T.H.U.G.S.

The essential thing to know about T.H.U.G.S. is that the ‘album’ is not an album at all. It’s not made of new material—it’s technically a compilation, amassed from old leaked and unreleased tracks over the years. The compilation was very likely not put out under the group’s control at all, actually. This is plainly shown by a couple of things.

Firstly; T.H.U.G.S. wasn’t released by Bone Thugs' current label—it was put out by Ruthless Records. Bone Thugs had split with Ruthless before 2007—Strength & Loyalty, from the same year, was through Interscope. Secondly; Bizzy Bone is on most of the songs, who was dismissed from the group after 2002’s Thug World Order—which was also the last real album the group made through Ruthless Records.

With those things in mind, it’s reasonable to look at T.H.U.G.S. as a rather stale and sloppy attempt by Ruthless to cash in all of their previously untouched Bone Thugs material, despite the group’s departure from the label.

While there are (arguably) likable tracks like “Everyday Thugs,” cheap production (listen to “Wildin'” and “Sweet Jane”) and oddly pitched-down vocals of “I’m Bone” speak to the compilation’s taped-together nature that may have been remedied if the group had been in control of the material, instead of an old label.