Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Mr. Small’s Theatre

Saturday at 8 p.m.

Tickets… Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Mr. Small’s Theatre

Saturday at 8 p.m.

Tickets $25

412-821-4447

Some people learn music through school, some through informal lessons, but for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Wish Bone, it ran in the family.

“A lot of our people did the doo-wop thing,” he said. “All our parents would get together and do that … when the rap thing came around, we used to do our little interpretations of groups that were out. We just spilled our spiel … that was the way we went.”

The famous Midwestern hip-hop group will bring its tradition of family music to Mr. Small’s Theatre on Saturday, albeit with a slightly different family.

Composed of core MCs Krayzie, Layzie, Bizzy, Wish and occasional supporting member Flesh-n — all with the surname “Bone” — the group auditioned its smooth and melodic rhymes for N.W.A. founder Eazy-E while he was performing in Cleveland in 1993. After being signed to Eazy’s Ruthless Records, the four quickly introduced the world to one of the most unique lyrical styles in rap.

“Their distinctive flow and style … their whole sound is just incredible,” MH the Verb, leader of the Pittsburgh hip-hop collaboration known as the BNVz, said while talking about his musical influences.

A number of collaborations that Wish Bone cites as integral to the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony discography have been particularly influential.

“Eazy-E, Biggie Smalls, Jam-Master Jay, Tupac … those guys stand out because they’re no longer with us,” he said. “Those projects are things that can never be done again … being able to make everlasting music with them was a blessing.”

A collaborative spirit also exists within the group itself: Every member contributes to the songwriting.

“Sometimes we get a beat and get in a circle and figure out what we want the song to be about,” Wish Bone said. “[Then] somebody might come up with the hook, either Krayzie or me, and we all add to it to build the song and then we write it out.”

With some producers, the group changes strategies and “works it out” from their idea. With either method, however, Wish Bone stressed that, for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “All the music comes from the heart.”

That heart comes across particularly strong onstage, a place Wish Bone cites as essential to the musical experience.

“I think the best way to hear music is to study it and then go to see the performer live and learn what kind of person they are from your perspective in the audience,” he said.

In addition to experiencing Krayzie, Layzie, Bizzy and Wish as they’re heard on their albums, those who stop by any of the concerts on their current tour will see the group backed by something quite different than the traditional DJ.

“We have a band behind us,” Wish Bone said. “A lot of the instruments are going to be heard differently than how they were done on the record. You get more of the music with a live band. It’s a totally different look and sound.”

Though the band’s live sound might be a little different from that of its album releases, Wish Bone hopes both versions will reach out to fans.

“It’s not always about what you can gain from it,” he said. “I love when people come up to us and tell us ‘this song helped me overcome something.’”

The group’s uplifting brand of hip-hop might seem a pure extract of the genre’s golden age, but Wish Bone said there are still a few artists he’d like to work with to create something positive.

“Jay-Z, The Temptations … we don’t stick to the script,” he said. “I [would] like Lady Gaga just to step out of hip-hop for a minute.”