Defsounds

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the waiting game. Less of a game, and much more of a wait, it is the period prior to the release of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s much-anticipated album, The World’s Enemy (December 22). Expectations for the formerly titled Uni-5 album are not so much a result of the lingering success of their previous joint, Strength & Loyalty - which certified Gold – but instead, the exhilarating members reunification factor. After announcing group reunion in the summer of last year, Bone member followed up with the release of two tracks which were assumed to be singles off of The World’s Enemy: “The Game Ain’t Ready” and “Nuff Respect.” Whether those joints will appear on the album or not is still unclear, but one thing is certain: the pressure’s on. BTNH’s fans are on their toes with anticipation, waiting to hear what the vastly influential group will come up with now that their most peculiar member, Bizzy Bone, reconciled with the harmonious collective while temporarily departed Flesh-N-Bone returned from a decade-long incarceration period.

The collective melodic flow and individual dexterity resulted in a whopping 50 million album sales globally. Today, BTNH are anticipated to return with ingredients of the same recipe that opened door for success with E-1999 Eternal and The Art of War (one of them being DJ U-Neek), while simultaneously, experimenting with new ideas. Defsounds.com caught up with Bone Thugs (Layzie was around yet missing, while Bizzy had a prior engagement) to discuss their new business direction, Flesh’s incarceration period, and biters.

Defsounds: Let’s discuss The World’s Enemy. Its title derives from Biblical passages, no?

Krayzie: Oh yeah, definitely. It definitely has a spiritual meaning…us not being like everybody else.

Defsounds: What does that denote?

Krayzie: Just Bone Thugs and Harmony. Not following what everybody else does; not a part of the world. There’s a scripture in the Bible where Jesus views himself as being no part of the world. So if he ain’t a part of the world then why do we want to be a part of it? Also, there’s another scripture in the Bible that says the world is lying in the wicked ones and the Satan’s just a ruler of it. And if we don’t adhere to the rule of this, why would we want to take part in it?

Defsounds: What are some examples of the world you wish not to associate with?

Krayzie: War; disease; the corrupted government we see. A lot of things that appeal to the world don’t appeal to us.

Defsounds: Alcohol and drugs - that would be a part of the world, no?

Krayzie: Oh yeah; it definitely is. We struggle with it as well. We’re not perfect being a part of the world. We have those fleshly desires.

Defsounds: What topics can we expect that will reflect the album’s title?

Wish and Krayzie: Songs like “Determination.” […] There’s also a remake we did of Michael Jackson’s “What Have We Done to the World?” The whole album basically is centered around the title. So you’re gonna get a lot of songs that’s in direct light of the title.

Defsounds: Is it a reflective album?

Wish: Yes.

Defsounds: You chose interesting features for Strength & Loyalty, including Mariah Carey and The Game. What is your approach this time around?

Wish: It’s just Bone Thugs collaborating with each other. It’s been a while since we’ve come together and […] Flesh: We might have one song with Twista and Tech9 on it.

Defsounds: What about sonically? Strength & Loyalty featured production from Akon to Swizz Beatz - not necessarily what Bone fans are used to. Where are you taking it with The World’s Enemy? I heard DJ Uneek is producing a couple of tracks, true?

Krayzie: Yes Ma’am. It was just three of us ‘cause Flesh was still incarcerated and Bizzy wasn’t with us at the time. We really had to get creative so it wouldn’t seem boring. So we chose to reach out and get guest appearances and different people to do the tracks. As opposed to now, we have the original chemistry…there wasn’t a form of that [on the last album], so we had to reach out as much as we did.

Defsounds: Lazy stated that earlier there was a young Bone, and today, there is a new Bone. The young Bone is unorganized; the new Bone is powerful. What does that mean?

Wish: It all falls under growing up. Becoming men, our own businessmen and controlling our own destinies and knowing a game from a different aspect – from a child’s point of view to a man’s point of view.

Krayzie: Basically, we always had the vision for our careers. [We knew] exactly where we wanted to go and where we wanted to be, but we didn’t have the knowledge back then that could take us there and platform us where we wanted to be. We had to travel the rough roads and just learn the business. And now we’ve grown into smarter men; we’ve surrounded ourselves with smart people as well who really know what they’re doing. And our business aspect has taken a turn for the better.

Defsounds: There’s a certain level of trust one needs to have in associates in order to keep it moving. How do you differentiate between those in the industry who you can trust, and those you cannot?

Flesh: A lot of show and prove. In the past, there were a lot of people that seem they had the group’s best interest at hand - and didn’t. […] And these days, we’re dealing with people that have a genuine interest, a real bona fide genuine interest… have real group’s best interest at hand and are able to contribute accordingly. And so we’ve developed trust based on that workability. The trust has to be there in order to move us towards the level we need to go to with respect to reward and capitalizing on everything we need to capitalize. We do have a team around us today that we collaborate [with], we fully trust, and developed a profound relationship with. And that’s very essential.

Defsounds: BTNH gained pivotal success when you weren’t “organized.” How will the new direction impact your success?

Krayzie: For one thing, they [fans and media] will have more information and more access to us. Although we were a large group and a large part of Hip Hop, we were always in the shadow. And with the representation that we have now, it’s gonna bring us more out of the shadow and into the forefront. Give us the respect we deserve […]

Defsounds: While on the topic of growth, how does each of you differ today from five years ago?

Wish: Well me personally, five years ago, my children were five years younger. Now that they’re growing up and becoming their own people, their life changes in a good way. We’re grown men now, in grown men situations, and we’re enjoying that.

Krayzie: For me, five years ago is when I started making the transaction, just looking at things different in this world…looking at my life different, looking at my career different. Really getting serious different; just asking myself “where am I going with this?” [I] really got serious and learned the business part of it, and that’s why we are where we are now.

Flesh: Five years ago I was incarcerated still and had a long way to go before I was able to get released and everything. I went through many different transformations and developments, growth – everything. Right now I have a baby son. A lot of things have come full circle. Having the opportunity to come from inside the penal system, to having the opportunity to be able to work and reestablish career and everything…and have essentially a new beginning and the opportunity to have things set right [with] family, friends, music, career and everything.

Defsounds: Through a change in direction, what core artistic values will you keep?

Krayzie: Basically, our imprint style, our flow. That’s us, one hundred percent. We switch it up a little bit, try a couple different things, but our imprint is our flow. The fast, melodic – a lot of people try to do it, but they really can’t do it like Bone. And that’s a major part of our success and why we’re still here: nobody has really been able to actually duplicate it exactly how we do it. So I think that’s gonna be with us forever.

Defsounds: Do you notice when Hip Hop fans hear rappers emulate another rappers’ flow, they call them out ASAP? There’s no biter appreciation.

Krayzie: Oh yeah. That’s one thing I don’t understand. What the hell happened to biting? Mother******* used to get thrown on the wall for that s***. Now is just like…that’s what people base their whole thing on. I can understand when a person growing up is idolizing the person, but you still want to have your own category; you want to be an innovator.

Defsounds: When you hear someone copying – “borrowing” your flow, are you flattered or angered?

Krayzie: At this time in our careers, we’re older and it is flattering. Back in the days, we was ready to whoop somebody’s ass [laughs]. But now we’re older, and there’s nothing we can’t really do ‘cause we changed the whole industry, not just Rap, but R&B [too]. You have singers singing like – using the same melodic patterns that Bone uses. It’s really R&B and Hip Hop. We contribute a lot to the music business. People may not say it and may not realize it, but we are the reason the pace has changed.

Defsounds: Absolutely. I think Hip Hop fans can more or less spot a Bone-type melody or flow pattern in other artists. And most of us Bone fans – if not all - can differentiate between flows of individual group members, easily. Are you guys in label partnership with Warner?

Krayzie: Yes. We are publishing with them. We have BTNH Worldwide. It’s our label that we’re gonna be putting Bone albums [through] in partners with Warner. That’s one of the reasons we did the Warner Brothers deal because we have a lot of freedom to do what we do. And this way, we got our careers exactly where we want them to go at this point.

Defsounds: This means ownership I assume?

Everyone: All that.

Defsounds: Bone refers to socio-economic conditions in Cleveland from time to time. Do you see a possibility for significant change with Obama in office?

Krayzie: Unfortunately I never looked to any form of government or any man to find peace because that’s impossible. Man will never have peace because man was not supposed to rule without God being involved. So anything that man tries to do without God…it’s not gonna happen. It says in the Bible that man is not gonna find peace by himself. God is gonna be the one to do it. So I don’t get caught up in politics.

Defsounds: What about politicians who use God to further political agendas?

Flesh: It goes right back to what Kray was saying. If they put up a front - a facade - it’s one thing. But if somebody expounds on a certain type of theory or idea, and masses agree to that and implement and put it into practice wholeheartedly…it’s a whole total different story. And even at that point, it has to be in the heart and intention with God’s will.

Defsounds: How have your families adjusted to your rock star lifestyle which continues to follow the group for over a decade now?

Krayzie: It’s hard because we are away from our families a lot sometimes and…they understand what we do. This is our job and this is how you eat – this is how you alive.

Defsounds: Flesh, how does it feel to be back in the studio and together with the group after all this time?

Flesh: It’s amazing. It’s a beautiful blessing. I’m very grateful for many graces God bestowed on us. It’s been a long time coming and to finally be able to have that honor - to be back working and establishing my career – I’m just at a humble place in my life right now. Focused on really harvesting the opportunity, capitalizing the opportunity, so me and my brothers can break records, break barriers again with record sales, awards, spiritual rewards and the whole thing.

Defsounds: What important lessons or experiences from jail are you looking to pass on to the mic?

Flesh: It’s like all [is] part of my experiences. I try to capitalize on the fact that you can actually turn a negative situation into a positive [one]. It was looked at as negative and being able to turn it into a positive experience and really grow…going from a bad place and turn it into a good situation.

Defsounds: How did you pass time?

Flesh: I did a lot of reading; I read a ton of books [other members laughing], just stayed out of trouble and tried to focus on spirituality. [I] passed time studying, writing rhymes, making beats and stayed out of the way, making sure I stayed trouble free so I can come home scratchless.

Defsounds: What were you reading?

Flesh: I was reading a lot of educational books…Bible, Qur’an. A lot of motivational speaker books; a lot of religious material…different religious scholars. Stayed in the library; a lot of dictionary work, vocabulary building. So I was doing a lot of developing there mentally. And lot of working out too.

Defsounds: Is the group involved with youth initiatives?

Flesh: Definitely. We speak to the youth. We go to the high schools, we go to the youth programs, boys and girls club, and try to get involved with a lot of that. And get involved with the non-profit charity events and organizations and try to give back to the community in a real positive way.

Defsounds: Is there a main lesson or point you attempt to get across?

Flesh: The main message is just to strive and understand that with hard effort and faith in God, all dreams are attainable.

Defsounds: Thank you gentlemen.

By: Mina Jasarevic for Defsounds.com