Flippantly taking flavours of the East coast, West coast, and Southern rap scenes, these druggish thugstas concocted a smoothly sinister slice of soulful, melodically inclined rap that at the time ultimately failed to garner the attention it potentially deserved. Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony laid claim to no coasts that weren’t the banks of Lake Erie rendering them generally irrelevant at the time, yet at height of the summer in 1995 they released an album all about their life in the desolate wastelands of the American Midwest and even went so far as to include the name of what is presumably their favourite street in their home town of Cleveland in the release E. Back in the nineties, at the height of the media contrived American East coast / West coast supposed mass rap feud, the place where a rapper came from probably seemed more important than it does today. Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Tha Crossroads" (both versions).Rappers love saying the name of the place where they are from.Subliminal Seduction: "Da Introduction" contains eerie backmasking of Bizzy's verse from Thuggish Ruggish Bone from the EP Creepin On Ah Come Up.Signature Style: This is arguably the album where the group honed their skills and perfected their unique style.The Sacred Darkness: At the end of the music video for "Tha Crossroads", the Angel of Death sheds his coat and reveals radiant white wings.Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: Gangsta rap fused with melodic rhythmic, staccato speed rap, mixed with doo-wop harmony, and contemporary R&B/soul (There's even tinges of Jamaican Patois in their delivery).Ouija" has the group chanting a nursery rhyme like tune asking the Ouija board to tell them their future, and asking it will they die of murder, a bloody murder, all the while distorted demonic vocal are heard in the background. Ouija 2" and "Mo' Murda" veer headfirst into this. Grief Song: "Crossroads" and the remix "Tha Crossroads".Great Escape: The song "Down 71 (The Getaway)" is about them daringly (and violently) breaking Bizzy out of death row, and escaping down the Interstate 71 highway.Gangsta Rap: A very moody blue collar & Hardcore type.
Even "Tha Crossroads", being a darkish tune due to its theme of death, has the hopeful message in it of being able to see your loved ones after you die. On the other hand, songs like Buddah Lovaz and Budsmokers Only are simply odes to weed, while "1st Of Tha Month" is actually a very upbeat tune overall, being a celebratory song about getting welfare checks and rejoicing.Darker and Edgier: Compared to their EP this album was much more ominous, and moody.Concept Video: "Tha Crossroads", featuring the Angel of Death taking souls."Tha Crossroads"- "Make Me Say It Again Girl Part 1 & 2" by The Isley Brothers "Mo Murda"- "I'd Rather Be With You" by Bootsy's Rubber Band "Die Die Die"- "Breakthrough" by Isaac Hayes "Buddah Lovaz"- "Choosey Lover" by The Isley Brothers "1st of Tha Month"- "I Just Wanna Be Your Girl" by Chapter 8 In 2015, the group toured in support of the 20th anniversary of the album, performing it in its entirety for the first time. The album was nominated for the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Naughty by Nature's Poverty's Paradise at the 1996 Grammy Awards. It topped the US Billboard 200 for two consecutive weeks. 1999 Eternal became the group's best-selling album, with over six million copies sold in the United States and ten million worldwide. The album title is a portmanteau of the then-future year 1999 and Cleveland's eastside neighborhood centering on East 99th Street and St. Following up on the surprise success of their breakthrough single " Thuggish Ruggish Bone", it became a popular album, and received positive reviews from music critics, earning praise for the group's melodic rapping style and is largely considered a Hip-Hop classic. Both the album and single " Tha Crossroads" are dedicated to him. The album was released four months after the death of rapper Eazy-E, the group's mentor and the executive producer of the album.
It was released through Ruthless Records on July 25, 1995. 1999 Eternal is the second studio album by American hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.