By the end of the second disc, they have repeated all of their ideas at least five times apiece, and only a few of those ideas resulted in actual songs in the first place." J.D. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said, "While the group is capable of producing a catchy single, they don't have the personality to sustain an album, much less a double-disc set. While others criticizing the album for its length, including extended disses towards other rappers, leading to repetitive song play. The Art of War received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with some critics calling the album sonically superior to its predecessor, E. "Thug Luv" and "Body Rott" were also released to radio as singles. Bizzy did not appear in this video either. The next single was "If I Could Teach the World". Neither Bizzy nor Flesh-n-Bone was featured in the video. The first single for this album was Look Into My Eyes, which was also on the Batman & Robin soundtrack. 2Pac wrote his verse for "Thug Luv" in 1 minute and 51 seconds as confirmed by Bizzy Bone. They also changed the name of "Friends" for the cassette version to "How Many of Us Have Them". This resulted in MC Lyte calling out all of the three rappers on the Rah Digga-collaborated, "Where U At Mama?" Layzie interpolated the chorus on "U Ain't Bone", while Kim and Brown interpolated the beginning verse, "Hot damn, ho, here we go again!" on Mobb Deep's " Quiet Storm" (Remix) and Capone-N-Noreaga's "Bang-Bang", respectively. When I see you face-to-face, my nigga, I'm-a treat you like a hater." In 2000, MC Lyte stated that she was "extremely" disrespected by Layzie Bone, Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown's lyrical interpolations of her "10% Dis" lines. MC Lyte's chorus raps "Beat biter! Dope style taker! Tell it to your face, you ain't nuttin but a faker!", while Layzie Bone's verse interpolates "They beat biters, dope-style takers. In "U Ain't Bone", Layzie Bone raps a line similar to the chorus from female rap icon MC Lyte's 10% Dis. Majesty) called out Crucial Conflict directly by name, with Majesty even stating, "I'll watch you ride the rodeo straight to the bottom". In "Ready 4 War," Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (along with Mr. While the group appeared at Sprite Nite on BET, Keenan Ivory Wayans (with Bizzy), and several other promotions, their tour began to lag without Bizzy.
Fyne, If I Could Teach the World, Friends, Ready For War and many others. Such tracks include Thug Luv with Sylk-E. Now calling the shots, many tracks were altered by Tomica Wright, attempting to head the group into a new direction. In the wake of his father's death and Tomica Wright now heading Ruthless, Bizzy Bone was not happy, and thus did not appear for many shows or promotions. Such rappers included Do or Die, Crucial Conflict, Twista & The Speedknots & Three 6 Mafia.
"The Art of War" was created largely as a response to rappers deemed "Clones" (copycats) by the group. The album was rumored to be called "DNA Level C" which is Cleveland backwards.