Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Hit a New 'Crossroads' Promoting Brand New Album “Uni-5: The World's Enemy”
at Whiskey Roadhouse April 28th

By: Audrey Kay xx

Having such a broad, eclectic taste in music, I have an immense amount of admiration for all types.  But, like everyone in the world, I have my styles I prefer over others.  Though I never quite extended my love toward rap music, I always had an understanding for the artistic aspect of it.  Please make no mistake that when I mention my distaste for rap music, I am not referring to legends such as Bone Thugs' mentor and main reason they are where they are today, Eazy-E, as well as Tupac, Biggie Smalls, and of course, Bone Thugs themselves.  Together, these extraordinary artists created their own genre of raw, gangster rap.  Whether you liked it or not was irrelevant; these artists put every fear, every passion, and every damn emotion into their music that made everyone at least appreciate the message they were trying to send.  I personally think the one modern day rapper who has lived up to that same level of talent is Lil Wayne, while I think the others fell through the cracks with their lack of substance in their rhymes (meaning, I fail to see the genius behind raps solely based on 'big booty hoes').  Around for over two decades, Cleveland-based Bone Thugs have never failed to prove their worth winning award after award, including but not limited to, a Grammy for Best Rap Performance and multiple American Music Awards.  Obviously not my type of crowd, as I felt slightly out of place in my New York Dolls shirt and chucks next to girls in skirts and heels (let's not forget who I am, after all).  All things aside, I could not pass up an opportunity to attend one of the most talked about, sold-out shows in the area for the month of April. It was an absolute honor to see the musical prodigies up close and reacquaint myself with things I love about rap music, while the opening performances confirmed the things I do not.  

This review is definitely not one of my easier ones, as I am not a fan (excluding Lil Wayne, of course) of any modern day 'gangstas' trying to pass off what they do as rap.  It can become a difficult task to put personal preferences aside, and evaluate the groups and music objectively and without bias.  My opinion of the first opening group seemed to be pretty standard for most other people in the audience; sloppy.  The biggest reason why it was so disorganized was mostly due to the fact that with a whopping eight members, nobody knew when it was their turn!  There was a lot of silence far too often because it did not seem like all the members were on the same page of who was supposed to go next.  This caused a lot of frustration for the people listening, and after so many songs, the crowd began to die down a bit.  It is a really hard thing for a band to have that many members, as a lot of coordination and organization has to go into it.  I have been to sound checks of large bands, and just to see how chaotic it can be to keep everyone in order made my head spin.  Though it is a nice thought to be able to have all of your best buddies in the band with you, sometimes you have to know when business is business.   Through my time reviewing for SLAM, I have seen some pretty interesting antics at shows, but one thing I have never witnessed until that night was the band THEMSELVES taking pictures of the band, and the audience, on their digital cameras and cell phones.  The group members who were not performing would literally go right up to the face of whoever was rapping and snap pictures…it was honestly one of the strangest things I have seen.  There was one member in particular that I thought possessed a lot of talent, and it was clear everyone in the band was in agreement since he seemed to be the lead rapper.  I think of all of them, he seemed to have the most potential and should perhaps think about pursuing a solo career.  The rest of it seemed very amateur, especially lined up next to Bone Thugs, and did not keep my interest. 

The second group was a lot more on Bone Thugs' wavelength, encompassing a much more similar sound than the first.  I already mentioned my pickiness of the rap genre, and in order to gain my stamp of approval, some type of harmony or flow needs to be incorporated.  Lest they forget, rap should be about more than just poetry and rhyme; it is still music, and needs to contain musical elements.  I think the second opening group had a good understanding of that, and I think they were a fine choice to open for the headliners.  They possessed similar characteristics; smoking onstage and drinking right out of the Grey Goose bottle, and they did an awesome job winning back the audience that was lost previously.  Again, obviously cannot be compared to Bone, but like a bridesmaid cannot be better looking than the bride, the openers cannot outshine the headliners.  I think overall they did a great job getting the audience hyped up for what was to follow.

As soon as the last opener left the stage, the place became packed by the second.  I thought the place was pretty well filled to begin with, so I was shocked to see how crowded it actually got.  People were screaming and calling out for the group nearly half an hour before they even took the stage, so I knew it was going to be a pretty wild night.  Throughout the entire performance, they maintained their signature personality that they have always had for years; weed-induced calmness, alcohol-induced energy.  I am not the tallest person in the world, and there was no way I was standing in the back, so I strategically made my way to the front and did not leave my spot the rest of the show.  Sure, you could not move more than a few inches, and maybe you became drenched with sweat and liquor, but it was not something that I was even remotely focused on.  Of course, like everyone in the crowd, I was looking forward to their main 90's staples, “Tha Crossroads” and “Resurrection”, but I really like their new sound as well.  They've began to slot in a lot of Jamaican, island-inspired beats to their already heavily-harmonized sound, and it is a great change of a pace.  It is nice to see groups that stay true to their sound while experimenting with different elements.  At the end, half the crowd joined Bone on stage to party and it was awesome to see it is more than just putting on a show to them, they enjoy relating to their audience and being just like one of them (except to a much more tremendous degree).  Besides the fact that Bone Thugs-n-Harmony has established themselves as some of the best rappers of all time, it is clear to see that their party side has all but faded.  They are the same guys from the 90s, who just want to do what they love to do; create music and have a good time…no matter what that good time entails.

Audrey Kay xx

5.1.10