Montana Diary

RapBasement.com sat down with Krayzie Bone to discuss everything from the new album, Strength and Loyalty (in stores 4/17/07), to movies, how Bone signed to Interscope via platinum producer Swizz Beatz, how Bone compares to other artists and more!

Michael Cinicola: Where y'all at right now?

Krayzie Bone: Man, right now, we out in Cali right now. We just got finished wrapping a movie we just shot, you know, we been out here for a minute: at least like, three weeks now.

Michael Cinicola: Oh, y'all are doing a movie?

Krayzie Bone: Yeah yeah, man, just like a little short film that's gon' be released simultaneously with the album.

Michael Cinicola: Okay, alright. A little DVD or something?

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, well, man it all depends on how it comes out, you know? Hopefully we can put it in theatres. You know what I'm sayin'? But, it's definitely gonna be on DVD, you know, it's supposed to be played on BET or whatever, so, trying to see what's going on with that.

Michael Cinicola: Yeah, it's good to always get a visual aspect of the music outside of the audio.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man. Always, always.

Michael Cinicola: Aright, let's start this. Like you guys always say, "We're not back, we never left." Right? Which is true, cause in order to make a comeback you have to have fallen off at some point, but you guys never really have. But as far as putting out another major album, you know, with a video out and radio play, how does it feel to be releasing a project back to the mass public?

Krayzie Bone: Ah, man, it feels real good, man. It feels real real good, just to be getting respected. You know, it's like, even though we said we never went no where, you know, it's like... we haven't messed with a major label, EVER. You know what I'm saying, like, Ruthless Records was an Independent label, you know what I'm saying, so it's like, this is all new to us, like, being signed to Interscope and seeing how it works and just seeing the machine behind us and everything.

Michael Cinicola: That just shows you that regardless of the amount of time, something's always around the corner, right?

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. You know what I'm saying, we workin' now, man, you know? We doin' a lot of stuff in preparation for this album, you know? Which on Ruthless records, (a lot of the stuff we're doing now), didn't even happen, you know? Our albums were just put out, like, "fuck it, just put the shit out". You know?

Michael Cinicola: Yeah, well, that's what my next question was gonna be, was, how exactly did the whole thing with Interscope happen and what were the previous deals that got you there?

Krayzie Bone: I mean, well, basically, we was dealing with Swizz Beats. When we first started dealing with Swizz Beats, his deal was over at J Records. So, when we recorded songs with Swizz to start shopping, to let J Records hear the situation, you know, we did like 20-25 songs.

Michael Cinicola: So at that point were y'all already trying to get a new deal and get away from the last one, or, what was the deal with that?

Krayzie Bone: Oh nah, at that time we was already released from Ruthless. We had been released from Ruthless for like a year and a half.

Michael Cinicola: Oh, ok, so the one that just came out (Thug Stories) was with Koch and that was just something y'all released to get some buzz going then.

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, we had done that deal, like, a while ago and we just, we didn't turn it in when we was supposed to because we was going through, like, other situations and we finally turned the album in, you know, just to get it out, just to put it out, so we could get that behind us - cause you know like, there was no promotion at all on that album.

Michael Cinicola: Yeah. But it was hot though, man.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man, we wasn't really even allowed to go out and promote that album. The most we could do was do shows and let people know about the album. But you know, we didn't drop no singles, we didn't do no promotion on it or nothing, because we was about to get ready to get into this project here. You know, but like I said when we first got involved in Swizz, it was gonna be with J Records, but when we were gonna sign, some things came up to where we didn't sign with J Records, and Swizz was like "Just give me like, two more weeks, I'm gonna try something else out." You know what I'm sayin', he was like, "Just give me two weeks, it ain't gonna be a couple more months or none of that. Just give me two weeks, man." Man, after two weeks he called us and was like "Man, I got Jimmy Ivone over at Interscope interested in signing y'all, and uh, Jimmy told me not to shop the deal no more, he wants y'all". So after we heard that, it was a wrap, we signed with Interscope.

Michael Cinicola: That's the hands of God right there putting you in the right direction.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, you know.

Michael Cinicola: But that's what I was gonna say was that, did the Thug Stories, I guess you answered that question, was that, were those being worked on at the same time, this new one and Thug Stories? or you just kinda knocked that out to give them their album? or... were you working on this one and that?

Krayzie Bone: It was kinda like, we started on it, before we started working with Swizz. But, in the midst of all that, we kinda like, got pulled away from the album, from the Thug Stories, and like, in the middle of everything with Swizz and Interscope we had to go in and wrap the album up. It's crazy because the album was recorded in like, three different places. I did my verses here, in California; Lazy did his verses in Atlanta, and Wish did his verses in Cleveland.

Michael Cinicola: For this one that's about to come out?

Krayzie Bone: Nah-uh, Nah-uh, nah-uh, for the Thug Stories album.

Michael Cinicola: Okay, y'all weren't even together recording it.

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, yeah, we wasn't even together recording the album, man. That's why the feel of that album compared to this album is, you can hear this and be like, "yeah, them niggaz was in the studio together." You know, like, that Thug Stories shit was just some shit put together, man, you know. Personally, I really wasn't happy with that album, at all.

Michael Cinicola: Ah, get out of here.

Krayzie Bone: When it came time for it to get put out, I really tried to go against the company Koch like, "Man, I really don't like this album and it's gon' fuck up our name." You know what I'm sayin'? That's what I was thinking, but, a lot of people like the album -- but I just know what we could have done, cause like I said, we didn't even really have a budget for producers. If you notice all the producers on there are up and coming dudes...

Michael Cinicola: Right, but it's the artist who makes that track good, regardless of the beat sometimes, you know?

Krayzie Bone: Yeah.

Michael Cinicola: And y'all handled it.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, definitely.

Michael Cinicola: Aright, so um, from an artist's perspective, as far as you guys judging your own music, cause that always seems to happen, your own worst critics, um... how do you guys feel about this album? Are you pleased with it, do you like the way it turned out, or? The one that you worked on right now.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man, we're definitely pleased with this album, definitely. We're definitely happy with what we got now, you know, we got to go in and record how we wanted to record. You know what I'm sayin'? We was all in the studio together. You know what I'm sayin' because, man, the three of us been together now since, damn near every day since we signed this contract with Swizz and Interscope, so, the vibe with us is back on track. We picked up where we left off, you know what I'm sayin', with the last album. You know what I'm sayin' and just took it there, even though we had like, difficulties with certain people not being there, you know what I'm sayin?, it just had to make us more creative, you know? We just had to get more creative and do more different things on this album than we usually do.

Michael Cinicola: That's fuel for the fire, though. Um, so as far as businessmen, outside of the music, you guys have anything in the works that's about to come out or anything out now that you want to promote, on the side of music?

Krayzie Bone: Well, first of all, right after this album, I'm launching my record label, full-fledged. You know what I'm saying, launching that full-fledged, and um, Thug Line Records: I got artists like set up, ready to go, you know what I'm saying, and um, after I launch that, I'm definitely gonna, at the same time I'm gonna be um, you know like try to get more in to acting and I got like a couple ideas for movies and sitcoms myself, you know what I'm sayin', that I'm workin' on right now. So, man, I'm trying to direct and I'm trying to be in the movies and it really opened me up like, just doing our movie, you know what I'm sayin', just seeing how it was all done, it really had us all looking like, "Wow, man, we could really get in to doing this all the time, for real."

Michael Cinicola: Yeah. This new deal's probably gonna launch you there, too.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man. Definitely, definitely.

Michael Cinicola: Aright, um, in what areas, either your personal life or the music, do you guys feel you have grown the most, so far?

Krayzie Bone: Man, um, I would say both, man; the personal life and music. The personal life, just being in this industry for thirteen years and just, it changed all of us, man. We all like, we all grown men now. You know what I'm sayin'? Where as before, like years ago, when we first got into this shit, man, we was like...we didn't know nothin'. We was just like, niggaz in it to have fun. You know? Along for the ride. We really wasn't on the business all like that, you know what I'm sayin', but, we got the time like to sit back and and just like really analyze everything and put things in proper perspective; and everybody just did what they had to do. You know what I'm sayin'?
And we've grown in the music too, man, you know like, just being what we've been through. Like, our subject matters are way more mature -

Michael Cinicola: Exactly. That's what I was kinda aiming at.

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, you know, even though the game right now, everybody's doing one thing, we're still like stretching out and doing what we do. Even though we had to change it up and make it current, we still was able to balance that out and still do what we do and not just jump on the bandwagon to what everybody else doin'.

Michael Cinicola: The sign of a true artist. Uh, let's get back to the album. So what kind of sound were you guys looking for, what kind of direction, as artists, did you want to take? How did you want to present Bone to the world this time?

Krayzie Bone: Man, basically we knew the way to bring Bone to the world different was to mess with different producers, versus having only one producer. You know? The odds was really against us on this album, which really like, pumped us up like, to step it up. You know what I'm sayin? Mothafuckas sayin' we fell off cause "Bizzy ain't here" and this and that and "we ain't gon be the same" and this and that, you know what I'm sayin? So, that like actually, juiced us. Like, we was like, "We bout to go up in these mothafuckas and fuck niggaz heads up. Watch." That's the attitude we went in there with and you know like, just working with the different producers, I think that brought it out in us even more, cause as we was going along we was seeing, you know, "Nigga, we can work with different producers. Some of these producers that's out now, they can cater to our style and the shit can come out sounding real good and current."

Michael Cinicola: And even if a beat isn't your style, you can kinda, it makes you pumped up to kinda adapt to that beat. It makes you work harder.

Krayzie Bone: Right, right. Exactly, exactly. Just work it out, you know what I'm saying? And a lot of songs that we did like that came out real good and mothafuckas was like, "Damn. These niggas still got it." Everybody that heard the album was like, "Damn, these niggas ain't lost a beat".

Michael Cinicola: Yeah, I was so pleased with Thug Stories, man, so I can't wait to hear this one.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Michael Cinicola: Any features on this?

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, we got um, Will I Am doing a hook for us on a song we got Game on, it's called Find Me In The Streets. We got um, Mariah Carey, we got um, Yolana Adams on the album, we got Twista on the album...

Michael Cinicola: Ohhh? ok.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, it's called um, Midwest How We Ride, or somethin' like that.

Michael Cinicola: Oh, that's gotta be hot.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man, that's really off the hook, man, trust me. We did a cut with um, we got something with Chamillionaire. We got Flesh N Bone on the album... Yeah, man, but um I'm sure we got like some more people, I just can't think about em' right now, for real.

Michael Cinicola: I know how that is. But um, in your guys' music you talk a lot about how you feel the industry or the rap game in general hasn't really given you the credit it deserves, as far as the style you guys originated. Um, what do you feel about those people who claim that they haven't gotten anything from your style, and what do you feel about the artists who are coming up that do admit they got stuff from your style cause you helped them grow?

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man, it ain't nothing but mad respect to the people who give respect.

Michael Cinicola: Right.

Krayzie Bone: You know what I'm saying? Who give respect and keep it real to where they got it from. And to the people who say they didn't get it from ours, all I can say is, where the hell did you get it from? You know what I'm saying? Cause, I don't know of any artist that was out rappin' like that at the time we came out, besides Twista, you know what I'm sayin'...

Michael Cinicola: But that still isn't even the same. That's two different styles, if you ask me.

Krayzie Bone: Man, exactly. It is. It's two different styles and that's what I tell everybody. You know, like, Twista was twistin, but he wasn't doin' what Bone was doing, bottom line.

Michael Cinicola: Y'all had that harmony and that certain flip up with the flow and he had a certain type of flow himself, it's just two different styles.

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, yeah. So the flow between us IS actually different, you know what I'm saying, so it really wasn't no comparison, you know, cause he a solo artist and we a group. And plus, it was like five of us with like five different dudes rappin' so, you got five different flavors of our style. Each one bringing something different to our style.

Michael Cinicola: So, basically...

Krayzie Bone: So, anybody who say they ain't...

Michael Cinicola: ...the people who aren't giving credit, but you got respect for the people who admit it.

Krayzie Bone: Yeah. Those people saying they came up with something new, but they ain't doing nothing new.

Michael Cinicola: Right. Okay, um, I know the fame has to be tough underneath all the limelight, you know, and all the flasy stuff: not really knowing who cares about you and who doesn't, but um, how do you guys differentiate who's just around to be around and somebody who actually cares about you. How do you guys separate the two?

Krayzie Bone: Ah, man, it's actually very easy, I mean, you know, cause, people who only around to get something out of you, it usually shows, very soon. You usually can tell, I'm a pretty good judge of character, from being in this business and just knowing people, I can pretty much tell, off the rip, what a nigga's around for. Just by how a person carries themselves and the things they ask you, you know what I'm saying, you can basically tell like off the rip, like okay, this nigga tryna' get in where he fit in. You know what I'm sayin? This muhfucka' tryna' get in and make some money off of us. You know what I'm sayin? So, I mean, in this business, man, when you get into this business, you gotta know, you dealin' with snakes and cut-throats, bottom line, man. It's gon be muhfuckin' people around you that's only around you for what you can do, or how you can help them out or help them get into the business, or how they can make money off you. I mean, this what kinda business we in, this ain't like we workin' in real estate, or we workin in some other jobs where, you know, people try to.......I mean, even in them businesses it's snakes and cut-throats.

Michael Cinicola: It's everywhere, man.

Krayzie Bone: I think it's more in the music business and Hollywood than anywhere.

Michael Cinicola: Yeah, so, does it take a long time to see that somebody actually cares about you. Does it take a long time to develop that, to figure out if they're actually there because they care about YOU?

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, man, it's a lot of people that I've been around who just wanted to hang around and never asked me for nothin'. You know what I'm sayin? It has been people around me that just like, wanna make sure a nigga is cool, and this and that, but basically now...at our point, in our career, now... like I said, we been in the game for 13 years, at our point... you don't run across too many of those people. I mean, the people who's pretty much been down with you like your family, your main family, your kids... them the mothafuckas you should be looking for love and support from. There's nobody else, cause anything else is gonna be fake. And even if a person is genuinely want to get to know you or wantin to be down, I mean, they really only want to do that because a nigga is in Bone or Krayziee Bone or doin' somethin cause if I was a normal mothafucka, they wouldn't give a fuck about knowing me.

Michael Cinicola: That's true, but it's also hard to tell though, who's caring about you but is a fan of your music versus somebody who's just looking at you as like an idol. You know? Cause there are people who can care about you and like your music, but -- so it is hard to tell sometimes.

Krayzie Bone: Oh yeah, definitely, definitely.

Michael Cinicola: Aright, um, what makes you guys always decide to just be you. Regardless of the times and regardless of the trends are in music, you guys still decide to sing and talk about real life things to help other people get through the day. Um, what gets you guys that motivation to just be real and speak from the heart?

Krayzie Bone: That's what's expected from our fans. You know? We feel like if we come out tryna' do what we seein' everybody else do (that's like, you know, like half naked bitches in they videos, niggas with nothin but cars and jewlery) If we came out doing that, that shit would look corny as fuck. I think our fans would look at us like, "these niggaz is corny, they done sold they soul." You know what I'm sayin?

Michael Cinicola: Well, what about when you first started, what gave you that motivation, then, to just straight off be original and just start speaking from the heart?

Krayzie Bone: I mean cause it was just in us, we was our own... I mean, even back in Cleveland, we was outcasts. You know? It was us five, you know what I'm sayin, just us five niggaz, even in Cleveland. Like, niggaz in Cleveland wasn't even rappin' like us. It wasn't a Cleveland style or nothin', it was a Bone style.

Michael Cinicola: So that originality starts from the begining?

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, man, and it just basically stayed the same. We was like, man, we gotta always... If people is doin' this, we need to go left and do that and bring everybody over to what we doin'. And that's exactly what we did when we first came out, you know, we brought everybody over to what we was doin' and people are still doin' the shit. You know what I'm sayin, so when we come out, now, it ain't gon' do nothin but like remind mothafuckas like, "Oh ok, this where the shit came from". Ok. So they gon' come way back over this way, you know what im sayin? Like, even harder.

Michael Cinicola: Yea. That's why I liked that track you did, "Let's Live" because you set it up, before that, with a skit talkin' about you got "enough originality to be your own, and do the things outside of the trend" -- and basically, everybody at the time was talking about not wanting to live and they want to die. And you pretty much set it straight on that song by flipping it the reverse and saying, "forget that, let's live".

Krayzie Bone: Yeah. Man, exactly. You know, cause you hear alot of artists like, "Ready to die!", "Down to die!"... and this and that. You know what I'm saying? And to me, I'm like, "Okay, I'ma make a song for niggaz that want to live!" (laughs)

Michael Cinicola: (laughs)

Krayzie Bone: You know what I'm sayin? Cause I know a lot of niggaz, including myself that wanna live a long long time to see they grandkids. You know what I'm saying? So that's, to me, like innovatin' niggaz that are feeling down or whatever that there is really shit to live for, really.

Michael Cinicola: Mmhm. My last question, man. Any advice to the artists who wanna be original but feel like they'll never go nowhere or never be successful because they don't fit in with the current trend. You got any advice to those artists that want to be original?

Krayzie Bone: Man, all I gotta say is, follow what it is that you want to do. You know what I'm sayin? You gon' run into a lot of labels that, that might even get you discouraged, 'cause they ain't gon' wanna fuck with you; cause you ain't doin' like, what's poppin'. But, you know what I'm sayin, but if you really sincere about doin' what it is that you want to do, I think you really need to stand your grounds. You know what I'm saying, you need to stick to what it is that you want to do, and don't let these record companies tell you that "conscience music is dead". You know? Because they only tryna' make money fast, so they want you to do exactly what the next man is doing, hoping they can get a couple bucks off the uh... not the original, but one of the clones, and what the next person is doing.

Michael Cinicola: Amen.

Krayzie Bone: You know what I'm saying? So that's what they want to do and man, you gotta stand your grounds, bottom line, because -- It's a lot of rappers that come out and be done like, three or four albums, and all of a sudden, you know, you hear 'em talking in interviews like, "Oh, this album here I really get to be myself because uh, the label I was signed to, they wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do. They wanted me to make this music, and I had to do that". But, artists that say that, to me, is fake. Fake mothafuckaz'. You know what I'm saying? Because like, don't put it out if they ain't gon' let you do you. Then you gon' come back and tell mothafuckaz', this how you "really is". "I just did that for a minute, but this how I really am." You know, and it's gon' be hard to sell. That shit's gon' be hard to sell to mothafuckaz once they used to you doing this kind of rap for this long and all of the sudden you come on some whole different shit, like, "oh..wait a minute". "This nigga used to be like, a club rapper and now he's trying to talk about something serious. So uh, how should we take him? Should we listen to this serious shit he sayin, or should we just pass it off and wait til he come with the next club song?"

Michael Cinicola: So basically, stick with it even when you first get to a label, just stick with your originality? That's your advice?

Krayzie Bone: Yeah, man, you gotta fight for it. You gotta fight for it. And if you know your business about the music, you know what I'm saying. I mean, man, there's more than one label here. You might not get to no major label or whatever, how times are going, but even dealing with independent labels, man, you gotta shot the blow. It only take one record and one good video.

Michael Cinicola: That's true.

Krayzie Bone: You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, you got to think before you sell your soul cause once you sell your soul, it's hard to get it back. Some people never get it back.

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Lil_E

props, cant wait for bone thugs, 50 cent, dre, etc this year its gonna b bannanas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THUGBABYDOLL

NO ONE HAS TOUCH BONE THUGS FLOW, TO DATE. THEY ARE STILL THAT "THUGGISH RUGGISH". PROPZ

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I AIN'T GOING NOWHERE.-BLACK CONNECTION IS THE MOB AND UM MARRIED TO IT-GUSH MOTTO:P.U.S.H.
PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS!-ONE LOVE, THUG B. -DOLL- THE LOINESS! RAAAAHHHHH!

DemonicSinn

Good long read. Props on this.

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IDGAF about bein Neg Repped. You can't trade rep points in for money, nigga. LOL

T bøN3z

props cant wait fah dis shit

gemma

i like that person