| The Art of War | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Bone Thugs-n-Harmony |
| Cover: | BTNHAOW.jpg |
| Released: | July 29, 1997 |
| Recorded: | 1996–1997 |
| Studio: | U-Neek's Workshop (Los Angeles, California) |
| Length: | 121:14 |
| Label: | |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | E. 1999 Eternal |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | Collection Volume One & Two |
| Next Year: | 1998/2000 |
The Art of War is the third studio album by hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony which was released on July 29, 1997. The album sold 394,000 units in its first week of release. The album was certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA in June 1998. It was the first double-album from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The album included the platinum-single "Look into My Eyes", and the gold-single "If I Could Teach the World". The whole album is produced by DJ U-Neek.
A sequel to the album, The Art of War World War 3, was released on December 10, 2013.
"Look Into My Eyes" was the first commercial and radio single from The Art of War. "Look Into My Eyes" had debuted and peaked to number 4 on Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs then was able to debuted and peak at number 2 on Hot Rap Songs and spent 20 weeks on Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs and spent 35 weeks on Hot Rap Songs. Later, two more two more radio singles were released: "Thug Luv", which ended up charting at number 60 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for 3 weeks, and "Body Rott", which didn't appear on any charts. The final commercial single off the album, "If I Could Teach The World" peaked at number 27 on Hot 100, at number 20 on Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs and number 3 on Hot Rap Songs.
The Art of War had sold 394,000 copies in its first week and went along to debut at number 1 on Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It dropped to number two on both during the second week, after the release of Puff Daddy & The Family's No Way Out while selling 183,000 copies in its second week to Diddy's 223,000 copies sold.
The album was rumored to be called DNA Level C which is Cleveland backwards. The Art of War was created largely as a response to rappers deemed "Clones" (copycats) by the group. Such rappers included Do or Die, Crucial Conflict, Twista & The Speedknots & Three 6 Mafia.
In the wake of his father's death and Tomica Wright now heading Ruthless, Bizzy Bone was not happy, and thus did not appear for many shows or promotions. Now calling the shots, many tracks were altered by Tomica Wright, attempting to head the group into a new direction. Such tracks include Thug Luv with Sylk-E. Fyne, If I Could Teach the World, Friends, Ready 4 War, Handle The Vibe with Flesh-n-Bone and many others. While the group appeared at Sprite Nite on BET, Keenan Ivory Wayans (with Bizzy), and several other promotions, their tour began to lag without Bizzy.
In "Ready 4 War", Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (along with Maje$ty) called out Crucial Conflict directly by name, with Maje$ty even stating, "I'll watch you ride the rodeo straight to the bottom". The tracks "Handle The Vibe," "Look Into My Eyes," "Body Rott," "Ready 4 War," "Hatin' Nation," Wasteland Warriors," "All Original," "Whom Die They Lie" and "U Ain't Bone" can all be considered as diss tracks.
They also changed the name of "Friends" for the cassette version to "How Many of Us Have Them". 2Pac wrote his verse for "Thug Luv" in 1 minute and 51 seconds as confirmed by Bizzy Bone.
The Art of War received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with some critics calling the album sonically superior to its predecessor, E. 1999 Eternal. While others criticizing the album for its length, including extended disses towards other rappers, leading to repetitive song play. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said, "While the group is capable of producing a catchy single, they don't have the personality to sustain an album, much less a double-disc set. By the end of the second disc, they have repeated all of their ideas at least five times apiece, and only a few of those ideas resulted in actual songs in the first place." J.D. Considine of Entertainment Weekly stated, "Lest the smooth sound of 'Look Into My Eyes' leaves you thinking the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony are really just pop-friendly softies, this 28-song double disc, The Art of War, offsets its slow-and-sweet numbers with bloodthirsty workouts like the shotgun-spiked 'Thug Luv'. But after two hours of these singsong melodies, War seems more like a siege than a surgical strike."
Krayzie Bone said in a 2015 interview with HipHopDX that The Art of War was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's best album, even better than E. 1999 Eternal. Compared to Eternal, whose songs he claimed were planned and written years before they were recorded, The Art of War consisted entirely of newer material that he and the other group members created in the studio. Rapper Wiz Khalifa included the album in his list of 25 favorite albums.[1]
All tracks produced by DJ U-Neek
World War 2
All samples here are as listed on the Art of War booklet.
The vinyl release omits the tracks 1, 6 and 12 on WW2.
| Chart (1997) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[2] | 47 | |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[3] | 25 |