The Source |Krayzie Bone Says Layzie Bone Needs Rehab As Problems Within Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Spill Into Wu-Tang Tour

What should have been a historic celebration of two of Hip Hop’s most influential groups has instead exposed some serious problems within Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

Krayzie Bone has publicly responded to Layzie Bone’s claims that he was essentially left in the dark about Bone Thugs-N-Harmony joining Wu-Tang Clan on the “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber” tour, revealing that the group had previously reached an agreement with Layzie involving him entering rehab.

According to Krayzie, Bone was even prepared to continue paying Layzie while he received treatment.

“We had an agreement with you,” Krayzie said in a video addressing his longtime groupmate. “We told you, if you go to rehab, while you’re still in rehab, we will still pay you while you’re getting yourself together.”

Krayzie said Layzie ultimately rejected that arrangement.

“We told you that. You refused,” he continued. “So no, we didn’t just leave you out in the cold, bro. We told you what it was. And we told you that we still had your money waiting for you.”

Krayzie did not disclose what specifically led the group to ask Layzie to seek treatment, nor did he identify an addiction or substance he believes Layzie is struggling with.

His comments came after Layzie gave his own account of why he has been noticeably absent from the tour. Layzie said he believed he would be participating in the massive Wu-Tang/Bone run and had even packed his bags and prepared merchandise before learning otherwise.

“I got a call the day before,” Layzie said. “I know nothing of what the Bone business was because after the Hollywood Walk of Fame I thought I was going. Didn’t hear from Bone. No talks of the Wu-Tang tour. I was totally left in the dark.”

Layzie acknowledged that there had been problems between himself and the group earlier in the year and that he had missed previous shows. However, he said he believed those issues had been resolved following Bone Thugs-N-Harmony receiving its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in July.

“Let them tell me why they put me off the road because I didn’t put myself off the road,” Layzie said. “I assembled this group. I helped build this group for 35-plus years.”

Despite airing what was clearly private group business publicly, neither Layzie nor Krayzie appears ready to completely close the door.

In fact, Krayzie told Layzie that he still wants him on the road.

“You need to just bring your ass on tour because it’s not that serious,” Krayzie said, describing the Wu-Tang run as one of the biggest tours the group could be part of and praising the energy surrounding the shows.

The situation adds another chapter to the complicated history of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, whose five-man lineup of Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone and Flesh-N-Bone has endured numerous separations, reunions and internal disputes over more than three decades.

And Layzie isn’t the only member missing from the current run.

Bizzy Bone has also addressed his absence, explaining that the business arrangement for the tour had already been finalized before he was contacted and that the money did not work for his situation. Bizzy nevertheless said he continues to support his groupmates and dismissed suggestions that jealousy was involved. Current reporting indicates Krayzie, Wish Bone and Flesh-N-Bone have been representing Bone on the tour.

That makes the situation particularly bittersweet considering the magnitude of the moment. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was announced as the special guest for Wu-Tang Clan’s 26-city North American “Final Chamber” tour, which began August 27 and runs through October 4.

For Hip Hop fans who grew up with both groups, Wu-Tang and Bone sharing one stage represents something that would have seemed almost impossible during their respective rises in the 1990s.

But instead of all five members of Bone taking that victory lap together, decades-old group problems are once again playing themselves out in public.

Still, Krayzie’s message to Layzie was ultimately less about shutting his brother out than telling him there is still a place waiting for him.

“If dudes really wanted to be here on this tour, knowing how big it is, you would be here,” Krayzie said. “Nothing or nobody is stopping you.”

For a group that has survived deaths, incarceration, business disputes, departures and reunions since Eazy-E brought them into Ruthless Records more than three decades ago, the hope among Bone fans will undoubtedly be that this becomes another chapter they eventually survive together.