W
hile a vast majority of emcees believe they’re better than their competition, most up and coming rappers wouldn’t have the audacity to plainly profess their superiority over the more established artists from their city. However, Bone of Bonecide Entertainment isn’t the average aspiring emcee. He isn’t looking for help, he isn’t asking for acceptance—Bone just wants respect. “I see the artists in Dallas doing they thing,” says Bone. “Some of them real, some of them ain’t real, it’s not for me to judge them. My job is for me to do me. I always felt like I was better than everybody here, even though I was coming from behind.” Had Bone not spent 5 years in Ft. Leavenworth Federal Corrections Facility for convictions commonly related to the struggle, he might have defined Dallas Hip Hop; instead he’s attempting to redefine the sounds and stereotypes traditionally associated with Dallas rap.
When you got out of Leavenworth what made you decide to pursue music full-time? All I did in the joint was write, so I figured since I invested all those years in music and since everybody told me music is what I should do, that’s what I should do. So when I got out, I immediately started working on my music. I started out working with low budget people ‘cause my money wasn’t up, but I just kept building up that buzz getting my name up. My main objective was branding my name and my company. What’s your strongest asset as a rapper? My storytelling ability is most definitely what I’m best at. My life is such an interesting movie that we gon’ be getting to in a minute. It’s gonna be sick—all the things I done went through and been through you can’t help but to be like, “Damn!” Right now I’m going for the top, I ain’t taking no for an answer.
“My mixtape that’s gon’ sound better than almost any album that done ever dropped,” says Bone. “and I guarantee you, it’s gon’ sound better than any mixtape you’ve heard.”
Your hometown of Dallas was slept on in the rap game for a long time, but now there are quite a few artists coming out from the area. How do you plan to take advantage of the fact that everyone’s attention is on your city right now? Like you said, Dallas is what’s up right now. We’ve got the All Star game coming, we’ve got the Super Bowl coming, so there’s a lot of attention on Dallas right now. My music is different than a lot of Dallas artists, like I said, it’s all about money; that’s what I’m about. At the end of the day if you ain’t got money, people ain’t paying you no attention and they don’t give a fuck about what you got to say. I make sure everybody around me is eating. Everybody’s gotta eat cause that’s how it works. Before I took my fall and did my five years a lot of these [rap] niggas was up under me. When I got out everybody was on, doing their thing, and nobody wanted to help me. Everybody thought they were the man. It’s not like I had something to prove, but I had to show my talent and what it is.
A lot of readers nationally are probably wondering, “Who is this guy on the cover of OZONE and where did he come from?” What would you say? Basically I’m from Dallas, Texas—born and raised, and I got started doing my music after being locked up; that’s also how I came up with the concept of my label. I came up with Bonecide (pronounced bone-side) because you know, you be out and about and niggas might be like, “Who you down wit’?” And niggas be like, “I’m on Bone side, nigga!”
It sounds like you have a little bit of a vendetta. Basically—I mean, I helped so many people and then when I got out I was fucked up—nobody wanted to help me. Niggas acted like they were scared to fuck with me because I just got of prison, but it wasn’t that they was scared to fuck with me, they just knew what I was capable of doing. They tried to put road blocks in front of my way to try and stop me but I destroyed those.
How was it growing up in Dallas? To me, it was just growing up in the hood, trying to get it by any means necessary. I grew up on Section 8. I didn’t have much. My mom didn’t buy me new shit, and I wanted to live like everybody else. That’s how I grew up and no matter where you’re from, most hoods are the same. You don’t get the advantages of all the nicer things in life unless you present them for yourself. Usually, if you’re trying to present advantages to yourself at a young age, you end up doing shit you ain’t got no business doing. And I don’t knock people who had it better than me, but I don’t want them to knock me for doing what I had to do to make my situation better.
So overall, how would you describe your relationship with other artists from Dallas? My respect is there. Nobody’s gonna disrespect my company, my label, or me as an individual. How they feel, I couldn’t give a fuck less cause I don’t care about how they feel. I don’t play into that hype, but niggas see me and they dap me up, but what they say I couldn’t care less.
“You got a lot of dance music in Dallas,” declares Bone. “I don’t do dance music; I do street music. I’m a street poet, I do music for street niggas. People all across the world gon’ feel it because I deal with money, and everybody likes money. “ Bone refuses to conform, and through autonomously financing his movement, independent of any major label support, he and his company Bonecide Entertainment have built a steady movement in Texas. Now positioned to expand nationally with the impending release Bone 214: The Mixtape, featuring Lil’ Wayne, Bun B, Pimp C, E-40, Lil Keke, and Slim Thug, Bone is ready to take his vendetta to the next level.
You mentioned you did some time in prison. How long were you locked up, and how did that influence your music? I did five years, and it gave me time to realize who I was and understand what was going on. To be sitting down for such a long time gave me a lot of time to think. I would do shows when I was locked up and everybody was telling me that I gotta do this [music] when I get out. I dealt with some of the most powerful people across the world as far as the streets and I met some of the most influential people on the streets and they all told me I got it. When you were in prison what topics did you rap about? I rapped about prison shit, like shit niggas go through when they in jail. I talked about the shit that was happening in jail and that’s why everybody felt the music so much because it was shit they were going through. Shit you were dealing with before you went to prison. You were on the streets balling and then you go to jail and nobody’s there for you and all your so-called homeboys ain’t there; all the girls who were supposed to be there for you turn they back on you. I was talkin’ about some real reality shit, and everybody was feeling it because they were going through the same thing. Where were you locked up? I was locked up in Leavenworth, Kansas—maximum security. Is Leavenworth as rough as its reputation suggests? Not for me it wasn’t. I’m sure some people had it rougher than others but for me it was just like being among a bunch of people I knew already.
Let’s talk about this mixtape you’re dropping in February. I heard you have some crazy features on there. It drops February 23rd, and I got Lil Wayne, Bun B, Pimp C, E-40, Lil Keke, Slim Thug, and a couple more people that I haven’t mentioned on there. I’ve got some nice features on that joint. All original material. How were you able to secure all those features? That’s a lot of big names. I’m working with Mr. Lee on the production side, and he hooked me up with all these people. More and more people are going to be part of my music soon. Drake’s gonna be on my album, The Game, 50, and a couple more people gon’ be featured on my album. I’ve heard that a lot of people in Dallas are really feeling the remixes you put out, but what single are you currently pushing? Everybody’s excited about this “Good Times” track, and I like it too. It’s got a sample from the show “Good Times” when they were going through the struggle, and to me, that’s one of my hottest joints. You can listen to it on my Myspace page (www.myspace.com/bone214). Now that you’re done with the mixtape, what are you currently working on? I’m working on my album, World President Balling Through A Recession. I’ve also got a trailer for my DVD coming out, so that’s gonna be hot. Where do you see yourself in terms of the Dallas music scene? I wanna be the best rapper in the world; Dallas is just so small. I’m being played right now in Chicago, St. Louis, D.C., and Arizona, so right now Dallas is one of the last places I’m focused on. I’m doing this shit global—small is not on my level at all. //
OZONE MAG // 47