Bone thugs-n-harmony, the Grammy-winning, multi-million selling Cleveland-by-way-of-Los-Angeles hip-hop crew, are playing at the Mt Smart Supertop on Tuesday.
Do you prefer Krayzie or Mr Bone?
You can call me Krayzie, man.
At what stage is the group at the moment?
We're between albums. We got Layzie Bone working on his first solo album. I'mworking on another solo album, and I'm working on my new record label and I'm also trying to put together another Bone thugs-n-harmony album. So it's like we're working hard.
What are your views on the state of hip-hop — and where does BTNH fit into it at the moment?
The state of hip-hop? Well, right now I think hip-hop is in an unconscious state. Because it's like it's really easy for anyone to come in and go platinum these days with just anything. It ain't as hard as it used to be. You used to have to have a hit record, you used to have to have skills or talent. Nowadays a lot of people have just got studio sounds backing them up.
You're four albums down after some mammoth-selling early ones. Is it hard to sustain a long career in hip-hop?
Oh no. To me it's like escalating like all the time. You know what I'm saying? It grows and grows.
What is it that sets the group apart?
Maybe it's our sound, it's where we come from. At the time [the mid-90s] everybody was either coming from New York or LA and we came from Cleveland and people couldn't believe that we were coming from Cleveland with that kind of sound.
What's Cleveland like to grow up in?
Man, I guess you can say it's like any other city. You've got your good parts and you've got your bad parts.
Does it have a musical legacy as a city?
Oh yeah, we've got like a nice musical history. Like the Ohio Players, the Ojays ... but man, there's a lot of people up and coming now out of Cleveland, so it's growing.
Having a history which includes the Ohio Players, the Ojays and you would seem to make it one funky town.
Oh yeah. Definitely.
The Ohio Players were the ones with the lurid cover art, weren't they?
Ha ha. Yeah.
And people today think rappers are rude.
You know it.
So what's next?
We're trying to form a stable and record label, trying to organise that and at the same time we're working on a movie called Ghetto Cowboy. It's a western with Bone thugs-n-harmony.
Well that should give an old meaning to the word "posse."
Oh yeah.
What's the group like live?
Oh man, off the hook. We give it. Like our show is real, you know what I am saying? It's real hype. We put a lot of energy into our shows.
