Thug on da Line

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony innovator Krayzie Bone's follow-up to his smash solo hit, Thug Mentality 1999, paints a picture of life on the streets in a manner that's so cinematic that it would work well as a movie score. Musically heavy on eerie keyboard riffs and ambient sound, the album's most accessible songs originate from well-known samples. "Hard Time Hustlin'" is an unexpected extrapolation of Sade's "Feel No Pain" while "Time After Time," which sounds like vintage Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, coasts on Heavy D. & the Boyz's slow jam "Don't You Know." While the "thug life" mindset is getting pretty played out, the code of the streets is reality for some, and Krayzie's vision is more subtle, melodic, and thoughtful than that of many of his peers. --Rebecca Levine