Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, the iconic rap group, gained fame in the early 1990s with their album “E. 1999 Eternal.” The group introduced a unique rap style that incorporated harmonies into their reflective rhymes. Made up of Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, and Flesh-n-Bone, they are respected veteran MCs who continue to tour worldwide.
On August 11, Bone Thugs will have a street in their honor in Cleveland, Ohio. The intersection of E. 99th Street and St. Clair Avenue will be renamed “Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Way.” In addition, they will perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and join LL COOL J’s The F.O.R.C.E. Tour at the Rocket Mortgage Field House the following day.
Krayzie Bone believes that despite the rise of Hip-Hop over the last 50 years, the genre still lacks respect. He points out an incident in 2016 when Lil Yachty, a young rapper, failed to name five songs by 2Pac or Biggie and controversially called Biggie “overrated.” Krayzie Bone sees this as a lack of understanding and respect for Hip-Hop history among young artists.
“I’ve been blessed to be a part of Hip-Hop from the beginning,” says Krayzie. “I’ve witnessed every phase it has gone through. I’m excited to see what the next 50 years will bring. Hip-Hop is here to stay as a music genre, but it’s still in its infancy.
“I want to see Hip-Hop mature and show more kindness and respect towards the artists who built this genre. I want to see a balance between artists and corporations. Hip-Hop still needs to grow and understand how to treat its legends, just like other music genres.”
Krayzie Bone brings attention to the fact that while rock legends like Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, and Sting are revered, elder statesmen of Hip-Hop are often disregarded as “washed” or “old.”
“I understand that Hip-Hop is a competitive sport,” Krayzie explains. “But football is competitive too, and every running back pays homage to Jim Brown, the greatest of all time. Boxers pay homage to Mohammad Ali. Hip-Hop should be the same. It will eventually get there, but it needs the right leadership.”
“Right now, Hip-Hop has had 50 years of free reign. It’s time to bring structure to it. We should create genres within genres. Why can’t we have Hip-Hop as one genre and rap music as another? Hip-Hop and rap are not the same. We need to break it down into categories, just like R&B and soul/R&B. There are different forms of Hip-Hop, and they should be categorized accordingly. We don’t have to put everything in one category.”
