After a 13 year tenure in the music industry, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have set their sites on the film industry with a straight to DVD movie, I Tried. RealTalkNY recently spoke with the group regarding their debut project, and their successful music career.

On Bizzy Bone:
The movie isn’t a documentary or about our true life story, so that doesn’t really involve Bizzy at all. - Wish

RTNY: What made the group decide to film the movie?
Wish: Well, we basically always wanted to do a movie since rap integrated into movies. We always wanted to expand our career, so that’s basically how that came about and we’re going to continue to do more.

RTNY: Let all the readers know what the movie is about and based on.
Wish: The movie is called, I Tried, and it’s about us, how we had one way bus tickets to meet Eazy-E, but in the movie we never meet Eazy-E, so it’s based on what we might have been doing if we didn’t meet Eazy-E.

RTNY: So if you didn’t get on that bus and meet Eazy-E, what would the three of you have done with your lives?
Wish: Before we met Eazy-E, we were really street, but that would have eventually played out and we would have had to get into something else, but it’s hard to say what that would have been.
Layzie: Well, I was already getting money on them streets. I probably would’ve gone down the wrong road. If I had the right chances, I would have probably became a lawyer.
Krazyie: My love was always for the music. So, I would have been trying to do something with the music, whether it was local or not, I still would have been into music.

RTNY: Did filming the movie take you back to those E.1999 days early on in your career?
Layzie: Most definitely. We took a stroll down memory lane and were appreciative that we did meet Eazy-E. To think if we didn’t meet Eazy…that’s a thought I don’t even want to think about.

RTNY: Does part of you wish Eazy was still here to see the amount of success the group has had over the years?
Layzie: Definitely. I think if E was still here we wouldn’t have had all the struggles we’ve had in the game. If E was here, it would have been a lot better for us. So most definitely, but we know he would have been proud of us.

RTNY: Who are some of the producers and writers you worked with for the movie?
Layzie: Rich Newey. He wrote the actual treatment and directed the movie. So, Rich Newey was the main guy who helped put everything together.

RTNY: With this being your first film, how hands on was the group during the staging process?
Wish: We were all the way hands on, we were there the whole time, giving our input on the director’s side.

RTNY: Of course fans know Bizzy is no longer in the group; will he be portrayed in the movie in anyway?
Wish: The movie isn’t a documentary or about our true life story, it only begins with “what if we wouldn’t have made it”, and the rest of the movie is pretty much fictional about what we might have been, so that doesn’t really involve Bizzy at all.

RTNY: The title of the movie is I Tried; you also have a song by the same name. Is the song sort of a prequel to the movie?
Layzie: Nah, its kind coincidental. We did the single and we had it coming out then and the movie was actually supposed to be done back then when the single came out. So that’s how the titles became I Tried the song and I Tried the movie.

RTNY: What do you hope this film will do for your music and film careers, do you hope it’ll take you over that threshold and you can do movies full time?
Wish: Yes, definitely. Don’t get us wrong we love the music industry, but we want to do other things to. So we hope it shows our skill and talent as actors and we hope we get more gigs.

RTNY: You recently released an album Strength & Loyalty, what process is harder making an album or the film process?
Wish: Man, I don’t know, they both require a lot of hours and input. So they’re about even to me.
Krazyie: I think they’re about the same. A lot goes into both of them if you want to make a bangin’ project.

RTNY: The Bone Thug sound has changed since those E.1999 days, did that have anything to do with the turmoil you faced in the industry, or was it more of a maturity thing?
Krayzie: It’s basically both, us maturing and us coming together as a group. And we’ve been releasing that on the tracks.

RTNY: Being in the industry 10 plus years, musically or creatively, are there any regrets you have?
Krazyie: Not really, because I know at anytime we can do whatever we want to because we’re versatile; we’ve established that a long time ago.

RTNY: So when can fans be expecting the next Bone Thugs-Full Surface release?
Krazyie: As soon as this one dies down, we gon’ be back at you! We’re probably going to start going in after we do this last video that will wrap this album up. So we’re going to stay consecutive and keep it coming.

RTNY: You’ve been one of the most stable acts coming out of the Midwest, do you hope to start a Midwest movement?
Layzie: Yeah, that’s what we on right now. We’re trying to put the whole Midwest thing together with Chicago and Detroit and have that whole area coming together. We’re actually working on album with Twista right now, the C town to C town movement. So be looking for the Midwest to unite and doing it like the South and New York.

RTNY: You’ve won a Grammy Award, and accomplished great things as a group. And now coming out with this film, what’s left for Bone to do in the industry?
Layzie: We’re really just getting started, even know it’s been thirteen years, we’re really just getting started. Just lookout for our different management companies, we have our record labels that we’re putting together and working with different artists. Felicia’s album is about to come out. Just look for us to keep making music and films, it’s just going to be more and more music, period.

RTNY: Let all the fans know when the movie is dropping, and where they can pick up a copy?
Layzie: September 25, is the release date. It’ll be out in stores at Blockbuster and Amazon.com. So it’ll be out on the 25 and a store near you.

End of interview.

For more info on Bone Thugs and how to purcharse I Tried, visit the following sites:
I Tried DVD Trailer
www.amazon.com
www.bonethugsnharmony.com