Melodious Cleveland rap legends Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have never really gone away, but it's not easy to get all five members of the group in the same place at the same time; just ask John Mulaney. Today, however, the entire team has once again joined forces for the new single "Aww Shit." Nobody else has ever replicated the strange, unique chemistry that these guys have together, and it's a blast to hear them back at full strength, doing their swirling double-time thing once again.
The new Bone Thugs-N-Harmony single "Aww Shit" is being marketed as the first song in 20 years to feature all five members of the group. That doesn't appear to be the case. All five Bones -- Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, and Flesh-N-Bone -- were back together on some of the tracks from the 2010 mixtape Uni5: The World's Enemy. But that same press release refers to them as an "East Coast hip-hop crew," so we can safely ignore that. In any case, it's been a while.
On "Aww Shit," Bone Thugs-N-Harmony recapture some of their vintage energy. The beat is a simple, bleepy, stripped-down things with a ton of energy. It's not the cinematic funk that the group once favored, even if it does have some of the spooky pianos that they love. The group members haven't done anything to update their flow, and they don't need to. They all sound fresh and nimble and confident, and they fluidly pick up on each other's cadences. Bizzy, in particular, goes wild on this one. We don't really get rap groups like this anymore -- tight-knit crews where the rappers all clearly developed their styles in close collaboration. We should treasure the ones that we still have. Bone Thugs have some shows coming up, and you can check out "Aww Shit" and their touring itinerary below.
TOUR DATES:
4/25 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
5/01 - Detroit, MI @ Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel
5/26 - Atlanta, GA @ Buckethead Theatre
5/23 - Ludington, MI @ Stix Ludington
5/24 - Paw Paw, MI @ Warner Vineyards
5/31 - Honolulu, HI @ Neal S Blaisdell Arena (Kings of the West)
6/06 - Newark, NJ @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center *
6/08 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl (A Roots Picnic Experience: The Class of ’95)
6/20 - Rosemont, IL @ Joe’s Live
6/21 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
7/13 - Cincinnati, OH @ Hard Rock Casino ^
7/26 - Portland, OR @ Moda Center (Kings of the West)
8/02 - Houston TX @ House of Blues
9/06 - Omaha, NE @ Heartland of America Park at The RiverFront
* with Master P & the Lox
^ with Ying Yang Twins
"Aww Shit" is out now on Greenback Records. I don't want to tell any promotional people how to do their jobs, but I can think of one TV show that would love to book an appearance.
