Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s impact on their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, means so much to their fans that any memorabilia is worth seizing, including street signs. As previously reported by REVOLT, the group was honored in a street renaming ceremony on Aug. 11.
What was once known as East 99th Street is now recognized as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Way. The intersection that convenes with Lowell Avenue was marked with three signs honoring the platinum record-selling group. Well, at least until someone — or multiple people — snagged each of the signs over the span of three days after the renaming ceremony.
While shocking to some, the short-lived signage was anything but a surprise to Layzie Bone. “To be honest, when I saw the signs going up, I felt like they were coming down,” he told AllHipHop in a new interview. “They were so well put together with the name and then the group picture on the actual sign, too. I saw fans salivating to have one of their own. It felt like a piece of Bone memorabilia. Like a piece of history.”
The midwest lyricist further theorized on the motives behind the theft. “I believe the culprit or culprits behind the theft could’ve been haters or fans, but I’m leaning more toward the fans because Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s love in the city far outweighs the hate.” Layzie Bone noted that Cleveland has a reputation for being rough and “thuggish ruggish even. The vibrations in the hood [are] low from poverty, so kids do whatever they can do to get the things they desire, and Bone memorabilia is one of those things. Those signs are probably hanging on somebody’s bedroom wall. We have work to do to uplift our community.”
In February, WOIO-TV reported that 345 homicides occurred this year in North Ohio, with the highest concentration of crime taking place in Cleveland. “Now that we’re established pillars in the ‘hood, we’re getting active to motivate and inspire our communities for greatness,” he added. Layzie Bone is already working on the latter through his In The H.O.O.D. foundation. In the meantime, he suggested that bolting the new signs to poles may help thwart overzealous fans from making off with them again.