Flesh's Word Up Interview
Flesh's Word Up Interview
Interview with Flesh N Bone by Ann Brown for Word Up Magazine
The interview with Bone Thugs N Harmony break out member Flesh N Bone is set at a special location booth for BTH, the LA studio where they recorded the first of their two multi-platinum LPs. It’s actually a quaint studio, a quiet spot from the hustle and bustle of the city , a place called Private Island Trax. And Flesh N Bone, from the moment he enters the room, is as laid back as the atmosphere. Dressed in a black T-shirt and black pants, he seems cool even in the ever-present L.A. heat. The Cleveland native apparently relishes his time in La-La-Land, the only place other than his native city where he’d like to live. As we get down to interview business to find out about his solo project, an album called True Humbled United Gatherin’ Souls, the first LP to drop off the newly-launched BTH record label, Mo’ Thugs Records(distributed by Def Jams), we find a shy guy searching for the right thing to say.
WU: Had you always planned to go solo?
Flesh: It was going to happen eventually, anyway, you what I mean? I was on all the cuts on both albums(BTH).
WU: What were you doing when you weren’t with the group?
Flesh: I wasn’t actually signed to the record company, Ruthless. I missed out on the signing so I was always sort of a free agent.
WU: Can people expect the same BTH sound from you?
Flesh: They can expect hardcore cuts, you know, some mellow cuts. I got Krayzie Bone producing some cuts. Bobby Jones, Damon Elliot, Jam Master Jay doing some cuts. And Rhythm D., you know.
WU: Tell us about some of them?
Flesh: I got "World So Cruel." That’s like toping things off, like, you know, things are so crazy everywhere you go, anywhere, no matter what city. There’s "Sticks & Stones," talking about you can never break my Bones. There’s "Silence," a song called "North Coast," talking about Cleveland, spraying it about my side, there’s a new side on the map. Bones blew it up, now here comes Flesh, then we’re going to do something together. I’m never slippin’ up with my brothers.
WU: A lot of people think you’ve fully left the group.
Flesh: I never really recorded that much with the group, but I’ll never leave my fellow Bones.
WU: So what’s Cleveland like?
Flesh: It ain’t quiet, it’s wild. It’s a lot of gangstaz, off the hook, the streets, the drugs. It depends on if you get yourself caught up in it.
WU: What’s there to do in Cleveland?
Flesh: Picnicking. Picnicking with your homies. That’s all I do, kick it with my homies.
WU: Can we expect more rappers out of Cleveland?
Flesh: Mo Thugs have a whole lot of shit that people don’t know about. I’ve brought someone up on my album, The Aftamath Click.
WU: Do you think it’s important for established rappers to bring up someone else?
Flesh: It’s like expanding the music, groups with different styles, people who have talent puttin’ it down. You gotta give everyone a chance. We had our chance. Eazy-E was our chance. Even though he died, he is still living on. And even though I wasn’t signed, it worked out for me. Everybody got a chance.
WU: Did you want ot get signed by Ruthless?
Flesh: Yeah, I wanted to get signed. It ain’t no thang. But they were ready to go. You never know, I still might sign after this, you never know.
WU: But know you are doing your own thang. Is there a song you’ve recorded that you listen to over and over again?
Flesh: Yeah. [It’s] "Mystic Spirits." It’s talking about my flesh, all up in my flesh. It’s an uptempo-type song talking about nature, flesh and spirits.
WU: Did you have all your songs ready to go?
Flesh: No. I’ve been coming up with them in the studio, basically. I got a sweet beat and sit up a write at home. I sit down and vibe and write as I go.
WU: Do you write about things you’ve been wanting to get off your chest or things that just know how to spark your interest?
Flesh: There are a lot of things that I’ve been wanting to write about, and some are along the same lines of the things we’ve done already. I have a song called "Family Tree"(Must not have made the tape, but a version of the song is on Bone's Upcoming Art Of War),talking about my family strugglin’ through the rough times, trying to come up.
WU: How far back?
Flesh: Up to my great-grandfather.
WU: Family seems very important to you. What is yours like?
Flesh: My parents are off the hook, I love them; they’re sweet. My grandfather was always there, helpful, ready to put it down for you.
WU: In a song like "Family Tree," did you get angry when you look back at the hard times?
Flesh: Sometimes, sometimes, I get angry about it because we were strugglin’ and there wasn’t too much we could do about it. Sometimes people who you thought could do something to help didn’t. That made me angry. We were doing the best we can.
WU: You have a lot of brothers and sisters. Do you like having a large family?
Flesh: It was all right. No one could better us on the block, we was real though.
WU: Do you want a large family?
Flesh: I have one child and one on the way(when this artcle came out this month Flesh’s second child was born, a girl named Heaven), a son named Chase. He’s a year old. He’s off the hook. He’s sweet and bad at the same time. It’s deep. Id’s like to have three kids.
WU: You’re going to remain Cleveland based?
Flesh: Here and Cleveland.
WU: so, do you like LA?
Flesh: I like the weather. In Cleveland it’s cold in the wintertime. I can’t take it, but you gotta put up with it.
WU: Do you think that people will ever get away from thinking that rap only comes from the East or the West?
Flesh: Pretty soon because they are talking about the North and the SOUTH now, adding more sounds out there. All of them breaking out.
WU: How did the title come about?
Flesh: It’s my definition of Thugs. You have to be humble in this world as far as I’m concerned in order to make it. You have to have a humble side, and you can humble and hard. Someone starts tripin’ on you, you can be hard, cap ‘em off, you know what I’m saying. People who boast about what they can do, you know, it’s better to be humble and show what you can do.
A member of Cleveland’s hottest rap group, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Flesh n Bone recently dropped his solo album, but don’t expect him to leave the platinum-selling group.
Everything was typed by Gemini for Pointer Drive’s Bone Thugs Page so if anyone wants to use please ask me first or give me props. -Gemini-
Email: Gemini
