The Art of War (Bone Thugs-n-Harmony album)

The Art of War
Studio album by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Released July 29, 1997
Recorded 1996-1997
Genre Gangsta Rap, G-Funk, R&B
Length 121:14
Label Ruthless Records, Relativity
Producer DJ U-Neek, Tomica Woods-Wright (Executive Producer)
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony chronology
E. 1999 Eternal
(1995)		 The Art of War
(1997)		 Collection Volume One & Two
(1998/2000)
Singles from The Art of War
  1. "Look Into My Eyes"
    Released: May 2, 1997
  2. "If I Could Teach the World"
    Released: October 7, 1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
The Source

The Art of War is the third studio album by rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony which was released on July 29, 1997. The album sold 394,000 units in its first week of release. The album was certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA in June 1998. It was the first double-album from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The album included the platinum-single "Look into My Eyes", and the gold-single "If I Could Teach the World". The whole album is produced by DJ U-Neek.

A sequel to the album The Art of War: World War III was released on December 10, 2013.

Background

The album was rumored to be called "DNA Level C" which is Cleveland backwards. "The Art of War" was created largely as a response to rappers deemed "Clones" (copycats) by the group. Such rappers included Do or Die, Crucial Conflict, Twista & The Speedknots, Bone Killas, Tommy Wright III & Three 6 Mafia.

In the wake of his father's death and Tomica Wright now heading Ruthless, Bizzy Bone was not happy, and thus did not appear for many shows or promotions. Now calling the shots, many tracks were altered by Tomica Wright, attempting to head the group into a new direction. Such tracks include Thug Luv with Sylk-E. Fyne, If I Could Teach the World, Friends, Ready For War and many others. While the group appeared at Sprite Nite on BET, Keenan Ivory Wayans (with Bizzy), and several other promotions, their tour began to lag without Bizzy.

Music and lyrics

In "Ready 4 War," Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (along with Mr. Majesty) called out Crucial Conflict directly by name, with Majesty even stating, "I'll watch you ride the rodeo straight to the bottom".

In "U Ain't Bone", Layzie Bone raps a line similar to the chorus from female rap icon MC Lyte's "10% dis". MC Lyte's chorus raps "Beat biter! Dope style taker! Tell it to your face, you ain't nuttin but a faker!", while Layzie Bone's verse interpolates "They beat biters, dope-style takers. When I see you face-to-face, my nigga, I'm-a treat you like a hater." In 2000, MC Lyte stated that she was "extremely" disrespected by Layzie Bone, Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown's lyrical interpolations of her "10% Dis" lines. Layzie interpolated the chorus on "U Ain't Bone", while Kim and Brown interpolated the beginning verse, "Hot damn, ho, here we go again!" on Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm" (Remix) and Capone-N-Noreaga's "Bang-Bang", respectively. This resulted in MC Lyte calling out all of the three rappers on the Rah Digga-collaborated, "Where U At Mama?"[4]

They also changed the name of "Friends" for the cassette version to "How Many of Us Have Them". 2Pac wrote his verse for "Thug Luv" in 1 minute and 51 seconds as confirmed by Bizzy Bone.[5]

Singles

The first single for this album was Look Into My Eyes, which was also on the Batman & Robin soundtrack. Neither Bizzy nor Flesh-n-Bone was featured in the video. The next single was "If I Could Teach the World". Bizzy did not appear in this video either. "Thug Luv" and "Body Rott" were also released to radio as singles.

Track listing

World War 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Retaliation (Intro)"  Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, DJ U-NeekU-Neek2:21
2."Handle the Vibe"  Antoinette Colandreo, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:40
3."Look into My Eyes"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:19
4."Body Rott"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:01
5."It's All Mo' Thug"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:12
6."Ready 4 War" (featuring Mr. Maje$ty)Majesty, Marilyn McLeod, Pam Sawyer, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:36
7."Ain't Nothin' Changed (Everyday Thang Part II)"  Barry J. Eastmond, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:43
8."Clog Up Yo Mind"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:01
9."It's All Real"  Krayzie Bone, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:08
10."Hard Times"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek2:49
11."Mind of a Souljah"  Layzie Bone, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:39
12."If I Could Teach the World"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:24
13."Family Tree"  K. McCord, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:49
World War 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Mo' Thug"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek1:40
2."Thug Luv" (featuring 2Pac)2Pac, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:08
3."Hatin' Nation"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:12
4."7 Sign" (featuring Mr. Maje$ty)Bizzy Bone, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:48
5."Wasteland Warriors" (featuring Souljah Boy)Souljah Boy, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:28
6."Neighborhood Slang"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek1:29
7."U Ain't Bone"  BTNHU-Neek5:04
8."Get Cha Thug On"  Wish Bone, U-NeekU-Neek4:02
9."All Original"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:58
10."Blaze It (interlude)"  Larry Blackmon, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek2:08
11."Let the Law End"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek3:36
12."Whom Die They Lie"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:24
13."Friends"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:10
14."Evil Paradise"  Tim Stahl, BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek4:48
15."Mo' Thug Family Tree"  BTNH, U-NeekU-Neek5:37
Sample credits

World War 1

World War 2

Appearances

The vinyl release omits the tracks 1, 6 and 12 on WW2.

Chart positions

Album

Chart (1997) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 1
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums 1
Canadian Albums Chart 10

Singles

Song Chart (1997) Peak
position
"Look into My Eyes" Billboard Hot 100 4
"Look into My Eyes" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1
"Look into My Eyes" Hot Rap Tracks 2
"If I Could Teach the World" Billboard Hot 100 27
"If I Could Teach the World" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 20
"If I Could Teach the World" Hot Rap Tracks 3
Preceded by
No Way Out by Puff Daddy		 Billboard 200 number-one album
August 16–22, 1997 		Succeeded by
No Way Out by Puff Daddy
Preceded by
Spice by Spice Girls		 New Zealand Albums Chart number-one album
July 10–18, 1997 		Succeeded by
Wu-Tang Forever by Wu-Tang Clan

See also

References

  1. ↑ Thomas, Stephen (1997-08-05). "The Art of War - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
  2. ↑ Considine, J.D. (1997-08-08). "The Art of War Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  3. ↑ The new Rolling Stone album guide - Nathan Brackett, Christian David Hoard - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  4. ↑ "MC Lyte - Where U At verse (Lil' Kim, Layzie Bone & Foxy Brown Diss) (2000)". YouTube. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  5. ↑ genius.com/1249071/Bone-thugs-n-harmony-thug-luv/2pac
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