Soon after Bone Thugs-N-Harmony became a multi-platinum success story, they began looking for home-grown Cleveland talent to sign to their label, Mo Thugs Records. The first in the family was Poetic Hustla'z, formed by Mo! Hart, Tony Tone, and Boogy Nikke. The trio first appeared on the Mo Thugs Family all-star project album Family Scriptures in 1996, then recorded their debut album, Trials & Tribulations, for release in November 1997.