''Family Scriptures'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop collective

Mo Thugs Mo Thugs was an American hip hop collective formed and led by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Together, the Mo Thugs collective released four studio albums from 1995 to 2003. Their logo, a pyramid with a fist above it, is symbolic of their achievements; ...

. It was released on November 5, 1996 via

/ Relativity Records. Recording sessions took place at Private Island Trax in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

was handled by Krayzie Bone, who also served as executive producer together with

Layzie Bone Steven Howse (born September 23, 1974), known professionally as Layzie Bone, is a rapper known primarily for being a member of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He has also gone by the names L-Burna and The #1 Assassin. He is the younger brother ...

, Archie Blaine, Bobby Jones and Paul "Tombstone" O'Neil, with co-producers Gates and Sin. It features contributions from Flesh-n-Bone, II Tru, Ken Dawg, Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Poetic Hustla'z, Souljah Boy, The Graveyard Shift, and Tré. The album peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 and the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

in the United States. On January 3, 1997, it received Platinum certification status by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for selling 1,000,000 copies. Its sequel, '' Mo Thugs Family Scriptures Chapter II: Family Reunion'', was released on May 26, 1998.

Controversy

On April 28, 2011, former Bone Thugs-n-Harmony/Mo Thugs associate Roland Brown filed the lawsuit in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in

Cuyahoga County, Ohio Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.-Canada maritime border. As of the 2020 U ...

for breach of contract over unpaid royalties, claiming he wrote “Take Your Time” and “Here With Me” by Tré. Naming Mo Thugs Records, Loud Records, Relativity Records,

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the la ...

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

and

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

as defendants, Brown was seeking for $27 million ($24 million in damages and $3 million in mechanical royalties for the single, music video, and ''Family Scriptures'' album).

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 5 contains elements from "

Moments in Love "Moments in Love" is a song performed by Art of Noise and written by Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J. J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan, and Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 ...

" written by Anne Dudley, Gary Langan, Jonathan Jeczalik,

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

and Trevor Horn and performed by Art of Noise *Track 8 contains elements from "May the Force Be with You" written by George Clinton, William Collins and Gary Lee Cooper and performed by

Bootsy's Rubber Band A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

*Track 9 contains replayed elements from " Devotion" written by

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wi ...

and

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

and performed by Earth, Wind & Fire *Track 11 contains elements from "Ain't Nothing I Can Do" written by

Leo Graham Leo Graham was a Jamaican singer. He first sang with The Bleechers, then after leaving the group recorded several solo singles in the 1970s including "Perilous Time," "A Win Them" and "Not Giving Up" for Joe Gibbs, and songs including "Big Ton ...

, Paul Richmond and Darryl Ellis and performed by

Tyrone Davis Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' R ...

*Track 14 contains elements from "I Feel Like Loving You Today" written by

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

and performed by

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

Personnel

* Anthony Henderson – performer (tracks: 1, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16), producer (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 10, 12, 16), co-producer (track 13), executive producer *Kimberly Cromartie – performer (tracks: 1, 7, 9, 10, 16) *Niko Williams – performer (tracks: 1, 7, 9, 10, 16) *Rebecca Forsha – performer (tracks: 1, 7, 9, 10, 16) *Ronald Poole – performer (tracks: 2, 12, 16) *Anthony Chappell – performer (tracks: 2, 16) *Richard Drake – performer (tracks: 2, 16) *Belinda Wallace – performer (tracks: 3, 8, 12, 14, 16) *Cabrina Wilson – performer (tracks: 3, 8, 14, 16) * Steven Howse – performer (tracks: 3, 9, 16), executive producer *Paul O'Neil – performer (tracks: 4, 12, 13, 16), keyboards & producer (track 15), co-producer (track 13) *Actavius Mills – performer (tracks: 4, 13, 16), co-producer (track 13) *Arran Baldwin – performer (tracks: 4, 13, 16), co-producer (track 13) *Kendon Anthony – performer (tracks: 6, 8, 9, 11, 16) *Willy Lyons – performer (tracks: 9, 15, 16) * Stanley Howse – performer (tracks: 13, 16) *Bobby Jones – keyboards (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16), producer (tracks: 7, 9, 13), co-producer (tracks: 4, 10, 15, 16), mixing & recording (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16) * Jimmy Zavala – saxophone (track 3) * Romeo Antonio – guitar (tracks: 4, 7, 9, 16) *David Sewell – guitar (track 13) *Archie Blaine – producer, mixing & recording (tracks: 3, 6, 8, 11, 14) *Jeff Shirley – mixing (tracks: 2-4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14), recording (tracks: 3, 5-8, 10, 11, 14-16) *Brian K. Nutter – recording (track 2) *Furman Smith – recording (track 4) *John Wydrycs – mixing (tracks: 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16) *Eric Fahlborg – recording (track 9) *Paul Real – assistant engineering (track 9) *Mark "V" Myers – mixing & recording (track 10) *Jason Mackey – recording (track 12) *Jessie Stewart – recording (track 13), assistant engineering (tracks: 4, 12) *Nate Carpenter – assistant engineering (track 13) *David Bett – art direction *Patrick Aquintey – art direction *Josh Nichols – cover *Christian Lantry – photography *Steve Lobel – A&R

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mo Thugs albums 1996 debut albums Relativity Records albums