Bone Brothers 2, the sequel to
Bizzy and
Layzie Bone's 2005 collaboration, was released by Real Talk the same week Interscope released
Strength & Loyalty, the big-budget reunion album by
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony -- sans
Bizzy, that is, who'd been kicked out of the group and thus relegated to the indie circuit. There's a stark difference between the two albums, with
Bone Brothers 2 unfortunately paling in comparison. Not that
Strength & Loyalty is a great album -- certainly, it's a far cry from the glory days of E 1999 Eternal (1995),
Bone's short-lived day in the sun -- but it's not without charm, most notably the infectious
Akon song "I Tried."
Bone Brothers 2 simply can't compare to the high-quality songwriting and big-budget production of
Strength & Loyalty. Like most releases by Real Talk,
Bone Brothers 2 sounds like it was done on the cheap and quick: the songs are boilerplate gangsta and the beats sound homemade (and not in a good way). Despite these major strikes against
Bone Brothers 2, it does have one plus: its
Bone-ness. In a marketplace overrun with rappers of all shapes, sizes, and colors, the
Bone rappers have a singular style that will forever set them apart from their colleagues, no matter how burned-out they sound with each cycle of album releases. And
Bizzy and
Layzie do sound rather burned-out here -- it's a little saddening, in fact, when you consider their downward career trajectory and never-ending struggles (hence the tragic truth of "I Tried") -- yet there are moments when this works in their favor, making them seem all the more otherworldly. "Wake Up, Get Up" and "We Are Warriors" are two of the more effective songs here, as beat-maker Hollis (who produces half the album) employs some eerie synth notes over slow, rolling tempos that are perfect for
the Bone Brothers' gentle rapped-sung verses. "One Day" is another highlight -- yet another sad song that finds the guys with one foot in the grave psychologically. "Thugs Need Luv" also stands out, and yup, it's pretty sad too. Few rappers do sad better than
Bone, it seems. Even their "happy" songs come across as sad (think "First of the Month," a celebration of welfare -- how sad is that, really?). In the end, even though
Bone Brothers 2 doesn't compare favorably to
Strength & Loyalty,
Bone fans will recognize that these are very different albums in approach and therefore may forgive the shortcomings of this effort, which suffers from a lack of resources and fresh ideas. That it's a new
Bone release that finds
Bizzy still alive and kicking, with a few effective songs sprinkled in here and there, is probably enough to make it worthwhile for the remaining loyalists. Everyone else should stick with
Strength & Loyalty, if that. ~ Jason Birchmeier