''Heaven'z Movie'' is the first solo studio album by American rapper

Bizzy Bone Bryon Anthony McCane II (born September 12, 1976),Whitburn, Joel (2008) ''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2006'', Record Research, , p. 97 better known by his stage name Bizzy Bone, is an American rapper, singer and the youngest member o ...

. It was released on October 6, 1998, via Ruthless/

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. The recording sessions took place at

Ocean Way Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but Oc ...

and at Groove Mine in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and at Music Grinder and at

Studio 56 Studio 56 is a recording studio in California. Studio 56 was founded by Paul Schwartz with Tom Herzer and Jeff Fargus as a home studio at 7856 White Oak in Northridge, California. Schwartz established the studio as a production house, recording dem ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The

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 stat ...

was handled by Bizzy Bone himself under his B.B. Gambini alias together with Mike Smoov,

Johnny "J" Johnny Lee Jackson (August 28, 1969 – October 3, 2008) was a Mexican-American multi-platinum songwriter, music producer and rapper best known for his early career with Death Row Records, and for his work with 2Pac on ''Me Against the World ...

, Mafisto, Erik Nordquist, Cat Cody, Nina and Mike Johnson. It features guest appearances from Cat Cody, H.I.T.L.A.H. Capo-Confuscious and Mr. Majesty. The album reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 2 on 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 Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

in the United States, selling 130,000 units in its first week. It was certified Gold 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 ...

a month after its release date. The album is dedicated to the memory of Byron "Big B" Carlos McCane. The songs "Marchin' on Washington", "Roll Call", "Yes Yes Y'all" and "Brain on Drugs" were cut short due to sample clearances not being made on time. Many songs did not make the album in time, leaving ''Heaven'z Movie'' incomplete. Songs omitted included the

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

tribute "Life Goes On", "Trials & Tribulations", "Walking In Da Cold", "Way 2 Strong" from '' The PJs: Music from & Inspired by the Hit Television Series'', "Relentless", "Retaliation", "Praise The Lord, Pass The Ammunition", "Power", "War Time", "Murder, Murder", "These Are My Family", "Seven", "10 Commandments", "Dying", "Mercenary", "Surrender My Love" and "Confessions".

Critical reception

''Heaven'z Movie'' received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Many reviewers criticized the cutting short of four prominent tracks ("Roll Call", "March On Washington", "Yes, Yes Ya'll", "Brain On Drugs") due to sample clearances. Matt Diehl of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave the album a B− rating, stating "

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

's youngest member continues their formula of hip-hop harmony, fire-and-brimstone spirituality, and roughneck rhymes on his solo debut. Bizzy Bone also throws in inner-city cautionary tales ("Social Studies") and flirts dangerously with fascism (check out guest H.I.T.L.A.H. Capo — Confucius' handle). Any enlightening messages in ''Heaven'z Movie'' are made unintelligible by Bizzy's over-the-speed-limit rapping, which will satisfy Bone Thugs aficionados — but confuse everyone else".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Jason Birchmeier wrote: "One of the more troubled members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Bizzy Bone takes the opportunity presented to him by his solo debut to explore much of his personal life. It's a fairly naked album, often confessional and, relative to his work with Bone, very serious. As such, it's an album orientated mostly toward Bone fans curious about the group's respective inner workings".

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 2 contains elements from "

My Eyes Adored You "My Eyes Adored You" is a 1974 song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons (band), The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to l ...

" written by

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons. As a songw ...

and

Kenny Nolan Kenneth "Kenny" Nolan (born September 30, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. He is best remembered for the 1976–77 song " I Like Dreamin'", which he wrote and performed; it reached No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 an ...

and performed by

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

, and "

When Doves Cry "When Doves Cry" is a song by American musician Prince, and the lead single from his sixth studio album '' Purple Rain''. According to the DVD commentary of the film '' Purple Rain'' (1984), Prince was asked by director Albert Magnoli to write a ...

" performed by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

*Track 3 contains elements from

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's Piano Sonata No. 14 *Track 6 contains elements from "

Sunglasses at Night "Sunglasses at Night" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released on January 21, 1984, as the first single from his debut album, 1983's '' First Offense'', and became a chart hit, rising to number seven on the US ''Billboard'' Hot ...

" written by Corey Hart *Track 7 contains elements from "My Melody" written by Eric Barrier and William Griffin *Track 8 contains elements from the

Partnership for a Drug-Free America Partnership to End Addiction, formerly called The Partnership for a Drug Free America, is a non-profit organization aiming to prevent the misuse of illegal drugs. The organization is most widely known for its TV ad ''This Is Your Brain on Drugs.'' ...

's campaign

This Is Your Brain on Drugs ''This Is Your Brain on Drugs'' was a large-scale US anti-narcotics campaign by Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) launched in 1987, that used three televised public service announcements (PSAs) and a related poster campaign. 1987 ver ...

. *Tracks 11 and 13 contain replayed elements from "

The Roof Is on Fire "The Roof Is on Fire" is a song by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three, released as a single in 1984. It reached number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. The intro of "The Roof Is on Fire" is sampled by the ...

" written by Charles Pettiford, Gregory Wigfall, Richard Fowler, C. Evans and Jerry Bloodrock *Track 12 contains replayed elements from "

If Only You Knew "If Only You Knew" is a single written and produced primarily by Dexter Wansel and Cynthia Biggs for American singer Patti LaBelle's sixth solo album, '' I'm in Love Again''. It was released as the album's official first single in 1983, spendin ...

" written by

Cynthia Biggs Cynthia Biggs, lawfully known as Cynthia Biggs El, is an American songwriter, producer, publisher and vocalist who wrote music and lyrics for the Philadelphia International Records label. Her main collaborations were with composers Dexter Wansel ...

Kenneth Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as P ...

and

Dexter Wansel Dexter Gilman Wansel (born August 22, 1950) is an American R&B/jazz fusion artist, singer, arranger, musician, composer, conductor, synthesist and A&R director. Early life Dexter Wansel began as an errand boy backstage at the Uptown Theater i ...

*Track 13 contains a direct sample of "Gay Spirits" written by David Rose.

Personnel

*Bryon "

"/"B.B. Gambini" McCane II – main performer (tracks: 1-6, 8-13), producer, mixing assistant (track 1), art direction *Adrian "H.I.T.L.A.H. Capo-Confuscious" Parlette – featured performer (track 6) *Cedric "Mr. Majesty" Feaster, Jr. – main performer (track 7) *Torrance "Cat" Cody – additional vocals & producer (track 9) *

Ronnie King Ronnie King (born September 16, 1963) is an American musician, producer, and co-owner of Blue Label Records with Sean Couevas. Credits include * 2Pac, keyboards on '' Still I Rise'', '' Until the End of Time'' * Snoop Dogg, Hammond organ on '' ...

– keyboards (tracks: 2, 4) *Michelle Foster – producer (track 1) *Dave Paisley – co-producer (track 1) *

Jackson – producer & mixing (tracks: 2, 4, 12), arranger (tracks: 2, 4) *Harold "Mafisto" Durrett – producer (tracks: 3, 8, 13), co-producer (track 5), mixing (track 13), engineering assistant (track 3) *Michael "Mike Smoov" Bell – producer (tracks: 5, 7, 10, 11), recording (track 10), mixing (tracks: 5, 10), engineering assistant (track 11) *Erik "E" Nordquist – producer & mixing (track 6), recording (tracks: 6, 11) *Mike Johnson – producer (track 8) *Jupiter Joe – recording (tracks: 1, 7, 9, 10), mixing (tracks: 1, 3, 5-8, 10, 11, 13), engineering assistant (tracks: 2, 4, 12) *Ian Boxill – recording & mixing (tracks: 2, 4, 12) *Alvin Williams – recording (track 3) *Chad Brown – recording (tracks: 5, 8, 13), engineering assistant (tracks: 9, 11) *Dean Fisher – engineering assistant (tracks: 2, 4, 12) *Joe Brown – engineering assistant (track 6) *David Bett – art direction *Chiu Liu – design *Randy Ronquillo – design *Daniel Hastings – cover photo *

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

– photography * Bettmann Corbis – photography *

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...

– photography *Uniphoto – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 debut albums Bizzy Bone albums Horrorcore albums Ruthless Records albums Albums produced by Johnny "J" Gangsta rap albums by American artists