In early 2009 as the original five members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony began planning a long-awaited reunion, member Bizzy Bone decided that the two albums' worth of solo tracks he was sitting on needed to see release, hence Back with the Thugz, Pt. I and Pt. II. This second volume is as messy, rushed, and uneven as the first volume, but it's also just as interesting and holds as many highlights, making it of interest to the hardcore fan. The serene Bizzy found on 2008's high-profile release, A Song for You, is wiped off the ...
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In early 2009 as the original five members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony began planning a long-awaited reunion, member Bizzy Bone decided that the two albums' worth of solo tracks he was sitting on needed to see release, hence Back with the Thugz, Pt. I and Pt. II. This second volume is as messy, rushed, and uneven as the first volume, but it's also just as interesting and holds as many highlights, making it of interest to the hardcore fan. The serene Bizzy found on 2008's high-profile release, A Song for You, is wiped off the planet by the vicious ""Empty out My Clip"," a G-funk-fueled rant that touches upon schizophrenia, precious metals, and the rise of Satan while quoting Bone Thugs' classic ""First of the Month"." "Put Your Hands Up" is a club track with enough comparative mythology and comparative religion to interest Joseph Campbell, while "Not Scary" steals a bit of Europe's '80s hit "The Final Countdown" so Bizzy can riff on all of his sins before declaring "Jesus loves reggae" as if it was the path to freedom. Poetic and bizarre interludes just add to the wildness, but the production from Serious Sam, Makavelik, and Nu-Nation is thuggish and familiar, influenced by the West Coast of the '90s and the South of the 2000s. A strange, erratic, and manic side release, Bizzy fanatics have been here before. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi
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