Ever since Eazy-E brought Bone Thugs-N-Harmony out of the darkness of the Midwest, rappers from Cleveland, OH have had a career as massive as it is chaotic. The legendary group, consisting of Flesh-N-Bone, Layzie Bone, Wish Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Bizzy Bone, spent much of the 1990s on the Billboard charts, including taking a Grammy for their 1995 single “Tha Crossroads” , a tribute to the late NWA member who made them famous. For almost a decade, it seemed like the group was at the top of the word (and rap charts) … but even the powerful occasionally falter.
Trouble began to surface after Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s second album, Art of War , was certified Quadruple Platinum within a year of its release in 1997. All members had pursued successful solo projects, including releasing the derivative group. , Mo Thugs Family. However, according to All Music, the group’s second round of solo records was poorly received. In the new millennium, the group only met occasionally (see: 2002’s Thug World Order, 2006 Thug Stories, and 2007 Strength and Loyalty ) as members came and went between fights, jail time, and solo concerts.
So what happened to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony? After more than two decades of studio albums, it seems that this group is still at a crossroads.
Solo albums were always the plan for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Cindy Ord, Michael Tullberg / Getty ImagesIt’s no secret that the members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony took significant time to pursue solo careers. Krayzie Bone (pictured, left) released a series of albums between 1999 and 2017, including a spot on Chamillionaire’s 2005 Grammy-winning hit “Ridin.” Despite what her name suggests, Layzie Bone (pictured, right) was far from lazy and followed suit with a few solo albums. Bizzy Bone also lived up to his adopted name, releasing more than 20 albums since 1998, including his Bone Brothers collaboration with Layzie and Best Collection.
It may seem like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony loosened up a bit like a unified front, but these solo albums were always part of the plan. In a 2016 interview with Vice, Krayzie admitted that this vision was presented before he met Eazy-E and signed with Ruthless Records. “We knew what we wanted as soon as we had a chance,” he told the store. “We had friends who could sing and rap, and we all said that whoever does it first will come back and look for the others, and that’s exactly what we did. We had plans to release some Bone albums, then each member would. start making solo albums. I still think we did it too early, solo albums, but it was always on the plan. ”
Bizzy Bone got the start of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Vivien Killilea / Getty ImagesBizzy Bone has one of the most prolific solo careers of the Bone group Thugs-N-Harmony, but has also been the subject of a fair amount of drama. The rapper has been in an on-off relationship with the group since almost the beginning. According to MTV News Bizzy was finally seemingly ripped out forever in 2003 after he appeared to be drunk as the Gray Goose Tour group started in New York. Although Layzie played as though Bizzy “made his own decisions,” it doesn’t appear to have been his choice.
“Lay said to come on tour, so I’m coming to be on tour,” Bizzy told the store. Lay said, ‘I need to talk to you. [Krayzie Bone] I don’t want you on tour. He was back there talking to his manager and they just spoke badly to you. I played it well. I was hurt, [so]… I go to the bar and I thought, ‘Damn. I’m going to drink because I don’t want to break. «
Bizzy did his best to shake himself off. The star, who was kidnapped at age four and rescued after his case appeared in America’s Most Wanted , admitted that his heartbreaking training experience helped him “bear the pain better than some muthaf ** kas.” It was going to be fine. Years later, we finally got the real story. In 2016 Bizzy told OWN where are they now? that he left because there was an “infringement on [his] creativity” and he wanted his band “to shoot with [him]”.
And then there were two
David Livingston / Getty ImagesIn 2011, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony abandoned it more or less, at least, the way we were used to seeing the group. According to Rolling Stone , both Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone went on their own, leaving only Flesh-N-Bone and Layzie Bone to fend for themselves, and they were unhappy. In an interview with TMZ , the couple claimed that Krayzie was a “fool” who tarnished the “legacy” of their founder.
“Krayzie might as well say, ‘F ** k Eazy-E’, because he is failing to respect Eazy-E’s legacy by leaving the group,” Flesh admitted, adding: “Let [Krayzie] stay away … Bone Thugs will be here.” independently. The group will not be affected by Krayzie’s departure … he knows where his home is. «
Later that year, the group reunited for a final show in their hometown as five pieces. It was the first time in two years the five members, including Bizzy Bone, who left during the album’s BTNHResurrection cycle , and Flesh-N-Bone, who was browsing various legal issues, had shared the stage. “Over the years, we prove ourselves,” Layzie MTV News said . “Okay, we split up to make up, but we proved to be a family that comes together in everything.”
And Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is back
John Shearer / Getty ImagesBone Thugs-N-Harmony’s breakup type was extremely brief. According to Rolling Stone , the boys returned in 2012 for Rock the Bells at House of Blues in Los Angeles, and this was just the beginning of a new chapter. Wish Bone told the magazine that the show was “a start to a very beautiful situation.” And more was being worked on: «We make music, that’s what we do. It is only a matter of time when we get back together, we do it as a whole. We are family, we are brothers. At some point, it’s all going to come together. ”
In 2013, a year after their highly anticipated reunion, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was released. Art of War: WWIII , the long-awaited follow-up to 2010 Uni5: the enemy of the world (although according to All Music , Krayzie and Wish did not contribute to any new tracks) . Since then, the group has been on tour regularly, including a series of dates in honor of “Tha Crossroads” 20th anniversary. «. In 2017, Krayzie and Bizzy also teamed up for New Waves , which they released under the name Bone Thugs (apparently, there was no harmony there).
Most recently, the 2024 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony tour was cut short when the band prepared to re-launch The Collection Volume One .
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony really has it for Migos
YoutubeIn more recent years, most of what you’ve probably seen about Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is your enmity with Migos. It’s hard to justify why the group shares it with contributors to Katy Perry’s “Bon Appetit.” According to Revuelta , the boys were angry that Offset claimed that Migos was the “biggest group in the world that ever existed” at XXL Winter Edition of 2018. Perhaps that anger should be redirected to the Beatles or any island in the that Tupac is relaxing. Who knows? Either way, Layzie came out with an oddly Christmas record song called “Let Me Go Migo,” and Bizzy backed him up with a song of his own, in which he refers to the group as “Offsides, Tequila, and most notably the third member. unknown «, according to Complex . Okay, we laugh.
If Bizzy’s meat were limited to a diss track, it would probably be the last one we would hear, but instead, the rapper took Instagram Live to rant with a gun and, for some reason, drag 21 Savage onto it. According to XXL , Savage apparently claimed that Bizzy’s wife ate pork chops when she had a plant-based diet and also thought Layzie’s trail was “crazy like a muthaf ** ka”. It is unclear which comment bothered Biz the most, but reportedly threatened to “blow up” the boy’s “son of a bitch” head. The stream ended with the police knocking on your door, because that is what happens when you pick up a gun and seem to threaten to shoot people. Relax friend.
Krayzie Bone has been dealing with an autoimmune disease
Gabriel Bouys / Getty ImagesThere’s a reason Krayzie Bone had to limit her touring schedule, at least temporarily. According to TMZ , the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony star was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an “autoimmune disease that attacks the lungs,” and contracted pneumonia during a Canadian tour in 2016. This is a serious condition that forced him to cancel his quotes, and, according to American Scientist , is the same one that may have contributed to the death of comedian Bernie Mac. The disease also caused trouble for the rapper when he was recording his solo album, Chasing the Devil , although some reports falsely claimed that Krayzie had a collapsed lung.
«It is a disease when my immune system works too much, but it has nothing to fight. It starts attacking your healthy organs: your lungs, your heart, whatever, “said Krayzie. Vice in 2016. “In my case, it started attacking my lungs, and I was going through it for a while. Cough, crazy chest pains. Now I am fine. In fact, I’m still taking medication, but everything is fine now. «
This rapper from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rediscovered his faith as a Jehovah’s Witness
InstagramIn the years since Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rose to fame, Krayzie Bone has rediscovered her faith. Actually, according to his account, the only reason he became a rapper in the first place was because he lost his way. In an interview with Vicio , the rapper revealed that he was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, but he felt the need to rebel when he was younger, so he joined a rap group and “lived all that crazy life.” Now he is completely devoted.
“When I started studying again and I was old enough to understand what they were saying, it all started to make sense, common sense, like logical sense,” said Krayzie. Vice . “When you start thinking about life, it’s like, ‘Wait a minute?’ All the questions I needed to have answered were answered. ”
In that same interview, Krayzie also revealed that he firmly believes in both the Illuminati and the Devil. “All of that is in sight,” he said. It happens right before your eyes, all the things you see on the news and what certain people represent. Is there. Are good. There is wrong. I know there is a devil, really ». It’s unclear if this Illuminati is the same one that reportedly made Lady Gaga and the Carters famous, but if that’s the case, Bone Thugs didn’t need it.
Flesh-N-Bone has had some major legal issues
Cuyahoga County JailFlesh-N-Bone was noticeably absent from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony for most of the early years because the rapper was serving time. In 2000, Flesh was sentenced to 12 years in prison for “pointing an AK 47 machine gun at a friend during an altercation,” according to Entertainment Weekly . Although Cleveland.com reports that he was released four years earlier, he did not stay out of trouble for long.
According to the Los Angeles Times , Flesh was stopped by police in 2009 because his brake light was off. They later searched his car and found a 9mm semi-automatic pistol that he said belonged to his wife. Admittedly, this was a bad look for someone with previous gun charges who was also on probation. Flesh was arrested on the charge of weapons, “possession of ammunition” and “possession of drugs for minor offenses”, but pleaded not guilty. The weapons charges were dropped soon after.
However, it only took a year for the star to be arrested again. In 2010, Flesh was dramatically handcuffed at his own sold-out concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland in connection with a 12-year incident. According to Cleveland.com In 1998, the rapper reportedly fired a shot into the air and hit his mother in the head with a gun, leaving a wound. Carne told CBS News that the incident never happened. “I would never do such a thing to my mother,” he said. “Anyone who thinks they would do something like have to control themselves.”
This rapper from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony also had some problems at home
InstagramFlesh-N-Bone not only had to deal with gun-related legal issues. Behind the scenes, rapper Bone Thugs-N-Harmony had an extremely tumultuous home life. In 2011, he briefly avoided prison in an alleged domestic abuse case by accepting a plea agreement. According to TMZ , the star was arrested after an alleged physical altercation with his wife and was “accused of inflicting bodily injury on his spouse, threatening her and falsely imprisoning her.” As part of the plea agreement, Flesh only pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and the other two charges were dropped. He received three years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and served time. She was also required to complete a “domestic violence program and donate $ 400 to a shelter for battered women.”
The following year, the tragedy struck again. According to TMZ , Flesh’s 15-year-old daughter was reported missing when she never returned home from her shift at Taco Bell. She had last been seen with a 23-year-old man named Alberto Silva Sánchez. Two weeks later, a family member located her and brought her home. It is unclear where she was or what she was doing, but Flesh said TMZ , “I am very grateful that she is back home and that she is fine.”
Flesh-N-Bone got a secondary gig in the herb business
InstagramFlesh-N-Bone not only had a solo career outside of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The star also had a side concert in the herb business – legally . However, this is a huge leap from the group’s inception to allegedly selling crack on the streets of Ohio. Rumors say those drugs weren’t even real, so Flesh-N-Bone may be one of the best or worst drug dealers in rap history, depending on how you look at it.
According to a 2013 live Michigan report, Flesh partnered with the medical marijuana company The Green Oasis to create a cannabis strain called “Phifty Caliber Kush” for patients in Flint, where medical marijuana is legal. Apparently, it was a very good pain reliever. Later that year, the Broward Palm Beach New Times called Bone Thugs-N-Harmony “one of the 420 friendliest ensembles in hip-hop history,” a title the group worked hard for based on the large number of lines that its members spit on the sticky repellant.
At the time of writing this article, it is unclear whether Flesh invested more in the legal cannabis industry. According to TMZ , the rapper hoped to expand his efforts to California, Colorado and Washington.
The reason why Bone Thugs-N-Harmony fell apart
YoutubeThe money has to come from somewhere, and let’s be honest, in recent years, that’s not record sales. Spotify only gives artists a fraction of a penny for each broadcast, so can you really blame Bone Thugs-N-Harmony for taking the cash from that sweet chain restaurant? In February 2024, the band joined the ranks of celebrities who were apparently sold for some greasy food. We could turn to its rival Migos, who set the precedent with a Migos Menu for Popeyes and Uber Eats. Uh oh There will be some meat here, or indeed, chicken.
According to Rolling Stone, as part of the association of the group with Buffalo Wild Wings, the band changed its name to Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony, members simply because they loved too deboned wings chain. Each of them also changed their individual names to Krayzie Boneless, Flesh Boneless, and Wish Boneless; However, Layzie refused. “I’m not changing shit,” he joked in a VH1 Behind the Music -style parody. Bizzy was not involved, and it’s clear that only two of the original five know that boned wings are not, in fact, real wings . They are chicken nuggets. Sorry, we don’t make the rules, but we would also take the money from the advertising.
Passing the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony torch
InstagramThe members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have certainly been established since its earliest days. According to TMZ , Krayzie Bone married in 2014, XXL reports that Wish Bone got hooked in 2018, and Bizzy Bone married his girlfriend, Jessica Nancy Cassidy, in 2024. The most restless seems to be Layzie Bone, who has been married. since 2007 but may or may not have had children. Lover or two. According to a 2019 TMZ report , a paternity test showed that the rapper had a baby with a woman named Shateira Marketa Childress. Layzie also had a separate paternity lawsuit in 2013, where he was found to be the father. The guy supposedly moves, but apparently Bizzy does too. The star told Wendy Williams that she has “about 10” children with four different women, that’s enough for a new rap group, and that’s what happened.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has ushered in a new generation. In 2016, two of Bizzy’s sons and three of his nephews released an EP with their group, Bloodline Harmony, or as Uncle Layzie affectionately calls them, the Baby Bones. This was truly a family affair and a true step of contact. The track “OHIO” even features Layzie’s son Jeremy Howse, and Layzie appears on the song “Og’s.”
