Bone Thugs-n-Harmony needs no introduction.
Comprised of Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Flesh-n-Bone, the iconic rap group has been consistently keeping their name afloat in more than just hip-hop for over 20 years.
While it was breakout single “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” released in 1993 that pushed their name to the mainstream light, fans can hardly resist singing timeless smash “1st of tha Month” each first of the month.
In 1997, the Cleveland, Ohio natives took home their first Grammy for “Tha Crossroads,” a tribute track dedicated to the late Eazy-E.
The West Coast rapper was actually the one who signed the group to his Ruthless Records, ironically following their initial attempt to connect with the N.W.A founder. Each member purchased one-way bus tickets to Los Angeles and 6 months later, they had the opportunity for open for him back in their hometown of Cleveland. It was a wrap ever since.
Fast forward to 2020, Bone Thugs have teamed up with Buffalo Wild Wings for a new mockumentary-style visual, changing their names to a humorous Boneless Thugs-n-Harmony.
AllHipHop caught up with Layzie, Wish, and Flesh at Village Studios in Beverly Hills to chat about the new collab, their legacy, favorite new artists, and more!
AllHipHop: What made you want to team with Buffalo Wild Wings?
Layzie Bone: It was the whole concept of just us going through our riffs as a group, and the concept of changing our names to Boneless. It was funny and hilarious to us: the concept of doing the boneless wings and us being Bone’s. They reached out to Lobel and that’s how it came about. It was funny!
AllHipHop: It’s genius! I heard it was split: half the group likes it, half doesn’t.
Wish Bone: Yeah, it’s a toss-up.
Layzie Bone: It depends on if you like bones in your chicken or not. [chuckles]
AllHipHop: What can we expect from the mockumentary-style video?
Layzie Bone: It’s a funny conflict. It’s Bone’s showing we got a little funny side to ourselves.
Flesh-n-Bone: It’s a funny twist to it. It definitely shows a lighter side of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony instead of always serious,
crack-you-upside-the-head. A little bit of improving in there so it was fun. Definitely fun. I think the people are really going to embrace it. If it’s split now 50/50, we’re going to win them all over with the commercial.
AllHipHop: Best memory from the shoot?
Wish Bone: Getting off the airplane, coming right here and getting it done. [laughs]
Layzie Bone: We came from Atlanta. We did Wild ‘n Out with Nick Cannon. We were with Nick yesterday in the ATL. It was cool man, they got a nice set up there down there in Tyler Perry Studios. He got some real Hollywood situations going on. It’s big. It’s a real Hollywood type of studio: acres and acres and acres.
AllHipHop: This is your first time teaming up with a food company right?
Layzie Bone: Yeah, this is our first interaction doing something with a national brand restaurant. It’s the first time, hopefully not the last.
AllHipHop: Any other business endeavors in the works?
Layzie Bone: We got a lot of things going on. I’m working on Harmony House Films right now, we got a couple movies in pre-production right now that I’m trying to get off the ground. I’m acting, I’m directing, I’m producing, I’m owning, everything. I’m trying to do it all.
Flesh-n-Bone: New music, hopefully 2020. I want to line it up with a couple new records, a couple new projects. We just released one called Survival that’s out now on streaming platforms.
Layzie Bone: With Ky-Mani Marley.
Flesh-n-Bone: It’s doing real good. 4/20, we have a weed album on the way. Weed-themed so that should be a ton of fun. Folks should love that.
AllHipHop: What inspires you to make music today in 2019?
Wish Bone: Just the love of music, that’s what we come from and that’s who we are. We don’t have to have a certain agenda or anything, we just love doing what we’ve been blessed to do. It never stopped.
AllHipHop: What’s the craziest change in music from the 90’s to now?
Flesh-n-Bone: Skinny jeans. [laughs]
Wish Bone: Pump motherf##kers. [laughs]
Layzie Bone: Really just the way music is released, going from the physical copies and all that to basically a digital outlet releasing our music. Getting rid of that old mentality of releasing music and being able to independently do whatever we want to do these days. That’s the main difference, and the money better!
AllHipHop: Have the beefs with the younger era hurt your legacy? (Migos, 21 Savage)
Layzie Bone: Not at all, they never stood a chance.
Flesh: Might hurt their legacy, because we know they won’t be around for 5, 10, 15, 20, let alone 25 years. So they’re the ones who get hurt in the long run. This is the generation of the one-hitter quitter, that’s what they are. They’re hot now, they’re gone tomorrow. [snaps]
AllHipHop: Who’s they?
Flesh-n-Bone: Whoever the shoe fits. Whoever the slippers keep on.
Layzie Bone: Whoever they is. Tell ‘em like this: take it how you want to take it. If you have been here long enough to consider yourself a legend, I know Bone Thugs-n-Harmony has.
AllHipHop: What artists are you excited about in 2020?
Layzie Bone: I love DaBaby. I really love his stage performance. I love Dizzy Wright. I be into the stage performance. Music is dope but anybody can make good music. Not really anybody but if you really concentrate and put your mind to it, you can make good music. But to bring it to life on stage, that’s a whole nother thing. If you’re out there banging, bringing it to life — Travis Scott, I like him a lot. There’s so many people out here. Meek Mill. I listen to all music though. Blueface, I’m liking his vibe. I like his swag. Nipsey, that goes without saying.
Steve Lobel: They’re the first ones to put Nipsey in a movie to act.
Layzie Bone: We had done a movie back in 2006 called “I Tried,” the movie. Well first, we did a single with Akon in which the album went Platinum called Strength & Loyalty. The single went Platinum. We decided we’d start off telling our life story, but we got caught in the snow blizzard in Cleveland so we ended up bringing it back here. Did it in the 60’s neighborhood with Big U and Steve Lobel, that’s when we met Nipsey Hussle and all that.
AllHipHop: What was your relationship with Nip like then?
Layzie Bone: We hit it off off the rip.
Flesh-n-Bone: Mmhmm.
Layzie Bone: He was a young knowledgeable dude. I kind of put myself in that light though, holding on to a lot of knowledge and sharing it with everybody. So we always had those deep talks.
AllHipHop: What’s up with a movie or series on your group? Is it even possible?
Wish Bone: Always in the works.
Layzie Bone: We working on that. But our movie is so authentic and so real that it has to be told in a certain way and definitely from our perspectives. That’s something in the making. In Harmony House Films, we got the 1st of tha Month movie and different types of things we’re doing. We’re definitely expanding our music through the movies now, through soundtracks and s##t like that.
AllHipHop: Greatest memory touring with Snoop?
Layzie Bone: We smoked so many.
Flesh-n-Bone: He can smoke!
AllHipHop: Could ya’ll keep up?
Wish Bone: Hell nah! Not me.
Layzie Bone: Yeah I passed out on Snoop a couple times. He definitely came with 50, 60, 70 blunts rolling at one time, messing with Snoop. One of the livest times was when we were in Australia with Snoop. That’s when Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Tha Dogg Pound, and Snoop, that bond really came together. I’d say Australia was. Everybody was away from home so it really was just us.
AllHipHop: What’s your favorite song to perform in a set?
Wish Bone: We change our show up so much! Too many hits. We change it up a lot.
Layzie Bone: All the hits really because the crowd goes up. You have “1st of tha Month,” ”Thuggish Ruggish Bone,” album cuts like “East 1999,” “Mo’ Murder,” “Days Of Our Livez.” All the high energy songs, they go up like they just came out yesterday.
AllHipHop: Do you guys celebrate each first of the month?
Layzie: Every first of the month. Even on 4:20pm, you just missed it. You just missed the 4:20 blaze up, we got to do it.
AllHipHop: What goals do you have for yourselves at this point?
Wish Bone: Definitely keep your family first. Seeing our children that we brought into this world through adulthood and them being good human beings, etc. Keeping our music. Reintegrating our music. Keeping what we’re blessed with and keep going.
Layzie Bone: I’m working on my musical empire. I got Harmony Howse Ent. I got the films, I got the publishing. I’m trying to build up a company that’s going to be here longer than I am. I got the kids. I got several albums coming out. I just dropped two albums this year: one was Annihilation, one was Lost & Found. Everything’s all available on all digital platforms. Follow me on IG, you’ll find out everything! @thereallayziebone.
