HOUSTON, August 1, 2012 — Bizzy Bone, born Bryon Anthony McCane II, is a multi-platinum recording artist and hip hop icon. He has successfully been in the music spotlight for twenty years, performing with such artists as Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E, and Big Pun. He not only found success within the group Bone Thugs ‘n Harmony, selling over 40 million albums worldwide but also as solo artist with his album Heaven’z Movie going platinum.
This man’s story didn’t start with success; it began as a nightmare. Yet despite all odds being stacked against him, he rose to success as an individual and to super stardom as an artist. I recently spoke with Bizzy Bone in a candid interview as he took me through his story of how he survived child abuse and being abducted to where he ended up now as one of hip hops most familiar and inspirational voices.
Carter Lee: Take us back to your childhood and what you experienced.
Bizzy Bone: There was a real situation going on with my mom and who she was married to. I grew up in violence, the kind you see on TV. It was a constant escalation from physical to mental abuse, so on and so forth. He kidnapped me out of the home and we were on the run from the FBI, and I wasn’t his child. He changed our names, birth certificates, everything.
He was a child molester and lots of disgusting things happened out there that I’ve discussed through the years and through my music. He had no business doing what he did to me and other children. At the time I was five or six years old. This lasted for about fifteen or sixteen months until I was returned home.
CL: You have a very captivating tie to Adam Walsh from “America’s Most Wanted,” and the 1983 TV movie “Adam,” the story about his son being kidnapped. Tell us about how you are tied into that movie.
BB: At the end of the movie “Adam,” they showed pictures of missing children; I was one of those children. After that movie aired, a babysitter in the trailer park recognized me and called the police.
Photo via: Demetrius Reynolds
(Later in his career Bizzy Bone would appear on “America’s Most Wanted” and wrote a tribute song for Adam Walsh, A.M.W.
CL: So what was your life like once you returned home?
BB: From there I ended up in another abusive situation. My mom’s new husband was hitting me, hard, too hard; I was skinny and he was heavy handed. After a while one of the teachers kept seeing me with bruises. I mean how many times can a kid run into a wall?!?
Eventually the police came and I was put in foster homes. I went from being on the run to another volatile situation. I was about eight and in foster homes until about 13; by 15 I was on my own. I never spent more than three years with my mom.
CL: What made you come forward with your story?
BB: I came out to discuss it because the victim in the situation, especially as kids, has no real reason to be embarrassed. The culprit should be embarrassed. So when I spoke about it, it catapulted.
People looked at me different…they were so shocked. Instead of it being about the music, I wanted them to have an in depth look at me.
It was the right time, the stars were aligned in the right way, my peoples were there, Tupac was there, and I had to let people know; “Please don’t be embarrassed by what someone else did to you; speak your mind, speak your heart, and you’re going to be all right.”
“Sayin’ I wasn’t manly with a scarred up soul
Why can’t my skeletons understand me
What if I said I was molested
Would you look at me pale?”– Bizzy Bone from “Nobody Can Stop Me”-
CL: So by fifteen you were on your own, where did you go from there?
BB: I was fifteen, working on the streets selling dope. Around that time I met Lazie Bone; the same day I met him is the same day I stopped selling dope. We started forming Bone Thugs n Harmony; he had Bone Thugs Enterprise, Wish Bone, Flesh-n-Bone, and Krayzie Bone. We made a record and hooked up with E [Eazy-E]. At that point I was sixteen years old.
That story of how we met up with E, that’s crazy. He was supposed to call us and pick us up; this is the breakthrough call we’ve been waiting for, and the homeowner locks up the phones in a room. Can you imagine that heartbreak? We’re waiting for this breakthrough call and can’t get to the phone.
But we couldn’t be denied. We found out he was going to be in Cleveland, we hooked up with him there. It’s been on ever since. I can’t complain. It’s been a party, it’s been a http://comadmin.washingtontimes.com/admin/viewpoint/entry/add/ball. We’re all going to go through what we are going to go through. I just try to add to society the best I can.
CL: How did you survive your childhood, not only survive it, but you persevered through it to success?
BB: Something was in me that some people have to help me endure the storm, a protective barrier that gives some people that extra push in difficult situations. It takes some extra effort.
Keep up and keep going, this is what it’s all about, I have a smile on my face and I’m thankful for that.
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Bryon McCane grew up being abused, shuffled around in foster homes, raising himself, transitioned through his pain, past, and tribulations, and transforming into Bizzy Bone, one of the most inspirational and influential artists of our time. His story is an example of how you can go for your dreams, accomplish your goals, and become better for it.
Bizzy Bone is the CEO of Operation Lighthouse, an organization providing a beacon of faith and hope, serving and educating in the prevention and extinction of child abuse and other preventable crimes and injustices worldwide.
In part two of my interview with Bizzy Bone next week, we will find out how the unique style of Bone Thugs n’ Harmony was created and how he transitioned into a solo artist as he shares more experiences with us about his near two decade career.
Carter Lee is the author of, When Jonathan Cried for Me, President of Innovative Social Dynamics LLC., is a professional speaker, and is the co-host of Really Genius Radio. To learn more about his media appearances, radio show, book, or to schedule an appearance or speaking engagement visit www.innovativesocialdynamics.com
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