In the mystical world of Bone Thugs~N~Harmony, gun blasts fade into the sound of paparazzi's cameras clicking, the wail f police sirens blend into cheers, Layzie Bone. Krayzie Bone, Bizzy Bone and Wish Bone are strictly signing royalty checks. 
     Bone's escape from the mean streets of Cleveland, OH continues with these four humble thugsters once again employing their revolutionary tactics of haunting harmonies and fast-as-a-comet flowing on The Art Of War, their highly anticipated, monumental double CD.  Set to World War I and World War II sides, the album is Bone's ultimate old and new testaments to their fans in which they explore the complexities of life and death. 
     "We'd been thinkin' about releasing a double CD for a while," says Wish.  "It's like when we go into the studio, it's a lot of heads in there and a lot of ideas.  One four-minute song ain't gonna hold it all.  So we always have more songs than one album can hold and it's been two years since our last record." 
     "I think the biggest difference on this album in everybody has really concentrated on their lyrics and their performance on the microphone," explains Krayzie Bone, who's more recently dipped into production (II Tru, Poetic Hustla'z, Graveyard Shift, Tre).  "The kind of rappin' we're doin', it's like we gotta do some of the things a singer would do--we got to make sure our voices are right, that we are in the right key and that everybody has mastered their harmonies." 
     And it's those heavenly harmonies, along with their signature style of rapping that have propelled the group's provocative imagery filled with skulls and thoughts on the afterlife.  Crossing a love for all types of music genres, including gospel, oldies and old school hip hop, Bone have tapped into the psyche of today's youth like few before them. 
     From the streets of Cleveland to TV sets across the nation, it's been a long journey for Bone Thugs~N~Harmony.  Their rise commenced in '93 when they scraped up every penny they had for one-way bus tickets to Los Angeles.  It wasn't until they hooked up with their departed mentor, Easy-E [sic], that things began rollin'.  As the famed story goes, Eazy returned a call to Bone in L.A. where they auditioned for him over the phone.  He was impressed but the deal wasn't done until a short time later when they [sic] former NWA leader was doing a show in Cleveland.  Bone immediately headed back home and gave a backstage audition in person.  Eazy had tickets ready for them the next morning to return to L.A. to begin recording their debut EP. 
     That EP, Creepin On Ah Come Up, exploded onto the rap scene with the singles "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Foe Tha Love of $" and went on to quadruple-platinum success.  Critics said that the group would never match their debut success, but '94's E. 1999 Eternal, entered all the charts at #1 and hasn't slowed down, selling five million plus copies and counting. 
     Eternal's most celebrated cut--the stunning, spiritually-charge singled, "Tha Crossroads"--won a Grammy, went double-platinum and made history when it tied with the Beatles' 32-year-old record ('64's "Can't Buy Me Love") for the fastest rising single on the pop charts. 
     There seems to be no end in sight to the Bone phenomenon.  The Cleveland clan established their own Mo Thug Family Scriptures compilation album to introduce many of the Cleveland-based artists they're developing.  The joint shipped platinum.  They're following with solo albums by many of their artists as well as solo albums from Bone. 
     With all their success, it's hard to believe that the days of struggling were very uch a reality for Bone not too long aog.  "First Of Tha Month," their glorious ode to goverment cheese, was something that Bone was living rather than just rapping aobut.  As Layzie recalls, "It was like this man, we come from zero, straight from the dirt dog."  Wish adds, "We were in the streets doin' whatever it took to survive." 
     But through these rough times, the Bone family strengthened.  Layzie and Wish, who are cousins, first hooked-up with Bizzy and Krayzie under the name Band-Aid Boyz.  During this era, the flow that would make them famous developed.  Wish breaks it down like this, "Our style just came from us sittin' in our hous with nothing to eat, just trippin' and writin', and just building on it.  And we finally came up with what we got."  Krayzie adds, "We knew we had something different.  Our music is just coming from the heart.  We always knew we were gonna make it somehow." 
     Not only do Bone speak aobut their hard times, they choose to tell the positive as well on The Art Of War.  Songs like "If I Could Teach The World" find Bone delivering a message of upliftment to kids all over the planet.  "To all the lil' boys and girls al over the word/The shit we say is for the streets/Not for you to go and do or to repeat."  On "Friends," a remake of the Whodini classic, Bone pay tribute to those who have remained close and loyal to them.  And "Family Tree Bone" is a remarkable personal account that illlustrates the highs and lows of each Bone member's lives. 
     "All our albums have a dark feeling to them, but it is so smooth that you don't really fcous on the dark too much," says Krayzie.  "The dark themes come from how we used to live.  Then, every day and evey night was dark in our eyes.  That's changed." 
   Asked about fame, Layzie concluded, "In my wildest dreams, where I'm comin' from, I couldn't even dream shit would be like this.  Fame, it's cool to be famous, but some people take it out of control.  I look at it like the Lord got us to the front of the line for some reason."