Released: July 29, 1997

Songwriter: Flesh-N-Bone Krayzie Bone Layzie Bone Wish Bone Bizzy Bone DJ U-Neek

Producer: DJ U-Neek

[Chorus: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony]
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, how many of us have them?
(How many of us have them?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, ones you can depend on?
(Ones you can depend on?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, how many of us have them?
(How many of us have them?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends
Before we go any further, let's talk about friends

[Bizzy]
Mo Thug,then Henn,& even all of the people that'll support me when I'm in a bucket all the way to the pen
I don't needin' no friend, I
Friends, deep with tha sand in tha ships
So win again, and again, and will ah me friend
Can I get ah witness,tha Lord is within
I trust no hoes, not even the one's i have before
She won't groan, no oh, it was probably me so we go
We know what we know, and tha day ya brotha zapped me
And it's yo' aunty's baby's daddy in Cincinnati
Why'd the white bitch have me (didn't she?) If I'm out there robbing
Ready foe tha war, and then analyze my fresh style, be browsing
Enemiez test and watch out foe my friendz

[Wish]
Bet I got my friends, bet I got mine, bet I got mine, yeah
We straight up killers, we realer
We just want tha money, y'all hataz we don't deserve 'em
Murda one, if we fin' ta go murda dem all, dey fall
They wanna see tha Bone fall, y'all
But nah, we too raw, I remember, back a lil' ways
When we were so hungry, when we were so hungry
But now thank The Lord, my thugs we got money, we got money, hey
We got money to parlay, we got money to parlay
Watch if I miss ya, hit chya
Bet one of these thug-niggas get wit' chya
How ya feel about murda, man?
It's still tha same, you fukk wit' us, wang bangarang
It's like suicide nigga do or die
When ya fukkin' wit' mine, we gon' ride in the end
Somebody gon' die tonight, don't be fuckin wit my friends

[Chorus: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony]
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, how many of us have them?
(How many of us have them?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, ones you can depend on?
(Ones you can depend on?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, how many of us have them?
(How many of us have them?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends
Before we go any further, let's talk about friends

[Layzie]
I can tell, wit' tha devil, I'm doin' is workin', Lurkin', approachin
Me like I must suffer, but in order ta prevent event, and your told
To repent. Cause I gotta protect my fortune, and that's my friend
Till tha end. Rollin' in my Benz, neva thought what was next to occur
Young entrepeneur, who defeat through tha bloody blood, we ready foe
Divide and conquer. Playa hation, infiltration, any situation, y'all
Muthafukkaz bring, go prepare foe eternal warfare, and I really don't
Care, cause I'm sayin' my prayer to tha Man Upstairz
Keepin' my niggas out here so strong, and doin' this pain
And strain to survive. Lookin' out foe each-other everyday
And our people's comin' up readin' The Bible
Willin' ta die, if tha wicked is near me, if y'all eva try
Ta come wit' some crooked condition
What it is, just ta book ah thug
Come ah little bit closer nigga
Take ah look at this picture of ah vision of ah mission accomplished
Bone Thugs all tha way 'till tha end, and again, and again, and again
And again, don't try ta come between my, my

[Chorus: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony]
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, how many of us have them?
(How many of us have them?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, ones you can depend on?
(Ones you can depend on?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, how many of us have them?
(How many of us have them?)
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends
Before we go any further, let's talk about friends

[Krayzie]
Momma told me watch yo' friends
They can be enemiez within
Quick to pretend like they fit in
Get in, they put it all to an end
I know ya kind,a tru survivor pinned ya
Nigga try ta infiltrate tha clique, we gonna get chya
No Evil! can split me apart from my people
Militant that's how we choose to roll, and we road warriorz
About tha war, tha war, tha war
When you call my name I will be there, I'll be there
Neva got to worry 'bout nobody else
Indeed, and though I know I want mo' time
I need mo' time. Sweat about Armageddon
It's gonna get us, are you ready? What about yo' friends? Friends
'till tha very end, through tha freezin' wicked windz
Wicked windz. What about yo' friends?

[Flesh~N~Bone]
Are you ready for tha pain?, I'm here ta bring all tha noize
Don't think you can avoid tha wrath, then get 'em with tha math
Not that tha fact that tha skiez be shorted
& they thought that tha coast was clear but they couldn't see or hear Flesh,slowly creepin in silence
Longer they know that to you, host preapared to crept in yo' crib
Till then and they wanted ta see tha violence
Droppin', gettin' locked and get in stayed in asylum
Livin' life allergic to hell. police,they trail & wanna lock me up in a cell cuz I stay high,smokin L's And I play dirty wit an AK-47,dont think,Imma set it off,aim & spray
Anticipation ta get you sprayed, but what if he hesitate?
Make my day. They lay, any nigga they would
It be easy ta pick up ah tune. When do we end?
Will they come get this shit done, and over ah partner
Must ah been one of my friends
Betta watch yo' back, for tha people you think are yo' homiez
Up in my face, I can pin when ya phony
I said only Mo' Thug allowed, and only real souljahs can roll,G...

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is a hip-hop group from Cleveland, Ohio, formed in 1991 under the brief name, “Band Aid Boys.” Then they were B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e, consisting of Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, and Wish Bone. Under this name, they released the 1993 album, Faces of Death. Then Flesh-N-Bone, Layzie’s brother, joined the group, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was solidified.

Rapper Eazy-E of the group N.W.A signed Bone Thugs-N-Harmony to Ruthless Records in 1994. The group’s debut EP Creepin On Ah Come Up included two hits, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” (#22) and “Foe Tha Love of $” (#41). In 1995, their full-length album E. 1999 Eternal followed featuring another top 40 hit “1st of Tha Month”. An updated version of “Crossroad” from the album, renamed as “Tha Crossroads”, became a Grammy-winning international smash hit, holding the #1 spot in the US for eight weeks and reaching the top 20 in eight countries overseas including the UK.

Over the next fifteen years, the group scored six more top 40 hits including the platinum-selling “I Tried” (featuring Akon), but it was a tumultuous time. Flesh-N-Bone served eight years in prison for assault. The group kicked Bizzy Bone out after a couple of years of issues, but took him back five years later. Krayzie Bone also quit for a few months. In 2010, Wish Bone told