In sound and feel, Lyrical Paraphernalia -- Volume 3 of Krayzie Bone’s street album series, The Fixtape -- embodies some of the most resolute characteristics of not only his solo career, but of post-BTNHResurrection Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Consisting primarily of new spins on popular beats by other artists, the harmonic, rapid-fire flow with melodic, shifting cadences and an underlying spirituality ingrained since the group’s inception in 1991 is ever present throughout.
Opener, “Scrape The Block” finds the Cleveland, Ohio Emcee playing Robin Hood of the hood, kicking street logic over the beat from Cam’ron’s “Losin’ Weight.” Lines like “Harassing you / Just give me the cash or we gonna see what this here mag can do / When bullets advance at you” and “My warning shots produce victims” are not only a throwback to Krayzie’s Thug Mentality days, but are also the only overtly violent rhymes without reason on the album. With the exception of brief topical detours to opine on his unwillingness to be a sugar daddy (“Aint Gon Save Em”) and the inevitable complications that occur when a woman “Collapses [your] economy” (“Whatcha Gon Do”), the remainder of LP is heavily weighted in spirituality and introspection.
KB’s angst injected suicidal thoughts on “Suicide” are visceral enough to withstand it’s annoying hook and “One Life’s” depiction of a young man’s “decision to move with the criminals / Do what the killers do” and a young girl who’s “Thirteen going on her fourth abortion / No remorse for orphans” resonate enough to appreciate the track despite the fact that KB falls noticeably short of the standard Nas sets on the original version, “One Mic.”
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