E. 1999 Eternal

“E. 1999 Eternal” is the second album by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, released on July 25, 1995, through Ruthless Records and Relativity Records.

The story

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony came out of the East 99th and St. Clair area of Cleveland, where they had recorded as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e before joining Ruthless. After signing with Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records in late 1993, the group broke through with the 1994 EP “Creepin on ah Come Up” and its single “Thuggish Ruggish Bone”. Eazy-E served as executive producer of the follow-up but died in March 1995, four months before it was released, and both the album and the single “Tha Crossroads” were dedicated to him. The album track “Crossroad” had originally been written as a tribute to the group’s friend Wallace Laird III; after Eazy-E’s death it was reworked into the single version, which also honored the members’ lost relatives.

Sound and production

The album was recorded at Trax Recording Studio in Hollywood, with DJ U-Neek as its primary producer. His tracks carried the group’s rapid, harmonized delivery, in which the members traded lines and sang hooks together. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the group had “raised the stakes of the gangsta rap game” with their approach. Singles from the album included “1st of tha Month”, released in August 1995, “East 1999” and “Tha Crossroads”, released in April 1996.

Legacy

“E. 1999 Eternal” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 307,000 copies sold in its first week. It went on to sell four million copies in the United States and was certified four times platinum by the RIAA, making it the group’s best-selling album. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1996 Grammy Awards, losing to Naughty by Nature’s “Poverty’s Paradise”. “Tha Crossroads” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 1 the following week, holding the position for eight weeks, and won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The Source later included the album among its top 100 rap albums of the 1990s. It remains the group’s best-selling album and the record most closely tied to their name.

Released July 25, 1995. More from hip hop in 1995.