “Jump in Around” / Jacked her then I asked her who’s the man; she said, “B I G” / Then I bust in her E Y E

Comments
Everything about this verse is aggressive including the way he delivered his lines. Biggie had pretty graphic and excessively violent lyrics but this could top them all. Some people may have problems with the content of his lyrics but those same people probably loved the Oscar winner for best picture, Martin Scorcese’s “The Departed”. He was not Mos Def or Chuck D but he was great at what he did.

7. 1st Verse “Kick In The Door”

Memorable Lines
Your reign on the top was short like Leprechauns / As I crush so called willies, thugs, and rapper dons

You should know my steelo / Went from 10 g’s for blow / To thirty g’s a show / To orgies with hoes I’ve never seen before

Comments
This was the only Biggie verse to earn The Source’s monthly Hip Hop Quotable. He was mad that Nas and Prodigy had gotten it three times each even though Biggie won Lyricist of the Year at The Source Awards. Although they were a little late, The Source finally rewarded him. At the time Nas was coming hard for the crown, and many (including Nas) believe that the song was a subliminal dis toward Nas, specifically the lines “MCs used to be on some buddy shit / Now they on some money shit / Successful out the blue”. It could also be directed at De La Soul and Trugoy who seemingly took a shot at him on “Stakes Is High”. Either way Big flexed his muscle over a signature Premier beat.

6. 1st Verse “Who Shot Ya”

Memorable Lines
Who shot ya? / Seperate the weak from the ob solete /Hard to creep them Brooklyn streets / It’s on nigga, fuck all that bickering beef / I can hear sweat trickling down your cheek / Your heartbeat sound like Sasquatch feet / Thundering, shaking the concrete

I burn baby burn like Disco Inferno / Burn slow like blunts with ya yo / Peel more skins than Idaho potato / Niggaz know, the lyrical molestin’ is takin’ place / Fuckin’ with B.I.G. it ain’t safe

Comments
Tupac dis? Biggie always denied it, but there are plenty of lines to believe otherwise (and Tupac certainly did). Regardless, “the lyrical molestin” was in full effect as the Notorious crushed every other rapper in his path.

5. 3rd Verse “Juicy”

Memorable Lines
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis / When I was dead broke I couldn’t picture this

Birthdays was the worst days / Now we sip champagne when we thirsty

Comments
The 1st verse arguably deserves to make the list as well, but I did not want to include more than one verse from the same song, so it can only earn an honorable mention. The first line is obviously dated but in 1994 if you had both Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis you were on top of the world. Not to mention being able to play Street Fighter II on an 80 inch screen like they do in the “Juicy” video. In the second line Biggie rhymes “days” and “thirsty” to put a cap on the rags to riches story. Who else could rhyme those two words? Just plain sick.

4. 1st Verse “Unbelievable”

Memorable Lines
Live from Bedford Stuyvesant The Livest one / Representing BK to the fullest / Gats I pull it bastards ducking when Big be bucking / Chickenheads be cluckin’ in my bathroom fuckin’

And those that rushes my clutches get put on crutches / Get smoked like Dutches from the master

Comments
Premier says that it was actually Biggie’s idea to sample an R. Kelly song to create the beat just like Jay-Z suggested to 9th Wonder when he produced “Threat” for The Black Album. It was also the first song played from The Ready to Die album on NY radio stations. After doing “Party and Bullshit” and plenty of guest appearances Biggie announced his arrival with lyrical prowess and intimidation not heard since Big Daddy Kane and Kool G. Rap.

3. “Notorious Thugs”

Memorable Lines
Armed and dangerous, ain’t too many can bang with us / Straight up weed, no angel dust, label us Notorious / Thug ass niggaz that love to bust, it’s strange to us / Y’all niggaz be scramblin, gamblin / Up in restaurants with mandolins, and violins / We just sittin here tryin to win, tryin not to sin / High off weed and lots of gin / So much smoke need oxygen, steadily countin them Benjamins

Comments
When I was asking my friends their favorite verses from Biggie this was always the first or second one mentioned. Usually I have hard time understanding the words in a Bone Thugs and Harmony song but Big completely adapted to their style and delivered, arguably, his most memorable verse. No one could switch their style as effortlessly as the Notorious B.I.G.

2. 1st Verse “Victory”

Memorable Lines
Rhyme a few bars so I can buy a few cars / Then I kick a few flows so I can pimp a few hoes / Excellence is my presence never tense / Never hesitant leave a nigga bent real quick / Real sick, brawl nights, I perform like Mike / Anyone – Tyson, Jordan, Jackson / Action, pack guns, ridiculous / And I am quick to bust if my ends you touch

Comments
The Rocky sample probably helps, but the verse has an epic feeling to it like a Jerry Bruckheimer action scene. Not only did Biggie write Puffy’s lyrics for the song, but he also went into the booth and recorded the vocals. All Diddy had to do was repeat what Biggie was saying in the same he was saying. This should have been on Life After Death as a solo song.

1. “Freestyle at MSG” w/ Big Daddy Kane, Scoob, Shyheim, and Tupac

Memorable Lines
I got 7 Mac-11’s / About eight 38s / Nine 9s, 10 Mac Tens / The shit never ends / You can’t touch my riches / Even if you had MC Hammer and them 357 bitches

Oh my God I’m dropping shit like a pigeon / I hope your listening / Smacking babies at their christening

Comments
The first few lines showcase Biggie’s one of a kid wit. After using four gun references, he quickly jumps to his “riches” and then brings it all together with “MC Hammer and them 357 bitches”. Hammer was the first rap to really become rich. With all of his money he put on ridiculous stage shows including female dancers called 357. At the same time Biggie was talking about guns again because of the 357 Magnum and “hammer” being another term for a gun. Listen to the crowd after he finishes that line because they go absolutely crazy.

Notorious B.I.G. - Top 10 Biggie Verses

BONE THUGS TOUR:

2/16 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
2/17 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre
2/18 Seattle, WA Neumos
2/20 Santa Clara, CA Santa Clara University
2/21 Salinas, CA Fox Theatre
2/22 Los Angeles, CA Crash Mansion LA
2/24 San Diego, CA House Of Blues
2/25 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre
2/26 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
2/27 Flagstaff AZ Orpheum Theatre
2/28 Magna, UT Great Saltier Theatre
2/29 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
3/1 Vail CO Sand Bar
3/2 Fort Collins, CO Aggie Theatre
3/3 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
3/4 Tulsa, OK Cain’ Ballroom
3/6 Austin, TX EMO’ Austin
3/7 Oklahoma City Diamond Ballroom
3/9 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
3/11 New Orleans House Of Blues
3/12 Atlanta, GA The Roxy

The following dates are TBD at the moment:

3/23 NY, NY BB Kings
3/25 Richmond, VA Toads Place
3/26 Providence, RI LUPOS
3/28 S. Burlington, VT Higher Ground
3/29 Farmington, MA Civic League Auditorium
3/30 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre
6/14 Montgomery, AL River Walk Amphitheatre

BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY NOMINATED FOR 2 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS AIR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH on ABC

RAP/HIP-HOP
Favorite Band, Duo or Group:
Bone Thugs-N-Hamony
Pretty Ricky
Shop Boyz

Favorite Album:
Bones Thugs-N-Harmony/Strength & Loyalty
T.I./T.I. vs. T.I.P.
Young Jeezy/The Inspiration

I Tried
DVD available In Stores Now
Order Here
CodeBlack Entertainment

I Tried synopsis

It’s common knowledge that BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY took a leap of faith in order make it in the music game. Boarding a bus bound for Los Angeles, they had a plan to get an audience with Eazy-E and get signed to Ruthless Records. Though things didn’t go exactly as planned, they eventually made it happen. The rest is, as they say, history, with Bone Thugs becoming the luminaries of hip-hop they are today. But what if they never boarded that Greyhound? What if life spiraled in a different direction and interfered? What if that bus left without them and they never got out of Cleveland?

I TRIED – THE MOVIE is the thrilling, action-packed tale of what could have happened if Krayzie, Layzie, and Wish never made it on their life-changing journey to Los Angeles.

CODEBLACK ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES
“I TRIED”

STIRRING, ACTION-PACKED THRILLER
HITS SHELVES SEPTEMBER 25TH

FIRST BLACK OWNED FILM STUDIO PRESENTS THE FEATURE FILM DEBUT OF
GRAMMY AWARD WINNING HIP HOP TRIO BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY

Los Angeles – (September 17, 2007) – CodeBlack Entertainment, America’s premiere source for urban entertainment, will release the highly anticipated motion picture “I Tried” on DVD September 25th, 2007.

Starring Krazie Bone, Layzie Bone and Wish Bone as themselves, the three remaining members of the legendary, multi-platinum selling, Grammy Award winning rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, as well as a cameo from platinum selling super producer Swizz Beats, “I Tried” is the electrifying tale of what could have been; a twisted, eye-opening anecdote of chance, fate and fortune, and the harsh reality that lies beneath it all.

In 1993, before Hip Hop communities here and abound had been exposed to the unique, rousing sound that is Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Krazie, Layzie and Wish were three visionaries trying to fulfill their lifelong dream to deliver that sound to the masses. With a bus ticket and that dream, the group boarded a Greyhound to Los Angeles, in hopes of securing a record deal on now deceased rap legend Easy E’s Ruthless Records. Focused intently on attaining the future they knew they deserved, they scoured the city in search of the one man with the power to turn their dream into a reality. Although they experienced some devastating obstacles along the way, the day finally came when they made the seemingly impossible possible, eventually achieving monumental success; winning Grammys, American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards and selling 35 million albums worldwide, and haven’t turned back since.

“I Tried” is a chilling tale of “what if” - the harrowing chain of events that could have possibly happened to the group had they simply never boarded that bus; the hardships they would have continued to encounter and the fame they would have never achieved. Their story’s been told, but “I Tried” exposes the part that even the most devoted Bone Thugs fan has yet to discover, until now.

Additionally, the film will be the launch of CodeBlack’s new music model. The film comes off the heels of CodeBlack’s announcement that they’ve created a new way for record companies and their artists to leverage promotional budgets to create an opportunity to recover marketing dollars that they would have normally never seen a return on. As opposed to record labels simply spending their promotional budget on the production of a music video, they’ve begun to instead invest that money into CodeBlack, which, for the same cost of the music video, can deliver both the video itself and an entire full-length narrative movie starring the artists. Codeblack and its label partner then release the movie on DVD, creating an additional revenue stream for the record company and the artists themselves.

“Through this innovative partnership with Codeblack Entertainment, we are granting our artists the opportunity to cross over to a new medium while simultaneously creating a valuable promotional tool and multi-platform exposure for all parties involved.” said Shawn Holiday, Sr. VP A&R for Interscope/Geffen Records. “We are thrilled to be working with Codeblack and believe that this model will revolutionize the future landscape of music and music videos.”

Comparable to the smash hit single of the same name, “I Tried” packs a platinum punch, and will be released in conjunction with the re-release of Bone Thugs’ smash album Strength & Loyalty.

The DVD will be available nationally at leading music merchants including Best Buy, Circuit City, FYE as well as major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Blockbuster.

# # #

CodeBlack Entertainment is the first African American-owned film studio, engaged in the business of producing, acquiring, marketing and distributing quality content to today’s urban consumer. CodeBlack Entertainment is an independent, vertically integrated multimedia film and television entity created out of the necessity for the positive representation of African Americans in film. A comprehensive entertainment conglomerate, CodeBlack Entertainment provides a consistent stream of quality box office and home entertainment, distributed across theatrical, digital, broadcast and internet based platforms, and contains an expansive library of dramatic, comedic, romantic and faith-based titles. CodeBlack Entertainment’s reach is all-encompassing, from production and national distribution of feature films to their innovative digital arm.

written by Low Key

As one fifth of Bone Thugs~N~Harmony, Bizzy Bone has always been the dark, mysterious member. Bizzy was only a teenager when Bone dropped the classic “Creepin On Ah Come Up” in 1994. Over the years Bizzy had to endue many hardships and growing pains. His numerous disappearances from Bone videos and performances cause many to believe the group was on the verge of self-destruction. For the next couple of years, Bone was plagued with break up rumors and consistent fighting between members. However, Bizzy stuck it out and continued to make music and released his solo album “Heaven’z Movie” in 1998. The album was meet wit mixed responses, but Bizzy proved he could stand his own and didn’t need his fellow Bone members to lean on. 3 years later Bizzy Bone is back with his sophomore effort “The Gift”.

Original Article

written by Low Key

It is hard to believe that Bone Thugs~N~Harmony have been in the game for over ten years. In 1994 their classic EP Creepin On Ah Come Up made huge waves across the nation, while their follow up, E.1999 Eternal cemented them as Hip Hop heavyweights. Since then, Bone has gone through their fair share of trials and tribulations. From rampant break up rumors, to shady dealings by Ruthless Records, the Bone family has seen it all. Now off Ruthless and looking for a new home (probably with Swizz Beatz’ Full Surface Records), Bone is looking to regain their once dominant swagger. Their latest release is a side project by Bizzy and Layzie Bone entitled Bone Brothers. But unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little longer if they intended to hear that vintage Bone sound they have been waiting for.

Original Article

written by Low Key

Being Bone Thugs~N~Harmony’s most versatile and well-rounded member, Krazie Bone has gained a successful reputation for himself over the years. His rapid fire flow, smooth, yet gritty voice, and charisma on the mic has made him stand apart from his fellow Bone members. After the success of his debut album “Thug Mentality”, Bone fans have eagerly awaited Krazie’s sophomore effort “Thug On Da Line”. Unfortunately, “Thug On Da Line” doesn’t offer the performance Bone fans expected and is disappointing to say the least.

Original Article

written by James Johnson

The members of Bone Thugs N Harmony have been busy this year, working hard at re-establishing the star power they once held. That task has not been easy, due greatly in part to their recent resizing to three. Nevertheless, they are moving forward along that bumpy road with great confidence that they can fully redeem themselves.

Original Article

written by Hugo Lunny

I’ve been into Bone Thugs since ‘Creepin’ On Ah Come Up,’ I peeped their first release ‘Faces Of Death’ after hearing ‘Creepin’ On Ah Come Up’ and enjoyed it a lot. ‘E. 1999 Eternal’ was a pretty dope LP, but they made a very bad decision with their next LP; ‘Art Of War,’ the bad decision was releasing it. So many tracks were of a mediocre quality, but I didn’t pay much attention to them having ‘Thug Luv’ on repeat constantly.

Original Article