Bone Thugs Drama: The Writing's on the Wall

 So, the latest Bone Thugs-n-Harmony drama is the same as every other Bone drama in the history of this very dramatic group in many ways:  a concert or tour is underway and certain members are not present.  Bizzy, because he's Bizzy and has to be difficult.  And one other member is also absent, it's [checks notes] LAYZIE?!  Hol' up.  Resident spokesman and peacemaker who has always been seen as the "face" of the group and held things together when times were tough?  THAT Layzie?  The one who has done side projects with both Bizzy (as Bone Brothers) and Krayzie (as, uhhh, Bone Brothers 4 Lyfe) as well as a 3-man Bone album with Bizzy and Flesh entitled The Art of War:  WWIII and co-founded the legendary Mo' Thugs with Krayzie Bone... THAT Layzie?  The guy who even played go-between at the disastrous Verzuz after Bizzy threw a water bottle at rival group Three 6 Mafia and they began calling him crazy and a sissy?  

T H A T   L A Y Z I E ?

Excuse my confusion but this is just a *tad* out of character.  Granted, this group has had its fair share of trauma and tragedy over the years:  Flesh-n-Bone served 8 years on a 12-year sentence due to violent crimes fueled by PCP abuse; Bizzy Bone went on a drug-and-alcohol fueled downward spiral in the early 2000s after losing his close friend and label-mate Capo Confucius to murder as well as nearly every other rapper on his label 7th Sign Records; Krayzie Bone had a serious health scare in 2023 when his sarcoidosis caused extensive bleeding in the lungs, leading to a 9-day hospitalization and medically-induced coma.  Layzie and Wish are the only members who HAVEN'T had any major news-making health or legal issues, which is why this is so puzzling.  




Hard Times

Even good guys go through bad times

But it's not entirely unbelievable if you've been paying attention.  In 2022, Layzie's mother "Mama P" who served as a mother figure for the entire group back in the day passed away, taking a major toll on Layzie and his brother Stanley Howse (Flesh-n-Bone).  Earlier today, Krayzie Bone released a video alleging that the reason Layzie isn't on tour has something to do with needing to go to rehab, which is troubling if true... but also understandable. 

In the past, he's alleged that the reason Mo' Thug Records dissolved years ago had to do with Layzie's excessive drinking and "partying".  (To be fair, Krayzie is a Jehovah's Witness who has renounced his own marijuana use, so he may not be the most reliable source on this).  But everyone including Kray has a history of getting wasted in their youth so I tend to believe him on this.  I could definitely see Layzie over-indulging to deal with the pain of losing his mom and all the responsibilities of being in the spotlight.  Holding a chaotic, often-childish (looking at you, Bizzy) group together can't be easy.  Having a felon for a brother takes its toll.  Just being alive in a post-2020 world is not easy for anybody.

And you can't win with the fans.  If you're one of the two, three or four members who shows up to concerts, people complain that it's not a good show because they "paid to see all 5 members".  If you don't show up, people complain and flood your inbox because you weren't there.  If you look at it from a purely rational perspective, nobody skips out when it's time to promote a solo album, side project or their own record label; there's only issues when it's a Bone Thugs-n-Harmony show, album or tour.  That really says it all.  Like Krayzie said, if you wanted to be there, nothing could stop you from being there. 

Layzie calling out Bizzy's BS in 2010

The writing is on the wall:  Bone Thugs as we knew them in the '90s and 2000s is no more.  They haven't been a cohesive group for a long time--maybe even longer than people realize.  We know Bizzy started deliberately skipping videos by the time of Art of War if he "didn't agree" with the choice of single, but go back and watch the video for "1st of tha Month":  was he also not physically present in that video with the other guys?  It appears he was spliced in later if you watch closely.  He has a whole damn verse to himself while the other guys share theirs with each other, riding in the car together and stuff.  Even if he was physically present with the other members, he clearly wasn't very democratic about the video itself.  🙄

This shit started EARLY.

So I say to fans:  It's over, pack it up, let it go.  Bone had a great run and gave us tons of music that we'll have forever.  I hope they get the rights to their masters soon and can retire rich and leave something to their (many) kids.  I hope Krayzie's health remains solid into old age and he gives us more solo music and ditto Bizzy's mental health/sobriety and solo career.  I hope Flesh stays out of legal trouble and Wish finally gives us at least one solo album, even if it's just an EP.  And I hope for his sake that Layzie gets the help he needs for his drinking and/or drug problems if he indeed has them.  His rage at the comment on his Instagram toward the person who brought up alcoholism was out of character for the same guy who screamed at Bizzy Bone in the 2010 documentary that "You got a fucked up problem!" (see video above).  

Bizzy has always denied that he did any drugs harder than weed and alcohol, but we know for a fact he did ecstasy, and that "demonic" (read: severely manic) radio interview from 2005 suggests he may have done even more than that.  Still, he acts like it's a point of pride that he "only" drank and smoked weed, as if it's shameful to have a problem with other substances.  The way the guys in this group talk about addiction is not only wrong but offensive.  Addiction doesn't make you weak or a "fiend".  It's not shameful or an insult.  It's a bad coping skill, period.  It has both genetic and trauma-based roots, and getting help for it just means putting yourself in the shop for a minute to learn some new coping skills.  Failure to do so will lead to deteriorating health and relationships and eventually, death. 

We saw this with Gangsta Boo, who appeared healthy and feisty onstage at the Verzuz event and was dead a few months later from an accidental fentanyl overdose (despite not being an opioid user).  And ODB, who is notably absent from the stage at the Bone/Wu-Tang tour.  And Coolio.  And Shock G.  And DMX, Mac Miller, Lil' Peep, DJ Screw, Pimp C and countless others.  It's all fun and games and partying until it's not.  

Legendary band; legendary tour.  $19.50 concert ticket.  

Perspective

One of BTnH's many achievements

The very fact that all 5 members of this group are still alive and healthy enough to perform is a blessing, and they should be grateful to still have a fanbase who loves them enough to pay these INSANE ticket price to see them.  (Seriously, y'all are getting RAPED by Ticketmaster and other middleman companies!  There was a time when you could pay $19 to see Nirvana at the height of their fame in '91. IDGAF if they brought 2Pac out of hiding in Cuba to perform (lol jokes), I ain't paying $800 or $1200 for ANY concert!) 

Instead, the Bone boys remain stuck in a childish cycle of bickering, flakiness and petty drama.  So I say again, the writing is on the wall, fans.  If you continue paying an entire month's rent to support this mess, that's on you.  Sometimes you have to love people from afar.  As our borderline IQ president George Bush Jr. once said:  "Fool me once, shame on... shame on me.  Fool me--you can't get fooled again."   

Just for fun, here's what I'd like to see each member put their creative energy into going forward:   

Krayzie - Solo work + collabs with other legends like DJ Paul, Big Boi, Fatlip & artists with a fast flow like Do or Die/Busta Rhymes, who sound great on tracks with Bone.  Urgent:  Undergo an autologous blood donation at local hospitals in case of another bleeding incident since he doesn't "believe" in receiving blood transfusions from others.  Since he has a chronic disease and has already experienced a near-death bleeding event, this should be a top priority as it could mean the difference between life and death.

Wish - That solo joint(!) + collabs with Krayzie and Mo' Thugs.  We don't care if it's an EP or if half the album is Bone or Mo Thug features, just do it!  

Flesh - Mo' Thug appearances & performing solo/Bone material at oddball events like Sturgis.  Doing community outreach in Cleveland & speaking events at high schools about his time in prison.  Staying out of legal hot water.  Finishing his education (he was always said to be the brainiest member). 

Layzie - Shift his energy from being the face of Bone to Mo' Thugs, doing full-time development/promotion of talented acts like Havik, Thin-C, Cat Cody & whoever else is a current member (it's damn near impossible to find this info online which is a problem).  There were a LOT of highly talented acts on that label and I feel like they dropped the ball big time with them.  Make performers feel confident that they'll be treated well in the Mo' Thug family and you won't have to do much in the way of looking for talent.  Do guest appearances on the occasional track if you feel like it, but focus on emulating Eazy at Ruthless and securing Bone's masters.  And if the rumors are true, get your ass in inpatient rehab because we want you here with us for the long run.  

Bizzy - Focus on solo work, JamTV and Bloodline Harmony, but make them more cohesive and focused with all members contributing equally or else they need to break up and let the ones with true interest in music do their solo thing.  And work on getting us that full Heaven'z Movie album like he promised.  Stop with the "solo album every September 12th"--just give us an album when it's truly inspired.  I liked the idea of working toward getting Bone the rights to their masters as that's a smart business move, but it'll likely require all members to be on the same page, and we KNOW that's like trying to nail jelly to a tree.  🥴

🖤

The Fate of Violent Criminals Who Escape Justice in America

Even though we have a two-tiered justice system that is both objectively classist & racist, I do take great pleasure in the fact that many of those who triumphantly slip through its cracks end up destitute, isolated & fucked up on the fringes of society.  Our media has blood on its hands as well for too many reasons to list here, but there's one instance where I feel their coverage helps bring its own form of "justice" when the legal system fails:  in cases like those of Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman, Ethan Couch, Kyle Rittenhouse & Brock Turner.  These incredibly lucky assholes got away with everything from rαpe with instrumentation to quadruple murdεr without spending any meaningful time behind bars thanks to biased/corrupt judges, expensive legal counsel & their pasty white skin. 

But the communities in which they reside as well as social media haven't been nearly as forgiving.

No justice for the victims of this fαt rαpist fvck.

The most recent example of this is serial rαpist Jesse Mack Butler, who strαngled one girl so badly she nearly died.  Originally he was facing 78 years in prison for 11 felony counts of rαpe and domestic violence involving strαngulation.  But because his dad was a former official at local Oklahoma State University and the judge is a corrupt rαpe enabling cow, he walks free today.  His "sentence" included attending some fucking classes and he's no longer even under court supervision, free to return to the community in which he committed the brutal crimes... to the mansion in which his enabling parents created this monster & the alternate reality in which he had a promising career in pro baseball... or some bullshit.  That's right, criminals.  Rαpe and strαngulation are practically decriminalized in Oklahoma!*

*If you're rich, male, white & have a powerful donor daddy to bail you out of your bullshit.  

Brock Turner's post-crime reality

I'm hoping Jesseboy's actual life turns out like a mix of George Zimmerman (broke & homeless with PTSD) with a splash of Brock Turner (a washed-up registered s3x offender who's afraid to go out in public due to his notorious status as cowardly rαpist of an unconscious girl) and a hint of Ethan Couch, a 1st class BUM who was captured fleeing the law in Mexico and did some minimal time in jail (along with his enabling mom) followed by several years of probation. 

I just hope Butler doesn't hurt or kill anyone on his way to the bottom, but that blood will be on the hands of the Payne County courts, not me.  Please keep ALL of these pathetic violent criminals' names and faces fresh in your memory and don't let them fade; let them know they're not welcome in your business, on your private property or in your community as a whole.  Because they ARE a threat to you and your loved ones, especially after being emboldened by the legal system previously.  Each of them has one or more victims whose faces I won't share here because they've been through enough.  Some of their victims aren't even alive now because of these bottom-feeding bums. 

You have a right to keep your community free of known threats to your health and safety, be they in the form of violent individuals, polluting corporations or what have you.  If police and the courts aren't going to do their jobs, it's on you to step up and protect your kids and yourselves, not through acts of illegal violence but by plastering their ugly mugs all over the internet and public posters to inform your neighbors of their presence, and by refusing them service in your businesses, which you have a right to do.  Make them feel like the criminal outcasts and exiles they are, just make sure not to break the law yourself in doing so.

(You have no idea how enraged it makes me that I have to add special characters and censor the crimes of these rabid animals in order to avoid having the whole article placed behind a wall of unreachability by this evil corp.  Different issue deserving of its own article).  

Ally vs. Friend & Why the Distinction Matters

The ruling class has no problem forming unlikely alliances

Americans don't seem to know the difference between a political ally and a friend, and this can have dire consequences both at the local level and when it comes to electing a president, whom they often choose for entirely the wrong reasons.  Let me break it down:  

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆
☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

Ally:  Someone who stands together with you to accomplish a specific goal based on a shared interest.  They need not agree with you about anything else or be someone you'd want to sit down and have a beer with--the only qualification is having a shared political or social goal.  You may love, like or hate them on a personal level, but that's irrelevant.  The relationship is a practical alliance, not (necessarily) a deep or lasting connection.  

Friend:  Someone you'd want to sit down and have a beer with.  Usually shares more than one position or viewpoint with you.  Someone you vibe with; a person whose company you enjoy.  (You should NOT choose a president you would in theory like to "have a beer with," as this is both irrelevant to their ability to do the job and not gonna fucking happen). 

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Class war often requires uncomfortable ally-ship.  

When people try to equate "TERFs" (aka women with the gall to say "no") with the conservative Christian types who also oppose gender identity nonsense, I have to remind them of this.  Yes, we stand together on this one issue.  No, we don't share views on literally anything else.  We're not friends in real life.  We don't even agree on the trans stuff for the same reasons, but that's beside the point.  Women know we can't afford to engage in ideological puritanism because we'll get nowhere.  If we let people get us distracted by our differences, nothing but infighting will happen.  The mantra with any political movement must be:  Stay focused, get the job done, shake hands and go your separate ways when it's over.  This becomes even more important when your allies have such opposite beliefs from you.

This is a lesson the Left and, as a whole, the entire U.S. could really stand to learn.  I recall during the SAG/AFTRA strikes of 2023, there was an attempt to divert attention by bringing up the issue of Israel/Palestine, claiming that people like Fran Drescher weren't doing enough to take a stance on the matter.  Kathy Griffin recently was accosted with similar allegations.  This is patently ridiculous considering A.)  They're both actors/comedians, and B.)  They're both beloved human rights' activists who lean heavily to the Left, meaning they're ON YOUR SIDE.  Also:  this has nothing whatsoever to do with the reasons they were striking.  It's a totally separate issue worthy of attention, but not when they're already in the midst of another fight.  This raises the question:  who's really behind these nitpicky ideological purity tests that always seem to be dividing the Left into 50 warring, ineffective factions? 

It's not the job of entertainers to take a stand against ANY social issue--that's on our elected representatives who are literally paid to make laws, create budgets and do other political tasks.  If performers choose to take a public stance, great.  But you can't "force" them to.  And if they lend their name, image, time and effort to a movement or social cause that has civil rights implications, be grateful and stand with them.  Even if you disagree with their personal lives or other political views.  Stay focused on the goal at hand and don't let informants and disinformation agents stir up shit.  The Powers That Be know that our strength is in numbers, thus they'll always try to cause division and break up large movements like Occupy Wall Street, the No DAPL movement, the Black Power Movement, Anti-Nuclear Movement & Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS).  Any time a social movement gets increased funding or visibility, it's a good thing.  But that also means it's now a prime target for those who wish to sew dissent & discord among its supporters, hence the need to stay focused & remember what differentiates a friend from an ally.  

Eating Disordered Celebrities and & GLP-1s: The Convo Nobody's Having

Remember when I wrote that long-ass article detailing the benefits & risks of GLP-1s for weight loss as opposed to diabetes management?  Here it is.  Yeah, I mentioned waaaay back then that eating disordered people would likely get their hands on them and either be triggered again or for the first time as they dropped weight rapidly, and that appears to be exactly what's happened.  See:  the current crop of dangerously thin celebrities who seemed to pop up out of nowhere.  

Body positivity was everywhere... until it wasn't.

For the last decade or so, curvy-bordering-on-obese was seen as the ideal body type, as if body shape and weight were another trend for women to follow.  In the spirit of the Kardashians & Beyonce, women flocked to doctors to get deadly Brazilian butt implants to make themselves appear more voluptuous.  I also covered that in an article on extremes in the American consciousness.  Now suddenly we've seen a swing back in the opposite direction.  But why?  Why are women (always women) suddenly looking like a slimmer version of Twiggy on the red carpet with no warning?  What innovation in weight loss hit the market at roughly the same exact time as these public-facing figures began to look skeletal?  

That's right:  GLP-1 medications.  Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, Rybelsus and all the rest.  Even in the earliest days, there were whispers of doctors too willing to prescribe these medications to people who weren't obese and had NOT tried "everything" to shed the few vanity pounds they wanted to lose, which is the only population they should be used by outside of diabetics.  Everybody and their mama began shedding pounds rapidly and, as is customary for Americans, there was a rush on this class of medications.  Claims they could be used to prevent everything from cancer to drug, shopping and gambling addiction ("miracle drug") hit the media and suddenly everyone had to have them.  

Everybody.  Even people who didn't need them at all.  

The reality:  Anorexic/bulimic patients have BEEN abusing these drugs.

Just one problem:  they're prohibitively expensive for most people, and unless you have diabetes, you're not getting insurance to cover them.  Womp womp.  Enter grey-market peptides and compounding pharmacy concoctions.  These substances are much cheaper and more accessible and generally require no doctor's visit.  The only problem is they're produced in unregulated conditions and can kill you.  Nevertheless, Americans persisted in obtaining their magic potions by any means necessary.  RFK is now considering bypassing the usual human studies and making these substances fully legal with no restrictions, much to the FDA's chagrin.  

I feel a pendulum swing coming on.  

It wouldn't be the first:  amphetamines, Quaaludes, Fen-phen, opioids and other drugs have gone through the exact same miracle drug-to-demon drug cycle and we have the bodies to prove it.  But nobody seems to remember these tragedies, or learn from them.  Exhibit A:  Ariana (Not-So) Grande.


  

Sad & scary weight loss.

One of the dumbest takes I've seen claims this is part of some "early 2000s" trend returning, as if eating disorders started in the 2000s or are part of a fad.  They didn't and aren't: they're as much a mental illness as schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder.  Other opinionated morons go in the other direction, claiming that even speaking on it is "body shaming," which is equally absurd.  Do you say that when a celebrity is obviously drugged out of their skulls in public?  Having any other kind of mental health/financial/legal crisis?  No, of course not.  But because this one involves bodies and women and appearances, it's somehow taboo.  

Let me clear that up for those who are confused:  The criticism isn't about how they LOOK.  It's about the fact that they're going to DIE.  And likely take a lot of impressionable young girls (and a few boys) down with them.  Because eating disorders are a largely media-driven phenomenon.  Here are some more examples of recently-emaciated stars, with their alleged 2000s counterparts on the left:

Now if you honestly expect us to believe this isn't a result of GLP-1 or peptide abuse, I'm gonna need you to re-evaluate that position.  I don't know for a fact which of these women is taking which drugs, but I can say with a fair amount of certainty that weight loss drugs are involved in this sudden "trend" of scary-skinny celebrities.  Celebrities historically have no problem obtaining any drug they like from starstruck Hollywood doctors.  Big-name celebrities from Elvis all the way up to Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson & Matthew Perry died from Rx drug overdoses--medications prescribed legally, if unethically, by their doctors.  Why would anyone doubt that there'd be doctors willing to prescribe the non-addictive, non-mind altering GLP-1s?

My prediction:  a few of these beloved public figures will have to die before the tide officially turns on pharma's biggest cash cow.  Lawsuits will pour in, the media praise will turn into demonization & GLP-1s will be the latest demon drug du jour.  After that, good luck accessing them for anything other than the worst cases of diabetes as a last resort after metformin and all the rest.  Because that's what happens after the pendulum swings into "demon drug" territory:  the irrational fear sets in and the banhammer drops.  All benefits of a given substance are forgotten and it's now considered 100% dangerous & evil.  No middle ground.  This isn't the drug's fault, it's the fault of overzealous prescribers and a public with the collective memory of a fruit fly utterly incapable of understanding nuance.  You heard it here first.  

♍☿🧚🏼‍♂💚🌖 September Donations

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FYI: 1% of TV Static = Light from the Big Bang

 

Yep, sounds crazy but it's true.  Here's the in-depth explanation in under 3 minutes:

The snap, crackle, pop of old analog TVs was Big Bang energy.  Who knew?

It's called cosmic microwave background radiation, and it's yet more proof that energy is neither created nor destroyed but merely recycled in new forms across space & time.  IDK about you, but I'd much rather come back as a short-lived piece of static fuzz in an old TV set than a human being after this life is through.

Keefe D's Creepy 2Pac "Trophies"

 

Below are some snippets of evidence found in murder defendant Keith "Keefe D" Davis's home when police raided it.  While 2Pac was world famous and highly beloved by millions, the presence of this abundance of creepy, obsessive "memorabilia" is damning for Davis, as some of it comes from stories released BEFORE the rapper died.  Now why would somebody hold onto that for all these years?

Snipped from the newspaper before 2Pac even died...

Dated September 16th, 1996.  Tupac died on September 13th, 1996.

Yellow highlighting mine.

Deceased rapper with his arm around the hitman's financier.



Just a few selections entered into the 2Pac murder trial evidence bank.  It should be noted that Keefe D began coughing and hacking violently as these clippings were presented.  Methinks he's not gonna have a great time in prison.  2Pac was almost deified by Black people and the wider world in general, plus he'd done time himself.  Keefe D?  Just a low-level "crackhead" (Reggie Wright's wording) bum whose only claim to fame is murdering said beloved entertainer.  

That said, I hope prosecutors don't plan to stop with Keefe D.  The evidence is abundant that he and others were incentivized monetarily to kill the victims and rob their crew by Bad Boy label owner Sean "Diddy" Combs.  

Phlegmatic defendant hocking a loogie.