For three years, the growl of one of ATLs favorite hip-hop sons has been silenced between sour record deals and the red tape of industry politics. This year, Bone Crusher emerges with a new label, a new album and a determination not to become another southern hip-hop casualty. He unleashes his sophomore effort, Release the Beast, on July 18th courtesy of Roy Jones, Jr.s 845 Entertainment/Bodyhead label. The fearless emcee is also next in a line of rap heavyweights to join VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, also scheduled to air its fourth season in July. Behold, a man who demands your attention.
MVRemix: Its been three years since you dropped your debut. Why so long in between albums?
Bone Crusher: If you notice, everybody that was on Arista that went to Jive didnt come out. The Clipse did come out with the Mr. Me Too record. But J-kwon was stuck on Jive. Being on Jive is the land of the lost, man because everybody that went to Jive got shelved. Outkast came out and Ciaras album had dropped right before, or you would have never heard Ciaras album either. And you know how her career is going right now. So the whole scenario of a label that dont know what they doing they sign the artists but dont want to find nothing out about them. But Jive is Jive, and they are exactly what their name is.
MVRemix: And how have you grown creatively since AttenCHUN? How have you grown as a person?
Bone Crusher: Oh, me as a person? You know, Im grown so I aint got much more growing to go. But I try my best to stay as positive as possible in any endeavor I go into, you know what Im saying? In every situation you learn something new and you grow out of that situation. You learn what to do and what not to do. If it ends up with bad stuff, you can say to yourself, Oh no, Im not doing that. If it leads up to good stuff, you can say, Hmm. Maybe Ill enhance my life with something like that.
MVRemix: Right. So tell me about Release the Beast.
Bone Crusher: Release the Beast is an album that is like I was three years ago, a total hearing tribute to my hunger. If you liked that one, this is basically the same album. It has that same vibe.
MVRemix: Are there guest appearances on the album?
Bone Crusher: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All my artists Twenty, Cotton hes on my first single, Southern Gorillas.
MVRemix: What inspired Southern Gorillas?
Bone Crusher: Back then, hunger. Hungry. A lot of times, these a lot rappers their music be their money.
MVRemix: Whats real hip-hop to you? How would you describe real hip-hop?
Bone Crusher: Music. Songs. Thats hip-hop to me, you know? At the end of the day, its all about the songs. Lyrics and music combined.
MVRemix: OK, but whats the characteristics like some people say Nellys style is not real hip-hop or Ja Rule wasnt real hip-hop when he was hot. Is it all hip-hop to you or?
Bone Crusher: Yeah, its all hip-hop. Hip-hop is worldwide and until we understand that, we wont be able to grow in hip-hop. Hip-hop is no longer on the block no more. Hip-hop is in Susie Maes neighborhood. Its in John Kulkoxs neighborhood. Its in a foreign neighborhood. Its everywhere, man. Hip-hop is everywhere. Thats what hip-hop is. The music is everything. Nelly is hip-hop just like KRS-One is hip-hop just like Eminem is hip-hop. Just like Lil Jon is hip-hop. Its all hip-hop, man. Theres several facets to everything that we do. People get caught up in being the same and thats wack.
MVRemix: Whats up with The Lyrical Giants?
Bone Crusher: The Giants are coming. Its me, E-40, Magic, Eightball, Killer Mike and am I forgetting somebody? And me? Did I say me? [Laughs]
MVRemix: [Laughs] Yeah, you mentioned yourself. So when did you know for sure that you wanted to be an emcee?
Bone Crusher: I tell you something. I went to a Fresh Fest concert back in the 80s. I was a little bitty boy back then. But when I heard the music, man I heard Run DMC and I heard all them, I thought it was amazing and I knew right then that I wanted to do something. I didnt know what the hell it was, but I had to do something in it.
MVRemix: What kind of music do you listen to other than hip-hop?
Bone Crusher: I listen to rock. I listen to jazz.
MVRemix: You listen to rock? Who in rock do you listen to?
Bone Crusher: Right now, Im listening to well, thats kind of pop rock. Im listening to 3 Doors Down. Im listening to Gnarls Barkley right now, but thats not rock.
MVRemix: You were in ATL. How was that experience?
Bone Crusher: Yeah, well I had done two movies already before I did ATL. I did Trois 3: The Escort. I was featured in that. And Im in another movie coming out this year called Dead Heist. And then I did ATL. And now, Im shooting another movie next year.
MVRemix: I see youre going to be on Celebrity Fit Club. How much weight do you want to lose?
Bone Crusher: I already lost a lot of weight.
MVRemix: Whats a lot?
Bone Crusher: I lost more than 20, 30.
MVRemix: That is a lot. So did you do it for health reasons?
Bone Crusher: Well no, Im pretty healthy. I just did it just because.
MVRemix: Whats your food weakness?
Bone Crusher: I dont really have one.
MVRemix: No? From the South?
Bone Crusher: I like all food. My thing is that I dont really eat a lot of sugar anymore. I dont eat a lot of pork or fatty food anyway.
MVRemix: If you werent in the hip-hop game now, what would you be doing?
Bone Crusher: I dont know. Struggling probably. [Laughs] I dont know. Probably cooking. You know, Im a chef. I got a cooking show on one of these networks. I cant really talk about it yet, but Im going to have a cooking show.
MVRemix: Do you freestyle or battle rap?
Bone Crusher: I used to, but I dont do it anymore. Anything that you do in life, for me, I have to be good. So I havent done freestyling in years so for me to say Im going to go freestyle on a microphone, that aint happening. I gotta practice.
MVRemix: How does Atlanta hip-hop stand out from other southern hip-hop?
Bone Crusher: Its all the same kind of music to me, really. I think its all relevant to everything. I mean, Atlanta hip-hop is really no different from Houston. Its all the same. We all dirty, we all southern. I just think the music is the music, you know. Its all the same. It all feels good to me. Its all jumpin.
MVRemix: Whats the biggest sacrifice youve made for your career so far?
Bone Crusher: Nothing really, because you know, I keep my family with me at all times I have five children. So I dont really have the opportunity to miss my family like that because they travel with me.
MVRemix: The July cover of Vibe asks if Outkast is the greatest hip-hop group of all time. Who would you put in that spot or is it Outkast?
Bone Crusher: No, I think Outkast. A lot of people dont understand what it means to be diverse, what it means to go into a situation and say, you know what? like, you gotta think about Outkast as a whole. I mean, not just in units, but how theyve grown as a group over the years and how theyve done their thing over the years, doing it the way they want to do it. Theyve never, ever sacrificed their creativity in order to make an album, you know what Im saying? So they are definitely my top group. I dont know about the rest of yall, but for me, I think Outkast is the greatest group.
You gotta realize, Andre decided and see, this is what people dont realize Andre decided that, you know what? I dont want to rap anymore. All I want to do is sing. And through his singing, he sold 10 million records. How many of us can say today, you know what? I dont want to be a writer anymore. I want to be a construction worker and end up with the biggest contract in the country. You see what Im saying? That is that in general makes them the biggest for me.
MVRemix: Whats your hip-hop legacy? What do you contribute thats gonna make the next generation of hip-hop fans know who you are?
Bone Crusher: You know, people always say that I am probably one of the first if not the first guy to bring out the new crunk sound of Atlanta. If people feel that way, I let them feel that way. And I let them say that. They see Crusher and they know Im original. I am the origin-ator.
MVRemix: Who are your five all-time favorite emcees?
Bone Crusher: My five favorite? Andre 3000 is on top of my list. I would say Killer Mike is one of the greatest Ive ever heard. Let me see. Busta Rhymes. I think E-40 is on my list also because E-40 created a whole new lingo that everybody follows. For sheezy my neezy and all that stuff came from E-40. And I would say KRS-One and Q-Tip.
MVRemix: Thats a good list.
Bone Crusher: I got a few others. I think Little Brother are dope, too.
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