Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Announce Australian Tour

Iconic hip-hop collective Bone Thugs N Harmony have announced that they will be returning to Australian shores next month for their first run of shows Down Under in more than 18 months.

The Grammy Award-winning ensemble have had a tumultuous existence, most recently demonstrated by the temporary departure of founding members Krazie Bone and Wish Bone in 2012, though both are at the forefront of the forthcoming Aussie shows.

The impending tour kicks off almost exactly a month from now, at The Espy, in St Kilda, on Saturday, August 9, and takes in a further 12 shows in Canberra, Sydney, Katoomba, Newcastle, the Central Coast, Northern Beaches, Coolangatta, Brisbane, and Perth.

Sydney gets a look-in multiple times, with shows going down at Sutherland's Studio Six on August 15, the Roller Den on August 17, and a Darling Harbour Boat Cruise on August 30. Likewise, Canberra will have two opportunities to catch up with the legendary rap troupe, with their first show taking place at The Basement on August 14, and their second at Tattersalls Hotel on August 16.

Having previously worked alongside hip-hop luminaries such as 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G and soul-pop chanteuse Mariah Carey, among others, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have a rare industrial nous that refuses to be ignored – the group will be conducting an ongoing talent search while they're in the country to uncover the best unsigned Australian talent, so they can snap them up for their fledgling label, The Life Downunder.

“I believe it's very important for an artist or anyone who is trying to be successful at launching a record label to be very hands-on and involved with the calibre of artists they're pursuing,” Krayzie Bone said of the talent-search initiative. “Me, personally, I've always thought it best to think outside of the box when it comes to music and searching for new artists. This is the reason that myself and my partner Wish Bone are moving forward with this worldwide talent search.

“Apart from America, Australia was first on our list because, after hearing some of the artists last time we were there, Wish and myself were thoroughly impressed with the level of talent out there and with the time constraints we had last time this it is a priority hence why we are doing this next tour all by road so we can see a little more of what Australia has to offer, and with the biggest number of shows yet in Australia this will be our biggest Australian tour yet.”

Tickets for the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony 2014 Australian tour go on sale at 9am local time on Thursday, July 10, and will be available via both Oztix and Moshtix.