‘Art Of War’ Welcome Surprise

“Double your pleasure, double your fun” is a concept that might work well for chewing gum, but it has met with mixed results in hip-hop. So Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “The Art of War” (Ruthless/Relativity) is a welcome surprise.

By working with both Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., Bone Thugs-N-Harmony helps draw a close to rap’s stupid bicoastal war. They join the rapid-fire wordplay of the East Coast with the bass-heavy, deeply melodic funk sound of the West.