E. 1999 Eternal

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E. 1999 Eternal
Studio album by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Publication
(s)

1995

Label (s) Ruthless Records / Relativity Records (USA) / Epic Records (Europe)

Format (s)

CD, LP, MC

Genre (s)

Hip-hop ; Styles: gangsta rap , G-funk , hardcore rap , midwest rap

Title (number)

17 (differs depending on the version)

running time

68 min 21 s (differs depending on the version)

production

DJ U-Neek

Studio (s)

  • Trax Recording Studio, Hollywood
  • Studio Cat Productions, Hollywood
  • Sound City, Van Nuys
chronology
Faces of Death
(1993) 		E. 1999 Eternal The Art Of War
(1997)
Single releases
1995 1st of tha month
November 21, 1995 East 1999
April 23, 1996 Tha Crossroads

E. 1999 Eternal is a music album by the US hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony . It is the group's most successful album, has sold more than four million times in the US and is considered a hip-hop classic.

History of origin

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony had already recorded an album in 1993 with the title "Faces of Death", then under the name BONE Enterprise. However, it was unsuccessful. Still, the members of the group believed that their particular style could attract attention. They used the money they had from drug trafficking and welfare and took the bus to Los Angeles to meet their role model Eazy-E and to impress him with their music. After several months, however, the only contact with him was a phone call in which they took turns reciting their rhymes. Eazy-E then informed them that he would be giving a concert in their hometown of Cleveland . Bone Thugs-N-Harmony therefore traveled back there and met him backstage at the gig where he signed her for his label Ruthless Records .

With Eazy-E as Executive Producer , they recorded the EP "Creepin on ah Come Up" which contained two hits and sold more than two million copies.

E. 1999 Eternal became the group's first full-length player through Ruthless Records. Again Eazy-E served as executive producer and also developed the album concept. This refers to the origin of the rappers from the middle of Cleveland between East 99th Street and St. Clair Avenue. It also includes mystical themes. An ouija plays a role in several songs and is also depicted on one side of the booklet , on which a longer text is written in mirror writing.

A short time before the album was released, Eazy-E died of complications from an AIDS disease. In the booklet, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony dedicate the work to him.

Music genre

Because of the origin of Bone Thugs-N-Harmonys from Cleveland , Ohio , E. 1999 Eternal can be assigned to the Midwest Rap . Due to the connection to Eazy-E and Ruthless Records , however, there is also a strong relationship with G-Funk, which is normally only distributed on the west coast of the USA . DJ U-Neek is responsible for this style , who produced the entire album, but received support on some songs from Tony-C, Kenny McCloud and / or the Bone Thugs themselves. The music is dark throughout and is accompanied by synthesizer and piano melodies, creating a threatening, hostile mood.

Thematically, the lyrics revolve around marijuana consumption (especially "Budsmokers Only" and "Buddah Lovaz"), esotericism (an Ouija is used to put a curse on someone on "No Shorts, No Losses", on "Mr. Ouija 2") to predict one's own future and on “Mo ′ Murda” it incites someone to murder), as well as violence (especially “Crept And We Came”, “Die Die Die” and “Shotz to tha Double Glock”). E. 1999 Eternal therefore also belongs to the styles of gangsta and hardcore rap .

The group members' rap style is unusual. On the one hand, they recite their verses very quickly, so that the lyrics are difficult to understand , also because of the slight patois accent, on the other hand, they half sing and thus create melodies in the style of Boyz II Men . An a cappella piece can also be found on the album with “Me Killa”.

Track list

  1. Since Introduction
  2. East 1999
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  3. Eternal
  4. Crept and We Came
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  5. Down ′71 (The Getaway)
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  6. Mr. Bill Collector
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  7. Budsmokers Only
  8. Crossroad
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  9. Me Killa
    • Co-produced by Kenny McCloud
  10. Land Of Tha Heartless
    • Co-produced by Bone
  11. No shorts, no losses
    • Co-produced by Bone
  12. 1st Of Tha Month
    • Includes a sample from Chapter 8's “I Just Wanna Be Your Girl”
  13. Buddah Lovaz
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  14. Die Die Die
  15. Mr. Ouija 2
    • Co-produced by Bone
  16. Mo ′ Murda
    • Co-produced by Tony-C
  17. Shotz To Tha Double Glock
    • Co-produced by Kenny McCloud
  18. Tha Crossroads (DJ U-Neek′s Mo Thug Remix)
    • Included as an additional title on the European version
    • Contains excerpts from "Make Me Say It Again Girl" by The Isley Brothers
    • Recorded at U-Neek's recording studio in Los Angeles , California

Publications and chart successes

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
E. 1999 Eternal
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 08/12/1995 (104 weeks)
  UK 39 08/31/1996 (5 weeks)
  DE 29 07/29/1996 (14 weeks)
  CH 34 08/25/1996 (4 weeks)
Singles
1st of tha month
  US 14th 08/26/1995 (20 weeks)
  UK 15th 11/04/1995 (11 weeks)
East 1999
  US 62 12/09/1995 (13 weeks)
Tha Crossroads
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 05/11/1996 (20 weeks)
  UK 8th 08/10/1996 (11 weeks)
  DE 15th 06/24/1996 (18 weeks)
  AT 34 10/06/1996 (3 weeks)
  CH 19th 07/21/1996 (15 weeks)

E. 1999 Eternal is Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's most commercially successful work.

The album was a huge sales success, especially in the USA. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and was able to hold its own on these charts for two years. In the cumulative charts of the entire 1990s, it was 54th.

Less than a year after its release, the long player was awarded a four-fold platinum record by the RIAA for more than four million units sold.

The decoupled singles were also able to place themselves in the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA .

The first release was "1st of tha Month", a song that celebrates the first of the month as the time to receive social assistance benefits. It reached the top position 14, stayed in this chart for 20 weeks and received the RIAA gold record on October 11, 1995 for more than 500,000 sales.

The second single, "East 1999", was also in the Hot 100 for a while, but was not so successful with the best ranking of 62.

The biggest hit, however, was “Tha Crossroads,” a song of praise to the late friends of the group that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony dedicated to Eazy-E . The original version of it was just titled "Crossroad" and was the 8th track of the album. However, the “Mo Thug Remix” by DJ U-Neek was released as “Tha Crossroads”. On some editions of the album, the original version was then replaced by the remix , while on others it was added as an additional 18th song.

The single debuted at number 2 on the Hot 100, making it the highest-grossing rap single of all time and helping the album to return to the top 10 on the Billboard 200 Number 1 hit and finally awarded double platinum by the RIAA on June 13, 1996.

Until then, only "1st of tha month" had achieved commercial importance in Europe and reached number 15 in the British charts . However, the album had not reached any sales lists there and was partially not released at all. After the success of “Tha Crossroads” in the USA, E. Eternal was also launched in Europe in 1999 and achieved middle chart positions in Germany , Switzerland and the United Kingdom . “Tha Crossroads” also achieved top positions in these countries, although sales lagged behind the US.

reception

Allmusic rates the album with 4.5 stars out of a maximum of 5 and describes it as one of the most perfect and unique rap albums of the 90s. It is also listed there as one of the 20 best G-Funk albums.

Rolling Stone awards 3 stars out of a maximum of 5 and praises the fact that you could confuse the rappers with R&B singers if you don't listen carefully , but also shows the contradiction between this cheerful song and the lyrics about weapons, drugs and money. Songs like "Land of tha Heartless" bring out the best in the musicians.

From Entertainment Weekly , the album gets the grade B (according to the grades in the school system of the United States ). Above all, the lyrics, with the exception of "Crossroad", are criticized. Overall, the long player is described as smooth but blunt.

On the 20th anniversary of the release, XXL named the work one of the most beloved hip-hop albums and stated that it was widely recognized as a hip-hop classic .

The Christian conservative organization “Plugged In” sharply criticized the texts and called them garbage that young people should not listen to.

In addition, the long player was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album 1996 , but could not prevail against Poverty's Paradise by Naughty by Nature . At the following Grammy Awards , Bone Thugs-N-Harmony performed and performed their song "Tha Crossroads", with which they won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group that year .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jason Birchmeier: BONE Enterprise - Artist Biography. Allmusic , accessed March 30, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Heidi Siegmund Cuda: Seeking a Path After 'Tha Crossroads'. Los Angeles Times , June 15, 1996, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Allmusic : Creepin on ah Come Up - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony | Songs, reviews, credits
  4. ^ RIAA : Database with search for Creepin on ah Come Up
  5. ↑ See the album's booklet
  6. ↑ a b c d S.H. Fernando Jr .: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: E. 1999 Eternal. Rolling Stone , November 2, 1995, archived from the original on May 6, 2007 ; accessed on March 30, 2016 .
  7. ^ A b c Bob Waliszewski: E. 1999 Eternal Album Review. Plugged In, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  8. ↑ a b c d Jason Birchmeier: AllMusic Review. Allmusic , accessed March 30, 2016 .
  9. ↑ a b c d David Browne : E. 1999 Eternal. Entertainment Weekly , August 4, 1995, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US
  11. ↑ Compare the sources given in the chart box with the chart placements of the other works by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, which can also be seen there
  12. ^ Billboard: Double edition of December 25, 1999 and January 1, 2000, Part 2, p. 4
  13. ^ RIAA : Database with search for E. 1999 Eternal
  14. ^ RIAA: Database with search for 1st of the month
  15. ↑ Jason Birchmeier: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Artist Biography. Allmusic , accessed March 30, 2016 .
  16. ^ RIAA: Database with search for Tha Crossroads
  17. ↑ Compare the sources for Germany and Switzerland given in the chart box
  18. ↑ Allmusic : G-Funk | Music Highlights | Albums
  19. ↑ a b Chisom Uzosike: Today in Hip-Hop: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Release 'E. 1999 Eternal '. XXL , July 25, 2015, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David: The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, 2004, p. 92