This is not an official page. This is a page in honor of what I truly feel is one of the greatest groups to ever grace the hip hop world. Unfortunately, tragedy and other reasons have prevented their presence from being felt. Graveyard Shift has had a lasting influence on all of my art ever since I first heard them nearly a decade ago. Not willing to let their legacy die, I have created this page on myspace in their honor, hoping that Bone and Mo Thugs fans would support it and spread the word to others so that they may be heard.
Biography taken from Still Waters insert:
"The Graveyard Shift, consisting of three members, Tombstone (T-Rocc), Sin, and Gates, made their first appearance on one of the most successful rap albums of all time. The album was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's 10x platinum sophomore effort entitled, "East 1999 Eternal." They made an instant impact with their darkside lyrics on the track "Shotz to Tha Double Glock" and had Bone fans anticipating The Shifters next appearance. They would have to wait a year but they got what they expected from the tracks "Killing Fields" and "Rumors & War" off the 1996 debut compilation of the Mo Thugs Family. By now, they had already begun building a fan base due the eerie harmony of Tombstone and provacative and insightful lyrics of Sin and Gates, combining to make a very unique and distinguishable flow. After many years of hard work, it was all about to pay off big for the Graveyard Shift. At least, that's how it seemed.
The Mo Thugs compilation did well on the Billboard charts and set the stage for the release of various Mo Thugs artist's debut albums. By this time, Tombstone, Sin, and Gates had hooked up with Mo Thugs producer Romeo Antonio and begun work on their debut album, Still Waters. They decided that tey watned Romeo to produce their whole album. Tombstone wanted that new sound, he had envisioned rap taking a step towards electric guitars before anyone else did. All was going well and the album seemed destined to make big waves around the hip-hop world, but then everything suddenly changed for the worst.
Tragically, two weeks before they finished up the album, the heart and soul of the Graveyard Shift, Paul "Tombstone" O'Neill, was gunned down on the front lawn of his fiance's house. (August 31, 1997)
Unfortunately, this wasn't the first tragedy to hit the Graveyard Shift. Back in 1994, the fourth member of the Shift, "Lil Boo The Caretaker" was murdered in a drive-by shooting as he jumped in front of his younger cousin to shield him.
The loss of Lil Boo and then Tombstone drove Gates to leave and pursue other ventures. Sin is the only member left and is still standing strong and still writing thought provoking lyrics. As for the Still Waters album, it was finalized shortly after Tombstone's death. At first, Relativity pushed back the relase of Still Waters. When the time came to relase the album, they were faced with a difficult decision. Relativity loved the record and saw it as a possible change in hip-hop. However, too many obstacles have to be overcome when you only have one member of the group left to promote and advertise the album with. The idea of releasing Still Water has been kicked around these past couple of years by different people but nothing came through out of it... until now.
Romeo Antonio has decided to relase this album exclusively via the internet. It's time for people to hear what was going to revolutionize hip-hop with a new sound. It's time for people hear the last words rhymed and sung by Tombstone."
Still Waters tracklist:
1. Inflicted
2. Reveal featuring Infantry Soldier
3. Combat on Contact featuring Gold
4. Laughter & Blood
5. Burnt Offering
6. Skrilla (Tombstone)
7. Patriot Games
8. Urban Souljah
9. No Photo featuring Layzie Bone
10. Wage for Sin (Sin)
11. Silence featuring Krayzie Bone
12. Careful Line
13. Rest in Peace
14. Make A Wish
15. Cop Stories
16. Latchey Kids
Graveyard Shift has appeared on:
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - East 1999 Eternal on the song "Shotz to tha Double Glock"
Mo Thugs Family Scriptures with the songs "Killing Fields", "Rumors & War featuring Flesh-n-Bone", "Family Scriptures", and Tombstone contributed a verse to "No Pretender
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - The Art of War on the song "Mo Thug Family Tree"
Mo Thugs Family Scriptures Chapter 2: Family Reunion with the song "Urban Souljah", Tombstone contributed a verse to the song "Ain't Said No Names", and Sin contributed a verse to the song "Otherside"
IITru - New Breed of Female - Tombstone appears on the song "I Got Yo Back" and both Tombstone and Sin appear on the song "Two Hits and Pass"
Krayzie Bone - Thug Mentality 1999 - Graveyard Shift appears on the song "Silence"
The song Cop Stories appeared on the Southwest Riders compilation
The song Skrilla appeared on the Race Riot compilation
Graveyard Shift also contributed to the song 93rd High Roller by Midwest Mafia
