Bone Thugs N Harmnony

Bone Thugs N Harmony, to me one of the greatest if not the greatest rap group that has ever existed in the rap and hip hop scene.  But I just can't make this bold statement and not back it up with any evidence.  This is a group that I've been listening to since I was 10 and I still continue to listen to their great music.  Well let me begin by letting you know who Bone Thugs N Harmony are.  They are all from Cleveland, Ohio and the group consists of five members.  They Krayzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Lazie Bone, and Flesh n Bone.  By now you can see that they don't have usual names,  I'm sure that is not their real names but to this day I know them by that.  While starting their music career they wanted to go big and went to Los Angeles to meet with the one and only Eazy E.  They were able to impress him so much that they got a record deal with Ruthless Records and the music career for Bone Thugs had begun.  Their debut album Creeping on ah Come Up was released in 1994.  While at first it had a slow start it was able to kick off and hit the mainstream of rap music.  Their single "Foe tha Love of Money" was one of their hits and featured the great and famous Eazy-E.  While the release of their first album was mainly violent rap lyrics their release of their second album E 1999 Eternal showed a whole different side to Bone Thugs.  It showed the diversity of their lyrics and stylings.  It debuted at #1 and it sold more than 307,000 records its first week.  Their single "Tha Crossroads" reached #1 on the Billboards Top 100.  This was it for Bone Thugs, they were able to successfully take the rap scene by suprise.  With their fast paced rap flow and their creative lyrics they started a whole new style for hip hop.  Bone Thugs N Harmony were able to release a number of later records all of them being successful.  They mixed with a whole number of different rappers including the great Notorious BIG and 2pac.  Well if any of you haven't given Bone Thugs N Harmony a try I say you get out there and give them a moment of your time, even if your not a huge rap fan I'm sure you will not be disappointed.

Kanye West

I wanted to change up my blogs a bit and write about a whole different genre of music.  Out of all the blogs I've posted I haven't mentioned any rap music or hip hop.  But in this one I'll be going over one of today's greatest and unique rappers, Kanye West.  While Kanye was a small child his parents divorced and him and his mother moved to the city of Chicago.  I always thought this was cool because I grew up about 20 minutes away from the city of Chicago.  Well anyways, Kanye attended school at the Chicago State University but later dropped out to continue his music career.  While pursuing his music career he gained some fame by producing for major rap artists like Jay Z, Common, Pall Wall, and Janet Jackson.  After producing for artists Kanye went off to start a music career of his own.  While returning one day from the music studio West was involved in a almost fatal car accident that inspired a lot of his music in his debut album College Droppout.  His faith in his religous views can be seen in songs on this album such as "Through the Wire" and "Jesus Walks".  What seperated Kayne from the rest of the rappers during this period was the really everything.  Kayne was really nothing like any other rapper.  He had a unique lyrical base to his songs and flowed his beats and rhymes so well to create a powerhouse of rap.  Most rappers were just flowing about drugs, money,  power and they all seemed to be the same, but Kayne was putting more soul in his music and thought.  He wasn't following the typical rapper path, he was creating his own.  Well the release of his gained him great fame and it looked the rap scene had a new star rising.  During this period Kayne was not only just working on his music he was still producing for the rap artists, such as Twista and Brandy.  He then went on to release his second album Late Registration which like his debut album received great acceptance by the fans and critics.  There were some great songs on this album including "Gold Digger" which was featured in Jaime Foxx's movie Ray.  This album went for further show Kayne West's great musical ability, not only in his lyrics our rhythm but in his ability to produce his music.  On the release of his album Kayne had a little race going with the rapper 50 Cent, on who can sell the most albums on the day of the release.  Kayne's album Graduation Day was able to sell more records and was the winner of the race.  I was able to experience the great music of Kayne West at Lollapalooza 2008.  He put on a great live performance and his music was even greater on stage.  I'm sure all of you have heard Kayne West's music but incase you really haven't go out there and give him a try, he's not the everyday rapper, he's a whole different story.