"Tha Crossroads" is a song written and performed by hip hop groupBone Thugs-n-Harmony, taken from their album E. 1999 Eternal and released in 1996. The song is dedicated to the group's mentor, the late gangsta rap icon Eazy-E, and other family members. The song was the highest-debuting rap single when it debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It is their biggest selling single, reaching number one on the Hot 100, and in 1997, the song won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Background
"Crossroad" originally debuted in 1995 on the E. 1999 Eternal album. It was dedicated to Bone's dead friend Wallace Laird III, but after the death of Eazy-E they decided to remake it as "Tha Crossroads". The original song appears on the edited version of the album, though the European release has the original as track number 8 and the remix as track 18. The song is performed by four of the group's members,. After receiving high praise for their song the group decided to make it their third single for their already released album, E. 1999 Eternal. The song was a smash hit worldwide and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It has been certified 2x platinum in the United States. In 2008, "Tha Crossroads" was ranked number 33 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. In 2019, a version including other group member Flesh-n-Bone was released with the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony contemplation album Lost Archives Vol 1.
Music video
The music video was filmed on February 27–28, 1996. It opens with the female vocal group Tre' singing the traditional spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep" in a church funeral setting, followed by the members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony singing the main song in several settings, such as a church and a mountain top. The main focus of the video is an imposing man with sunglasses and a trench coat, akin to a Reaper. Bone are among the few who can seethe man, and watch him as he gathers souls of various individuals who are marked for death, such as a young man who leaves his distraught mother behind, Bone's friend Mike G, Wish Bone's Uncle Charles, Eazy-E, and a newborn baby. The Reaper then leads the souls, with the baby in his arms, up a mountain where he reveals himself to be an angel, then takes the dead to Heaven. "Tha Crossroads" was nominated for the Best Rap Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, although it lost to Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise".
"Crossroads", a retitled and reworked version of "Tha Crossroads", was released by British ten-piece hip-hop group Blazin' Squad as their first single in August 2002.
Background
The group's cover version of "Crossroads" was recorded for inclusion on their first studio album, In the Beginning. The decision to record and release "Crossroads" came about during the final stages of the album production: until June 2002, the song "Standard Flow" was planned for release as the group's first single, with a promotional version of the "Standard Flow" even made available on August 5. Despite being labelled as a cover version, only the chorus from the original version remains, with the verses replaced by new lyrics written by the band. Despite being the only 'cover version' the group ever recorded, it became the band's only number one single, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for one week in August 2002. Two versions of the song exist: the main version, which features in the music video and on In the Beginning, and the full version, which contains two extra verses, which appears on the second physical release of the single.
Music video
The music video for "Crossroads" directed by Vaughan Arnell was premiered in July 2002. The video runs for a total length of three minutes and forty-eight seconds and shows the band performing the song on top of an unfinished flyover in the centre of Cape Town. The video also shows scenes of an underpass where a number of homeless people are living, and individual shots of each band member. The video was filmed with the phantom effect, which provides a 'shadow' type movement for each member of the band.
