Why are the Bone Thugs on fire?

May 15, 2007 1:25 PM

What do the flames that appear on the heads of the Bone Thugs in the "1st of tha Month" video signify?

Here is a still of the effect. In the video, it appears first on Bizzy around the 1:45 mark, and then eventually spreads to both Wish and Layzie (but not Krayzie) around 2:30.

In the comments to this YouTube post, wrestlecat61 argues that the flames are "supposed to be the holy spirit." That's certainly plausible, but I'm curious to hear other interpretations or especially concrete ideas of what the flames might mean/represent.

posted by Espy Gillespie to media & arts (11 comments total)

And anyway, it's about them blazing.
posted by cloeburner at 1:29 PM on May 15, 2007

I think it's just something they did because a special effects guy convinced them it would be cool. This was a long time ago.

By the way, the reason kraysie never gets the flame is because he's not wearing a cap.
posted by markovich at 1:37 PM on May 15, 2007

after re-watching the video (thanks for the flashback!) the only thing I can think of is something Apostolic. Or some kind of Richard Pryor reference. Which would be awesome, but unlikely
posted by indiebass at 2:23 PM on May 15, 2007

I seem to recall a bible story in re: the Tower of Babel, where when people were trying to build a tower to heaven, God god pissed and wanted to do something so they couldn't complete the tower without, you know, smiting them.

So God's all, "Hey, if they can't understand each other, they can't complete the tower and break into my house," so he put flames upon their heads and the people instantly spoke different languages. Then, since there was no longer a common language, there couldn't be any communication, and the project was abandoned.

That was the first thing that came to mind. Also, the burning bush, maybe? But instead... uh, burning Bizzy?
posted by Verdandi at 3:01 PM on May 15, 2007

Yeah, I think it's the Holy Spirit. The Bible said that at Pentecost, the apostles had "tongues of fire" on their heads.
posted by roll truck roll at 3:25 PM on May 15, 2007

Yeah, I always thought it was because they were blazed, because it's, you know, the first of the month, and maybe a bit of a visual pun on the Pentecostal flames (they're in a church, right?). But why do they have that crystal ball?
posted by pullayup at 5:11 PM on May 15, 2007

Verdandi

Flames were at Pentecost, book of Acts, New Testament.

Screwed up language was at Babel, book of Genesis, Old Testament.

You might have confused them due to the prevalence of references to speaking in tongues (an entirely separate phenomenon, from what I understand) in Acts.
posted by The Confessor at 5:47 PM on May 15, 2007

Confessor

Ahh, my fault. I was remembering this from yearrrrs ago, and also the bible I was referring to was a children's bible (with illustrations BY children, no less), so I stand corrected.
posted by Verdandi at 7:07 PM on May 15, 2007

Thanks for your help everyone. Looks like wrestlecat61 had the right idea; thanks for fleshing it out.
posted by Espy Gillespie at 7:09 AM on May 16, 2007

This has to be the most random question ever asked on the green.

I LOVE IT!

I have many memories attached to that song....I think....
posted by jmccw at 8:52 AM on May 16, 2007

Awesome question.

I agree re: the Holy Spirit theory. Even more strangely, I think they might be implying that Eazy-E is their Holy Spirit (note how he appears in the crystal ball in the first few seconds of the video). Just a theory, of course, but they certainly saw him as a mentor and an inspiration.

There are a bunch of bizarre, occultish things about that album (E. 1999 Eternal) -- crystal balls and tongues of flame are par for the course.
posted by sellout at 3:14 PM on May 16, 2007