Synopsis

At a funeral, the vocal group Tre' opens the video with the traditional spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep." Bone Thugs-N-Harmony then perform in a church, on a mountaintop, and amid stark outdoor settings while an imposing figure in black moves through the community. Seen by the group but unnoticed by most others, the Reaper claims the souls of people facing death, including friends and family connected to Bone. His final transformation into an angel turns the video from a vision of grief into one of spiritual passage and consolation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed on February 27 and 28, 1996, several weeks before the song's April 1996 single release.

• The opening vocal is provided by Tre', a female vocal group whose members included Kimberly Cromartie, Rebecca Forsha, and Maniko Williams.

• The Reaper's victims include Bone's friend Wallace "Wally" Laird III, Wish Bone's Uncle Charles, Eazy-E, and a newborn baby. The sequence connects the song's personal dedications with a broader meditation on loss.

• The Reaper's appearance - sunglasses, black hat, and long trench coat - gives the video a distinctly street-level version of the traditional Grim Reaper. His eventual wings recast the character as an angel guiding the dead toward heaven.

• "Tha Crossroads" began as "Crossroad," a song dedicated primarily to Wally Laird. After Eazy-E died in March 1995, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rewrote and expanded it into a tribute to several people they had lost.

• The original "Crossroad" and the better-known "Tha Crossroads" are different recordings. Some editions of *E. 1999 Eternal* include both versions, which explains why listeners may encounter noticeably different lyrics and arrangements.

• The video received five nominations at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Rap Video, Viewer's Choice, and Best Special Effects.

• Although it did not win at the MTV Video Music Awards, the video later won the Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video at the 1997 Soul Train Music Awards.

• The song's success turned the video into one of the defining memorial pieces of 1990s hip-hop, pairing Bone's rapid-fire harmonies with funeral imagery, supernatural effects, and an unusually direct spiritual message.