Review Summary: A musical shotgun to the metaphorical heads of the members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
By 1996, Triple Six Mafia had become a cult classic within their city of origin. Their affinity came in the form of their stylistic combination of ominous, violent, frenzied posse cuts and atmospheric, chill, blunted studio sessions. But when Cleveland rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony ‘stole their style’ and called their beloved city “a bunk-ass town,” the Triple Six had had enough. They dumped all their eggs into that one basket, and that basket was a violent diss album.
Abandoning the smoke song formula entirely, Three-Six stuck to dark, ghoulish production to create a sinister backdrop. The opening track A New Nightmare begins with a menacing, lonely church organ sample and Throw Yo Sets In Da Air features high-pitched keyboard synths, thumping percussion, and an eerie, rising piano sample. Of course, the self-sampling is not absent, as F*ckin’ Wit Dis Click is sampled on Slippin’ (Koopsta Knicca) alongside subtle, chilling xylophones and gentle kicks, and the graveyard creeping feel of Be a Witness samples Big Bizness. The efforts of DJ Paul and Juicy J succeeded wholly, as they created an intimidating, spooky listening atmosphere.
But, with any diss song or album, the lyrics must lead the charge. Obviously, the entire Prophet Entertainment label was angered because of Bone Thugs’ (“
We can’t tolerate no nigga that is Layzie/Broke out tha blenda and I made some Krayzie gravy/It’s Eazy/And really it was time to get Bizzy/Don’t break, you can Wish, but you can’t escape,”) diss to their city and the (alleged) copycat emulation of their style, but examples and mentions of this by the group are few and far. The Triple Six crew adheres to mostly violently ranting about viciously demonic revenge. This includes, but is not limited to, impaling members of Bone Thugs with red hot pitchforks and/or embedding 1000 razor blades into their flesh.
While most members stick to emulating the rapid fire deliveries of the soulful Koopsta Knicca and/or the remorseless Lord Infamous, Juicy J stakes out into other territory with his smooth pimping voice, Paul his grimy gutter voice, and Gangsta Boo her, well female voice. So while this largely doesn’t compose a diversified artist lineup, it certainly makes for a talented one. But one of the best things about this album is its shortness. In contrast to other Three 6 Mafia albums, which typically run over an hour, this album clocks in at a little under a half hour. Sadly, the album manifests its flaw in – once again and to no astonishing effect – Gangsta Boo (surpriiiiise!) The female affiliate, albeit a talented rapper, partially kills the threatening vibe of the album. While she raps about claiming revenge upon the Bone Thugs it's quite hypocritical because the members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony would rape her with ease, and her claims that she's a killer are quite detracting from the album's credibility
The 90’s were a great time for rap feuds. Tupac vs. Biggie, Dre vs. Eazy, Nas vs. Jay-Z. But arguably the most vicious and easily the most unexposed one was Bone vs. Mafia, and with this effort, the Triple Six won by a landslide. Without a proper response, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony laid down their arms to Prophet Entertainment. Just another battle that Ruthless Records lost, which is quite a shame considering all of the talent on that label, but I’m willing to overlook it, so long as I can listen to this.
