As the lights dim and the chants get louder, the scent of marijuana only gets stronger. Everyone waves their joints in the air as they begin screaming, “Bone Thugs, Bone Thugs, Bone Thugs!” and suddenly you see someone come out to the stage. A single person alone in the middle of the stage begins to crip walk, performing a famous west coast dance across the stage. The lights begin to brighten slowly by the second and once he faces the crowd you immediately realize that you’re in front of hip hop greatness. The special thing about a historic group like Bone Thug N Harmony isn’t just the music they make, but the music and the artists they inspired. When your influence plays such a big part in the music industry, you attract and bring out influential guests to open up for you. This is fortunately what happened when the audiences were able to be in front of the one and only Kurupt. Kurupt is a legend and pioneer in the hip hop industry who played a huge part in the gangster rap scene in the 90’s and early 2000’s. As Kurupt takes the mic and begins to rap his classic hits, he first silences the room and pays his respect to Bone Thugs N Harmony for the legacy they made on the music industry. At most concerts, we’d want the opening acts to hurry and rush off stage so the main act can begin their performance, but this was a completely different experience because the opening act was a legend and pioneer in this industry who had many collaborations with the main act. After a 30 minute performance of his biggest hits, Kurupt closes off his set by performing tracks with his famous features, such as Snoop Dogg’s famous, Ain’t no Fun” and “Xxplosive” by Dr.Dre. As he leaves the stage, Kurupt asks the crowd, “Los Angeles California, are ya’ll ready for these mother fucking legends Bone Thugs N Harmony?” The crowd, as you’d expect, goes wild.
Kurupt created an atmosphere so powerful on that stage and prepared us for the history we were about to embark on. As he leaves the stage, the lights go off once again and this time you can feel it deep inside of you that they have arrived; the legends and pioneers of hip hop are among us in this venue. In this dark venue with no lights on, you suddenly see a big huddle of a bunch of people in black hoodies and leather jackets surrounding the stage with their backs facing towards the crowd as if they are hiding somebody. As the crowd gets more excited and loud, you suddenly hear from the speaker intercom the infamous audio, “we’re not against rap we’re not against rappers but we are against those thugs…” The room instantly recognizes that audio for their hit song and begins to jump and yell so loud the venue literally shakes. There’s something you have to understand about Bone Thugs N Harmony and the period of time in which they were making music. Music at that time was supposed to be a safe space, and when you had a bunch of young minorities making music that was being played by millions and that were making millions, it didn’t sit right with everyone in society, especially with the government who did not approve of gangster music and viewed it as dangerous. But that’s the beauty of music, it’s a safe space for anyone to not only share their message but share their struggles with their backgrounds and that’s exactly what Bone Thugs had done.
That opening verse that opened up the show is a pre-recorded recording by Pastor Calvin O. Butts where one of his sermons that went viral had spoken out against gangster rap music that was trending. That opening sample to their hit song, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone.” is not only easily recognizable, but it’s historic because it represents a time in society where the music industries stance on the genre of hip hop and rap.. This Bone Thugs N Harmony concert was an amazing representation of all the diverse fans from their variations of age and race, and it even demonstrated the different length of supporters. They had some of their first original supporters who showed up with signed vinyls, as well as the younger generation of hip hip fanatics who are able to enjoy all this music because of their historic influence. As the night continued, we were so blessed to witness Bone Thugs and Harmony’s live performance, as the entire crowd followed along with them lyric for lyric. It was truly a historic night to see how much they have aged and how well they are still performing together on a stage. They go on to play their hits from, “tha Crossroads,” “1st of da month,” and my favorite to close out the night: “Foe the love of $.” Every song they performed was sung by the crowd accompanying them, bringing all the classics and nostalgia back. Though they may not dance or have a real performance rehearsed, being able to witness all 4 members on the stage together rap and sing every song was the most intimate and special experience you can ask for from one of your favorite music groups. Let’s not forget whom we are watching here: every individual on stage who tripped over wires was rightfully scolded by Bone Thugs to the extent that everyone was removed from the stage, except for the DJ. This incident highlighted not only the authority each member possessed but also their streetwise resilience.
Bone Thugs N Harmony have had so much success all these years and influenced so many of the artists we listen to today. This is the reason why they always get the respect they deserve from fans and other artists. Their collaborations range from Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G., 2pac, Eazy E, and so much more. This rap group out of Ohio made history across the nation and for the rest of the hip hop music industry. Because of them, we are able to enjoy their live performances even decades later here in the heart of Los Angeles. Not only were we able to watch them live, but we also saw other great hip hop legends and were able to truly be a part of the Bone Thugs N Harmony history as a new generation of hip hop fans.
