Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Gets its Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Today, the iconic Cleveland hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony gets its latest accolade: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“It’s crazy; when we first came to California, and we went down there, we went to go see the stars, and we were like, ‘Hopefully, one day our name will be here,’” says Anthony Henderson, aka Krayzie Bone. “And, hey, it happened for real.”

We talked with Krayzie Bone in an episode of The CLE Connection, Cleveland Magazine’s podcast that takes a look at Cleveland’s surprising ties to major pop culture moments.

Beyond his work in music, Krayzie Bone is also working to give back to Cleveland, through his nonprofits, the Harmony District, a mixed-use neighborhood development that's slated to include a Bone Thugs museum, and his Spread the Love Foundation, a nonprofit that serves vulnerable youth in Cleveland and helps guide them through music industry career paths.

The band is also going on tour with Wu-Tang Clan this summer and fall, with a show slated at Blossom Music Center on Sept. 9.

Here’s a snippet of our conversation; be sure to listen to the full podcast episode, and subscribe to The CLE Connection for more.

Cleveland Magazine: It's been 31 years since you guys put out E. 1999 Eternal, and I feel like that album put Cleveland on the map. It's one of the most influential iconic hip hop records of all time, and hitting that big milestone, could you reflect on the impact of that album and what it was like to put that together, and to see it still have so much and carry so much weight so many years later?

Krayzie Bone: Man, we had fun recording that album. It was in the beginning. Like, we were really just getting started, so it was fun going to the studio. I mean, it's fun going to the studio now, but the energy and the excitement of us being discovered by Eazy-E, that was still pumping through our veins. And so the energy of the album, like, I feel matched the feeling we were feeling at that time. That's why it was so energetic from beginning to end. I think that album is special, because we'll never be able to recapture those feelings and emotions that we put into that album, because everything was so new to us. It's definitely a special project, for sure.

CM: Coming up in Cleveland, can you talk a little bit more about your inspirations that you found here in the city, putting that album together, finding your sound here in Cleveland?

KB: Cleveland was our greatest inspiration. We were determined that whenever we got on, if we got on, that we were going to rep Cleveland. Eazy-E and NWA was our favorite group, so we were determined to rep Cleveland like they repped Compton. And Eazy even told us, when we got on, he was like, "Make sure y'all represent y'all city," and when he asked us, "Where y'all want to shoot y'all first video?" We said, "Of course, in Cleveland, in the neighborhood." He was like, "Smart choice." Cleveland was an inspiration to us. We’ve got so many memories in Cleveland, and it molded and shaped who we were coming up. I don't think we would have had the same results if we would have been from somewhere else. The Cleveland struggle and the hustle is what is what created Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

CM: In the same way I feel the city shaped you, you guys are shaping the city. I mean, even down to E. 99th being renamed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Way. Tell me more about what it was like to see the city show you that love, and to see that street sign change.

KB: Man. It was a wonderful thing. As it was going up, I was looking around, like, “Wow. This little street that we used to just hang out on and just do nothing. It's now being honored in our name.” It's a great thing. And I have way more plans to do much more down in that community as well. It's a blessing.

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