Can Bone Thugs make a comeback?

Ominous new trend: I can hardly make it around the corner to McDonalds to drown my sorrows in fast food without hearing that new Bone Thugs N Harmony record.

Not that it's that bad of a song, mind you but it could be the most grating Akon chorus on a rap song to date. Beyond the fact that it's just plain not very catchy as far as these things go, I can't really say that I appreciate the victimization aspect of it. I thought that Africans were supposed to be enterprising as a people, like other groups of immigrants.

To be sure, I've enjoyed my share of Akon's made for ringtones bullshit, but I was more into the guy when it was mostly just "Smack That" and "I Wanna Love You." Nowadays when you hear an Akon song on the radio, it's likely to be either "Don't Matter" or "The Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani, neither of which I particularly care for.

Obviously the fact that Akon is singing the chorus in the first place is a bit of A&R fuckery designed to get them back on the radio over 10 years (yep) after they reached their commercial peak back in the mid '90s. Which is odd when you consider that a) Bone made their, um, bones in the first place singing their own choruses and b) they were a lot better than it than Akon.

But I guess Akon is more familiar to today's youth, which is what counts at the end of the day. In fact, he's about as ubiquitous now as Phil Collins, whom Bone once collaborated with (that just didn't sound right - nullus), was back in the mid '80s. Not only can you not turn on the radio without hearing one of his songs, but when was the last time he did something that wasn't a big hit?

Meanwhile, I pretty much lost track of Bone after that double album they put out after E. 1999 Eternal, (even it was probably 10 years ago.) I was sent a promo copy of that album they put out last year and thought about doing a story on it, but then I listened to it and the shit was just awful. Even XXL boss Elliott Wilson, who's elevated not having an opinion on shit to a fine art, couldn't help but dis it.

And truth be told, I never liked Bone very much in the first place. (Nullus?) I was once forced to listen to E. 1999 Eternal on a car trip with the kind of people who consider music the wallpaper of their lives, and I couldn't help but be at a loss for how it managed to become one of the best-selling rap albums evar. But then I think we all know that I live to hate on shit.

I was checking the wiki though and damnit if this new Bone album Strength and Loyalty doesn't have its share of high profile collaborators. That coupled with the fact that it's being released by Interscope (i.e. my benefactor) as well as the fact that "I Tried" is about as ubiquitous as any rap song gets these days (when's the last time you heard that new T.I. record?) leads me to believe that Bone could be poised for a comeback.

Lord, say it ain't so.