Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Strength & Loyalty Review
by Robert VerBruggen
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It's amazing ganster rap has lasted two decades. Its very definition limits the lyrics to one topic – the thug lifestyle – and its violent nature has culled out some of its best talent.
It's even been 12 years since Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, one of the genre's brightest lights, broke out with a fresh take: R&B beats with sing-songy, harmonized rapping. With E. 1999 Eternal, the group managed to convey as much danger as it did tunefulness. They haven't come close to it since.
Which brings us to Strength & Loyalty, the act's latest effort. There's nothing shocking here stylistically – if anything, they've merely fused their sound with that of the modern rap scene – but damn is it a good listen.
The record kicks off with "Flow Motion," a mishmash of rapid-fire rapping over a shifting beat. Another highlight is "Wind Blow," which heavily samples Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" and somehow makes it work. "9mm" and "Gun Blast" revisit old themes.
But when it comes down to it, all the best hooks come from guests. The immensely talented Akon lends his electrifying voice twice, giving melody to the searching tracks "I Tried" and "Never Forget Me." Felicia keeps the upbeat "So Good So Right" going through the chorus.
The soulful "Order My Steps (Dear Lord)," with Yolanda Adams, hits a positive note for religion, but it sounds a little disingenuous alongside the stock "I like shooting people" themes the rest of the CD touts. It's oddly common in rap for stars to flip-flop between promoting and decrying gangsterism.
Mariah Carey makes "Lil Love" a guaranteed club hit, and Will.i.am sounds a bit Steven Tylerish on "Streets." A singer named Autumn Rowe, who apparently didn't merit a mention on the back of the CD case (she's buried in the liner credits for the song), saves "Candy Paint" after it starts, "keep rollin', rollin', rollin'." Wonder where we've heard that before?
There are few flops, though, for sure. "Bump in the Trunk" is as stupid a song as the title implies. Twista joins the group for the Midwest-pride "C-Town," but even his speedy tongue can't make listeners sit through the painfully repetitive chorus.
The big question: Can Strength & Loyalty rescue hip-hop from its recent decline? In March, the Associated Press reported that while CD sales in general dropped a bit between 2005 and 2006, rap sagged 21 percent.
Of course not. As the harmonious thugs themselves say in "Sounds the Same," "So you ever been to the Chi? / Me too! / You ever been shot? / Me too! / Sold rocks, all nighters on blocks? / Catch cases / S—t, me too!" Gangster rap is simply too limited a style to show much growth, and most of the recent fresh sounds (Kanye West, Common, "soldier rappers" 4th25) have come from outside it. Hip-hop's savior will probably find some other things to talk about.
The ship might sink, but with Strength & Loyalty it'll go down in style.
Robert VerBruggen (www.therationale.com) is Assistant Book Editor at The Washington Times.
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