Prior to his death in 1995, former N.W.A. member Eazy-E had just signed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to his label Ruthless Records. Comprised of Bizzy Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, Krayzie Bone, Wish Bone, and Layzie Bone, the collective released their debut EP, Creepin On Ah Come Up to critical acclaim in 1994.
However, Flesh-N-Bone (Flesh) has since opened up about working with Eazy-E and has told some previously unheard stories. Flesh rarely gets mentioned because, during the collective’s prime, he was serving a nine-year sentence on assault charges.
While incarcerated between September 2000 and July 2008, the emcee (real name Stanley Howse) began reflecting on his ways and the struggles he had with drug addiction and alcoholism. His substance abuse was what ultimately led to his brush with the law, and he was looking to change that.
In 2021, the lyricist decided that his story was powerful and that his message needed to reach more people, so he decided to write a book. During an interview to promote the book, Howse dropped a few gems about his past and what it was like working with Eazy-E in the 1990s.
Admitting that he was addicted to PCP (Angel Dust), Howse stated, “When it comes to the addiction side of things, in the inception of our careers, everything kicked off on the wrong track. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony wanted to make it, but I had people coming around, bringing sherm or PCP or whatever the case may be.”
He unveiled that when the group moved to California to work with Eazy-E and Jerry Heller under Ruthless Records in 1993, they believed things would change. However, Howse then proceeded to disclose that even the former N.W.A. member was taking the drug, unveiling, “When we finally got with Eazy-E, he had his homeboys coming to the studio while we’re trying to work.”
He continued. “He had his homeboys bringing the same shit, the same type of poison. They’d say, ‘Yo, smoke this. Smoke this.’ And that’s what really knocked me off my square. While I was in there, really trying to focus on writing, he had his homies coming to the studio, feeding us that poison.”
The drugs eventually led to Howse getting imprisoned. Unfortunately, he sees the same epidemic in hip-hop today but in a different form, with drugs such as Fentanyl, Codeine and Oxycodone on the rise. Speaking from experience, he stated, “A lot of youngsters that are out there in the industry, this is how they get caught up!” It is insinuating that a lot of rappers are coerced into taking drugs by older, less successful figures with nothing to lose.
You can hear Howse speaking on addiction in the video below.
