BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY  (November 2006) | Interview By: Yash

   

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Interview was done in October 2006

Questions Asked By: Yash

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony exclusive Dubcnn Drop: Here

Full Audio Interview Here
 

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Dubcnn: Why did you release the album ”Thug Stories” on Koch before the Interscope album?

Layzie Bone: Well basically that was an album we recorded almost to years ago man and we had just been sitting on it so that was our last independent album before we stepped out onto a major again.


Dubcnn: Okay, like was it part of the promotion before the big album?

Layzie Bone: Yeah to get the name out there you know what I mean and like let motherfuckers know we still working. Let everybody know that Bone Thugs and Harmony still got hits!


Dubcnn: You won’t be shooting any videos for the songs on that album right?

Layzie Bone: No that’s just like basically a warm up album man. “Thug Stories” won’t have no videos and it’s barely even promoted you know what I mean. It just happened to run into the Interscope album so no videos or nothing like that we saving all that for the big album.


Dubcnn: Alright man, how’s the spirit of the group in 2006 compared to back then?

Krayzie Bone: I mean right now, we’re all in good spirits right now. We had like our little issues with the record companies, with members of the group you know what I’m saying but fuck that right now. We managed to keep our heads together and just stay on that level because you know we had to keep this Bone Thugs n Harmony situation going. Can nothing stop this!

We all in good spirits, we’re happy with the situation we in with Interscope right now and we happy with the Koch record and everything is going real good for us right now.


Dubcnn: Fosho and you know when we spoke about 2 years ago, you were telling me that you were hooking up with Dre and you were maybe doing a deal with him. What happened with that?

Krayzie Bone: Well man basically it was a couple of situations on the table like a lot of people was talking you know back and forth, but we never actually hooked up and talked to Dr. Dre until we signed with Interscope. It was just a lot of stuff going back and forth, there were a couple of people interested in us but we finally hooked up with Swizz Beats you know what I’m saying and that’s how the whole Interscope situation came about.

Layzie Bone: And also back then like 2 years ago we couldn’t get full co-operation out of everybody in the group and without full co-operation Dr. Dre and different people didn’t want to deal with Bone Thugs n Harmony. If it was a miss assembly which left us out there stranded like 2 years trying to get a home.


Dubcnn: You know I keep in touch with BG Knocc Out and I spoke to him like 2 weeks ago and he was with Flesh-N-Bones family taking pictures to send back to Flesh. He said that he been speaking to Krayzie Bone like 2-3 weeks ago and that maybe y’all were coming to LA and do something. Has that happened yet?

Krayzie Bone: I spoke to him like umm a couple weeks ago when we was on tour. I told him like when I get back to Cali I was going to hook up with him but our schedule has been hectic but I’m gone definitely going to try and hook up with him.


Dubcnn: Tight, with such a unique style how do you go about the song writing process?

Layzie Bone: Man it’s all kind of different ways to go about it you know what I mean?
Like sometimes somebody come in there you know Krayzie would have a hook done or have a concept done or we all in the studio vibing together, sitting in a circle writing you know what I’m saying?

It ain’t just one set way the way we come with our songs and it’s just like however the vibe flow that’s how it go. Just follow the vibe.


Dubcnn: Let’s get into the new album. What’s it called and can you tell us who’s featured and who is doing the production on there?

Krayzie Bone: We got a lot of producers, as far as production we got umm Swizz Beats of course, we got tracks by Big Boi from Outkast, tracks from 3-6 Mafia, Akon, Dr Dre and umm who else?

Layzie Bone: Nottz, Will I Am from the Black Eyed Peas.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah we got Will I Am, we got some tracks with Timbaland! Man we got like a all star production team.


Dubcnn: That’s hot.

Krayzie Bone: That’s something we never really had.


Dubcnn: You know with so many guest appearances and producers is there a possibility that it might be a double album?

Layzie Bone: No we gone stick to putting out one album right now man but we recorded like 65-70 songs for that album so we just putting all our material in the vault and keep it for the catalogue and things like that man but it ain’t no telling we most definitely not going to do a double album but it ain’t no telling how soon we might drop another album directly after this.


Dubcnn: How many album deals you got with Interscope?

Layzie Bone: Well basically just one album deal. We looking for Interscope to really put us back out there on the map and if everything go well you know we got a option with them that we going to most definitely capitalise on.


Dubcnn: Tell us about the first single “Just Vibe”. Everybody’s guessing that it’s Swizz Beats but it sounds like a Kanye beat.

Krayzie Bone: That’s actually a producer named Pretty Boy.


Dubcnn: Oh…

Krayzie Bone: Yeah I think it’s a producer named Pretty Boy. A lot of people thought it was a DJ Uneek beat but it’s actually a dude named Pretty Boy. Guess they up and coming and they really got some nice tracks and we got a couple on our album. They’re really off the hook.


Dubcnn: How was it working with Dre? How many songs did he produce?

Krayze Bone: Well we didn’t really start working with Dre yet. We still waiting to get his tracks from him. But I guess that’s gone be like towards the end of the album when we about to get with him and Swizz. Like really close down the album.


Dubcnn: Can you describe the album and what kind of vibe it will have?

Layzie Bone: Man it’s going to be one of them classics man, like that EAST 1999 Eternal Bone Thugs n Harmony hungry all over again. You know we got a lot of things to prove, we gone touch on a lot of subjects and most definitely get that street level and it’s going to be a very well rounded album!

Like I said we recorded over 65 songs so we gone pick the best 16 out of that and it’s going to be a very well rounded album like dam near touching on every subject that’s out here on this planet.


Dubcnn: Tight, man I recently saw a leaked video of you guys in the studio working on a new song called “In The Coffin” will this track be on the Interscope album and who produced that one?

Krayzie Bone: In The Coffin? Hmmm

Layzie Bone: Man we done so many damn songs *Laughs* Umm maybe someone got the information and kind of miss titled it or something.


Dubcnn: Yeah maybe. Alright man did you guys record with Gwen Stefani?

Layzie Bone: No.


Dubcnn: There were rumours going around that you might done a song with her.

Layzie Bone: No, I mean that was someone we were thinking about but we never collaborated and had no conversations with her.


Dubcnn: When can we expect the second single?

Layzie Bone: You can expect that around the time of the release of the album. They say they looking at December 19th for a release date but it may end up being January but yea sometime around the release of the album.

“Just Vibe” was basically a leak and that’s really not our first single. It’s just something to let the fans know we’ve been working.


Dubcnn: What’s the name of the album?

Layzie Bone: We’ve been thinking about Strength and Loyalty and I mean it’s up in the air right now. It’s really to early to really say titles of the album and things like that. We still waiting for Dr Dre and we still recording with Swizz so we be locking the album down in the next 2 weeks and we will release that information.


Dubcnn: Okay, and you know you are on the first single of Tupac which is produced by Swizz Beats. Can you tell us about that project?

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, that’s something we did in the studio while we was working on the album, on our album. That just happened to come about and like we knocked that song out while we was working on our latest Interscope album.

It actually came right after the Biggie song.


Dubcnn: You got a crazy verse on there. Everybody’s talking about it.

Krayzie Bone: Thanks…


Dubcnn: Why isn’t DJ Uneek on the new album and how do you feel about Uneek releasing your older stuff?

I mean, well man basically the album is not done but it’s just like some issues and it’s been a lot of stuff that’s been brought to my attention lately. That I had no idea was being released on the internet and I didn’t know he was doing it. I have yet to speak with him about that.
So it’s like I don’t really even know yet.


Dubcnn: Okay you recorded a song with Lil Eazy! Could you tell us like how was the atmosphere like in the studio? Could you feel the late great Eazy E’s presence in any way in him or in the studio with you guys?

Layzie Bone: Oh yeah most definitely man, Just being around him you could feel Eazy’s soul so it was all love. It was like something long overdue. But yeah we most definitely felt Eazy’s presence you know he look just like his dad and sound like his dad.

Lil E is the closest thing we can get to Eazy so we most definitely felt Eazy’s presence.

Dubcnn: Did you know Dresta made a song where he’s talking about he’s little mad that you guys never gave it up to him for presenting you guys to Eazy? Can you speak on that?

Krayzie Bone: Who?


Dubcnn: Dresta.

Layzie Bone: Well first of all he ain’t never present us to Eazy E so whatever the fuck he talking about he got like fucked up.


Dubcnn: Okay because he was like he took you guys backstage…

Layzie Bone: Bone Thugs n Harmony took one way bus tickets, making phone calls just to get on with Eazy E. Nobody presented us to Eazy E, we found Eazy E! Eazy E didn’t find us.


Dubcnn: Okay, how did you hook up with Chamillionare and did you think the song was going to be as big as it was?

Krayzie Bone: No man basically it was a song we did like a couple of years ago and I met him through Play-N-Skillz because I had worked with Play-N-Skillz previously. I did not think at all that the song was going to be a Number 1 song. I had no idea, it shocked everybody even him! So yeah it was a real big shock.


Dubcnn: Yeah I was real happy like damn Bone is back and you guys getting noticed again. Because that song helped you guys a lot.

Krayzie Bone: Fosho.


Dubcnn: Why hasn’t Wish Bone released a solo album?

Krayzie Bone: Well man basically we’re waiting for the right situation, I guess he’s waiting for the right situation I guess.


Dubcnn: You know your Thug Line shoes. Will you release them outside the United States?

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah man most definitely. I’m planning on releasing them in Australia, Japan and a couple of places.


Dubcnn: Would you be interested in coming to Sweden or Europe? You have never been in Sweden.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah man we will definitely come down there. We ain’t never been to Sweden Lay?

Layzie Bone: No we ain’t never been there.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah Switzerland we been…


Dubcnn: All the fans over here asked me to tell you to come here. People in the north like Denmark, Sweden etc. Scandinavia!

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah man definitely I’d love to come out there.


Dubcnn: Out of all the artists that are out right now. Who are you listening to these days?

Krayzie Bone: Man little bit of everybody. I just love music, not just Rap or R&B. If you got a nice beat and nice words to it I listen to all kinds of music.


Dubcnn: What about Layzie?

Layzie Bone: Yeah I second that, I keep the old school in the deck you know what I mean. Actually I stay a lot in the studio working so I don’t get a lot of time to listen to the radio and what not but I love music myself man so if it’s hot and really hot then I’m fucking with it.

Other than that I don’t get into the bad music and all that but you know I stay tuned to what’s going on in the streets man and I like all kinds of music. I listen to everything.


Dubcnn: What were the experiences recording with Biggie compared to recording with Tupac? How did they differ?

Layzie Bone: I mean man basically it was one big thug occasion. When we was with either one of them but see me personally I wasn’t in the studio with Pac when I recorded my verse so… the end view was of the hook though when I met Pac he was a real nigga and when I met Biggie he was a real nigga.

They had gotten through their thang but that had nothing to do with us so real niggas hook up so it was just all love on both occasions when I met both of them.


Dubcnn: Can you guys share a memory of when you were with Eazy?

Layzie Bone: Aw man I remember the first time when we went to New York. First time being in a 5 star hotel kicking it, we all walking around having the big cotton house coats on and shit just smoking, blazing. Just chilling man.

We had our shower caps on you know everybody went and got their robe out the room and walking around in kakhis and kakhi house shoes and house robes on and doing it big.

Krayzie Bone: Yep.

Dubcnn: Okay bro do you have any last words for the fans?

Me personally man I just say thanks for the support all these years. Man stay tuned to what we got coming. We most definitely got Mo Thug coming, we got Thug Line coming and we got the Bone Thug movie coming out.

If I just say one thing to the fans it’s thanking them for their support, a lot of people twisted about what’s going on with the internal problems with Bone with Bizzy and Flesh but know that Bone Thugs n Harmony is a unit and majority always rules so when you see the majority that’s Bone Thugs n Harmony and we gone represent it to the fullest!