How Li'l Mike & FunnyBone Went From Aspiring Rappers To Reservation Dogs

"We were born and raised in Oklahoma City, the City is our rez"

This week on the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch we are joined by Rappers Li'l Mike and FunnyBone from the hit TV show Reservation Dogs, which Time magazine named the best show of 2023.

When they aren't riding their bikes on the set these brothers are rap artists who pride themselves on producing music with a positive message.

Growing Up In Oklahoma

TESS: Thanks for being here, guys. Hey. So you all are members of the Pawnee tribe and you are from Oklahoma City. But you say you did not grow up there.

FUNNYBONE: Well. We didn't do much growing is what I meant. (laughs) But we were born and raised in Oklahoma City. All over bounced around town, north south east west of the city is our rez.

TESS: So on the show, you play twins. But you're not actually twins. And I didn't find that out until just yesterday. Have you gotten that your whole life?

FUNNYBONE: Oh, yeah. Well, see what happened, in my late teens. When he joined me on rappin'. It was like Destiny Child and all the boy bands and they were all dressed alike. And I said, Oh, we should start dressing alike because beforehand he was dressed like a clown.

LI'L MIKE: I was dressing like I was at the beach every day.

FUNNYBONE: Bright colors and the little button-up or something. You were in Hawaii-type stuff.

Li'l Mike and FunnyBone On America's Got Talent

TESS: Well, I noticed on the show you dress like there too. But before the show, there was America's Got Talent. You guys had your first taste of the national spotlight in 2013. And then you kind of started growing your fan base then, right?

FUNNYBONE: Oh, yes, that was that was our first worldwide national debut. Oh, yeah, international debut. So that was pretty awesome. And the funny story is, we told them no, three times when they called us, we hung up on them because two years before that, we auditioned and we waited in line all day. And they told us they were not looking for rappers.

And so two years later, when they call, we're like "Oh, No"

TESS: If you didn't want us the first time, you can't have us now?

FUNNYBONE: Yeah, if they're not interested, we're not going to waste time. So they called again, no, we're really interested with by click, and then like, and we asked them when they called the third time, what would what did you see? And they saw a video on YouTube of us rappin'. So we said "Use that as the audition", and then call us if we make it.

How Li'l Mike and FunnyBone Ended Up On Reservation Dogs?

TESS: And you all made it to the second round. But then Rez Dogs comes along. Did you all want to be actors? I mean, you're rappers in your in your personal life. And you play rappers on the show and kind of you know everything that's going on in town on Rez Dogs? Well, how did it happen to get on the show?

LI'L MIKE: Oh, well, COVID. COVID shut down all our tour dates. And the next best thing for entertainers was acting. And so we just auditioned here and auditioned there. And then the only ones that caught his back was Reservation Dogs. And which was funny because the parts we auditioned for were 11-year-old twins. And so we did not think that they were going to call it all so we was just doing it like for practice.

TESS: What was it like to be part of a series that is called one of the most groundbreaking one of the best shows of 2022 and 2023?

FUNNYBONE: Epic. I think it's really influential. And the fact that we get to be a part of it, and they use our music in the show is a blessing.

LI'L MIKE: And we also freaked out whenever Disney bought the series. We like why that's crazy. There's no way I believe it when I sign it.

FUNNYBONE: There's too much cussin'! We didn't think Disney would buy it.

When Does The Next Li'l Mike and FunnyBone Album Come Out?

TESS: So, you put out a positive message and you're rapping. And that's kind of where you are now you're really focusing on the rapping career. So talk a little bit about that. And what's ahead for 2024 You've got some of your albums here with you today?

FUNNYBONE: Yes, so we have over 15 albums already streaming everywhere. So and we load each album up with over an hour of music. So we don't like to call back. Our next album was coming out early this year. We don't have a release date yet. We do have a name. You want him the name of the album?

LI'L MIKE: The next album is called Vibin. And it's it's very versatile with the style of music and the topics.

FUNNYBONE: We touch on everything on this album and there's all kinds of styles so it's gonna be real nice, really nice. And then we're looking for more acting roles. So we're still on that. I know a lot of people love us But if you liked us on Rez Dogs, you will love our YouTube channel.

TESS: We appreciate y'all being here. They even have a cassette tape but it's actually it's a USB so you can listen to their music, old school but new school thank you guys for being here. Yay.

For information on tour dates and when the next album drops, visit MikeBoneMedia.com