Bone Thugs -n- Harmony - Strength & Loyalty

Interviewed by Maine
For
HipHopHavoc.com

We’re not against rap, we’re not against rappers, but we are against those Thugs. If this doesn’t ring bells, you need 2 take a Hip-hop 101 course or pay close attention, because we have one of the groups that’s ushered in the Thug culture. While politicans, the upper class, and even some of our own would love to outcast the culture, American culture has and will remain fascinated with the Thug culture. With a style like no other, it’s no way to mistake this group or there sound. After breaking down misconceptions of how the style developed, these Cleveland cats have trailblazed a path like none other. From students to teachers of the game, we have followed Bone Thugs –n- Harmony from their thuggish ruggish debut to the Crossroads, now we prepare for their latest offering Strength & Loyalty. One of the few groups to have worked with some of Hip – Hops most notorious fallen soldiers (Eazy –E, Notorious B.I.G, and Tupac), and still around to past the lessons on. So let’s take a ride to Cleveland and holla at Layzie.

HHH: What’s going on Layzie, are u out here promoting yourself or the collective Bone?

Layzie Bone: I’m out here promoting the “Strength & Loyalty” album that’s about 2 come out next month, 4/17/2007. It's off the hook, we got mad production on there (Akon, Will.I.AM, JD, Vizualz, Swizz Beatz).

HHH: So are you guys signed to Swizz, what’s the situation?

Layzie Bone: Naw, we signed to Interscope, but we got a production situation with Swizz through Interscope. We partnered up with Swizz about 2 yrs ago, we was trying 2 do a deal with Full Surface, but that never worked out, so when we got this situation over here, we brought the him in and got that cracking.

HHH: So it’s got some straight bangers. The last album was tight, overall it was strong, I think 1 or 2 tracks seemed like a stretch. Do you guys get pressure from the industry to stay current or yall just going to do yall?

Layzie Bone: We just do us, even though it might seem a stretch, but we still out here living and doing these everyday thangs. It’s real, so if you here Bone rapping about Candy paint or some shit like that, they be like that ain’t Bone,. I be damn if it wasn’t, we was 14 or 15 trying through some paint on some shit. We always been about the hustle mood.

HHH: That’s the Midwest.

Layzie Bone: You know, we just do us. We talk about where stay, we do it from the heart so it’s always real. But some people know us better as, like they know the Crossroads so they want to put us in that category of music, but Bone always hit from every angle.

HHH: Yeah, it can get personal at times, fans want to hear certain music, but they gotta let you live, cause everything can’t be the same or you’ll get tired of it.

Layzie Bone: Yeah that’s what it be with the Industry. An artist bring out a hit, then they want to chase that hit on the next album, muthafuckas be sucking up and falling off, instead of letting the artist grow. It’s like the inside of the Industry create that world, where the fans don’t like the next single, the next album they come with, cause they trying to do something different. That album probably been out 2 years, in a 2yr period you’ve experienced some thangs, you supposed to let an artist grow; but we just gone do us. We gone get in there and bang, bang, shot ‘em up, make a nigga cry, all that shit.

HHH: That’s gravy, one quick thing, I’m from the Chi and I was thinking back 2 the situation with Bone and Twista, and Chicago fans of Bone didn’t get a chance to see you guys to much. I saw the DVD, like you and Twista had a common friend and yall ironed it out, now that was real, how did that work out?

Layzie Bone: Yeah, yeah, it was a lot of talk going on; Cleveland niggas, Chicago niggas, Midwest. We ain’t about 2 under estimate each other, it’s real killas out here, niggas ain’t bullshitting. This is how they approached me, I was in the restroom by myself, niggas was like, “what you feel about Twista?” They probably though I was gone come lame, we in Cleveland and they try 2 play like some Cleveland cats to see what I was going to say about Twist. I was like I don’t even know that him, they figure off the rip, “Oh this a real lil nigga right here”. I don’t know what they talking about stole a style, I ain’t never bought a Twista album. They was like we from the Chi, and we know Twista, yall need to build the Midwest up and put that shit to the side, and that’s how it came about. I end up going down to Indiana, me and my wife, and I met up with Twista, we did some music; now he come 2 Cleveland and I fuck with him. It was just real shit.

HHH: That’s definitely good shit, cause it had the potential to turn the other way; which we see a lot.

Layzie Bone: And then it was all kind of shit going on, so it could have got really bad. With Do or Die, and 3-6(Mafia), Twista and all that, because that was in the era muthafuckas was killing muthafuckas. The game was crazy, you go 2 the Source awards back then, it wouldn’t like you getting dressed like, “Oh I’m clean and comfortable.” It’s like niggas got they gloves on, like if anything go down in this bitch we gone do this. Pac and Biggie and them, Pac had the game shook once upon a time, you feel me. It was real in the feel, but thank God it didn’t have to get that deep. But Twista, that’s a good ass dude, we kick it like, like we really, really kick it, that’s my nigga period Joe. Whatever the misconception was, I felt it was the Industry trying to get some niggas out of not being able to get money, and we wasn’t having that.

HHH: Through the door, the industry just instigate shit, and keep shit popping so hard that you got so many people hollering at u and somebody hollering at him, they gone keep it going; when yall ironed it out. Now yall cool, can get money, as black men we gotta take advantage of that.

Layzie Bone: Yeah it’s all a game, it’s 2 many obstacles out here for a dude not 2 see that. Niggas was out in’98, ’97, already out talking about “The Art of War”, Sun-Tzu. Little young niggas, wild, like on that knowledge shit, that’s where I come from. You from the Chi, you know we was militants.

HHH: I think that’s what the game missing, don’t nobody speaking on what’s real. As far as the younger generation coming out. I don’t think they go through the shit that we went through, cause I was raised in that era. I was wondering if you wanted to talk about Flesh?

Layzie Bone: Ah, It’s all good. He got the new article in the Source, in the March issue. We can talk about it now, the worst of the worst is over with, he goes up for parole 15 months from now. Next summer he will be home.

HHH: What was his charge, it was weapons, all types of weapons, what else?

Layzie Bone: Weapons, assault, you know what I mean, He had ridiculous weapons though.

HHH: Right, I read the article. I was like this dude ready to go to war 4real. But that’s real life.

Layzie Bone: Yeah, but we was young man, it was like life came at us so fast, we saw everybody out here caping. We was like niggas gotta be ready, that’s how we was thinking, but we was a little wild with it, we wasn’t really like hush, hush like we should have been . Smacking on niggas and shit, smacking on niggas with 5 pistols in the car, and going 2 jail; dumb shit. Niggas live and learn, we didn’t have that guidance, like hip hop now got guidance, with niggas they can look up to.

HHH: Like Russell(Simmons) and the HSAN?

Layzie Bone: Yeah before Russ started it was like it was blank 4 artists out there, we didn’t have any direction; Hip-hop Summit and shit like that. I mean it’s a little more structured for them, hip hop has come a long way.

HHH: You know what I want to be really recognized. How much people put down hip hop and everything like that, as much shit we go through and we still give back, I don’t see any other entertainers doing it like that. Like you said we basically raised our self.

Layzie Bone: Hell nah, dog that’s just the ways of the world. You know u writing so u already know how the media and how politics go.

HHH: I don’t know if you want to talk about the Bizzy situation. Is there a Bizzy situation?

Layzie Bone: Basically Bizzy choose not to fuck with this project, he had an opportunity man, but me personally I didn’t think he was thinking right when he was saying what he said, but at the same time I didn’t have time to waste. I couldn’t schmooze him into believing what a I was talking about; it was like lets ride. He was nah man, it is what it is, he didn’t make this project, but it’s always a possibility of things going down, a full Bone Thug reunion. That’s money man, I’m kind of glad that it went the way it did, it gives me more potential and room to market, and plan and plot another Bone Thugs project, cause that’s all I’ve been doing is playing my role, just making sure this Bone Thug thang stay alive period.

HHH: Any last thoughts with the state of the world, with Katrina, war, etc?

Layzie Bone: What’s on the news already been written in the Bible, you know, it’s like the state of the world is what it is. You got your good, you got your bad, it just all depends on if your optimistic enough to see past the bullshit. Its like a cruel world out here, you just gotta be on your shit, and have faith, believe in God. That’s the main thing, believing in God and understanding that you ain’t an island on your own. You put here 4 a reason, that’s what I believe anyway and it works 4 me, cause I’m blessed around here, Bone blessed. We bought to do the damn thang, we got Mo’ Thugs, Thug line, Young Felecia album coming, Immortal Thugs, Ken Dog, Dirt, all that shit we was doing back in the day it’s another opportunity for us to do it again, so we gone do the damn thang.

HHH: So they’ll be touring with u guys, when you guys going on tour?

Layzie Bone: We gone be on promo 4 a couple months, so we’ll probably go out like July or August.

HHH: I do appreciate the time, and good lookout Matt 4 hooking Hip Hop Havoc with the Bone interview.