Easily one the greatest hip hop groups to ever
set foot in a recording booth, the Geto Boys command respect from hip
hop fans both young and old. Known and loved by ghetto dwellers world
wide for their uncompromising stance against all of the racists,
snitches, crooked cops and hypocritical politicians who sought to
silence them. But with their ninth LP War & Peace, the Geto
Boys prove once and for all they really can’t be stopped.
Considered the classic GB line up, Bushwic
Bill, Scarface and Willie D first emerged as the Geto Boys back in 1989
with their monumental record "Grip It on That Other Level" on
the Southern independent label Rap-A-Lot. The record contained the
classic songs "Gangsta of Love," "Balls & My
Words" and "Mind of a Lunatic." Filled with raw beats and
pure ghetto angst, "Grip It On That Other Level" became an
instant hit with rap fans and earned them a deal with the legendary hip
hop producer/entrepreneur Rick Rubin, who inked a split label deal with
Rap-A-Lot to re-release a reworked version of the LP on his Warner
distributed Def American label. But as soon as word about the kind of
lyrics that was on the album reached the powers that be the Geto Boys
found themselves in the eye of a political storm. PMRC founder Tipper
Gore and Sen. Bob Dole placed pressure on Time/Warner to drop the album
altogether. Fortunately the Geto Boys prevailed and their national debut
The Geto Boys was unleashed on the public. The record went gold
with no air play or video. Thus begin a string of critical and
commercially successful albums like We Can’t Be Stopped
(Platinum), a greatest hits collection called Geto Dope (Gold), Till
Death Due Us Part (Platinum) sans Willie D who left the group to
pursue a solo career. Willie D rejoined the trio on the powerful reunion
LP Resurrection and remained with the group up until their last album, The
Good, the Bad, the Ugly, which saw Bushwic AWOL.
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
also marks the GBs last studio album. After the LP was released the GB
went on a long hiatus as each member pursued their solo careers. But try
as they might the streets just wouldn’t let them go. Everywhere they
went, fans were asking them when they were going to get back together
and drop another album.
"We were really feeling the
pressure," says Willie D. "Fans were really wanting a new
album from us so I took the initiative to get at everybody one by one. I
had to facilitate the whole thing because we hadn’t all been on the
same page. I had been in touch with Brad for a minute and we both had
been talking about doing a Geto Boys album. He told me that he was with
it. Then I reached out to Bushwic and convince him to do it. Then I
called Lil J and asked him if he was with it. He said yeah. Once
everybody was with it we just got in the studio and knocked it
out."
War & Peace
is just what fans of the Geto Boys expect from the legendary trio. It’s
full of the raw ghetto angst and hardcore gangsta beats that made the
GBs a hip hop institution. According to Willie D, sticking to the script
both sonically and thematically is what the GBs new album so great.
"It’s definitely not a departure form
the old Geto Boys shit," say a proud Willie D, when asked about War
& Peace. "The only thing that is really different about the
album is the beats are more up-tempo. But our energy level is still the
same and our subject matter is still the same. We’re still championing
the cause of the underserved. We’re still Geto Boys for life."
MORE HISTORY
As one of the most controversial groups in the
history of Black music the Geto Boys have easily become one the most
important group’s in hip hop. Known the world over for their
uncompromising lyrics that boldly addressed the pressing socio-economic
issues that affected the Ghetto, the Geto Boys are loved unconditionally
by true rap fans and hated vehemently by the powers that be, such as
former Senator Bob Dole, who actually sought to have the group banned.
The origins of the Geto Boys begins back in
1986 when a Houston based used car salesman by the name of James Prince
spotted three teenagers hanging out on the corner rapping and goofing
off on a school day while on his way to work. Recognizing them as
neighborhood kids, he stopped and asked them why weren’t they in
school. They replied that they weren’t in school because they were
trying to pursue a career in rap music. Prince then made them a promised
that if they stayed I school long enough to graduate with good grades
that he’s help them release a record. The boys accepted the challenge
and went back to school. Everyday K-9, Juke Box and Raheem would go to
school and every evening after doing their home work and studying they
would rehearse at Prince’s office. Upon their graduation Prince made
good on his promise.
In 1986 the Geto Boys released their first
single, a song about girls who only date guys with nice cars, called
"Car Freaks." At the time, the GB line-up was Juke Box, K-9
and Raheem . The single was a smash hit and set up anticipation for
their subsequent album entitled Making Trouble, which featured new Geto
Boy line up Jukebox, Prince Johnny C, Grand Wizard Dj Ready Red and
Bushwick Bill. Although the album leaned heavily on the classic East
Coast hip hop sound made popular by groups like RunDMC and Grandmaster
Flash & the Furious Five, Making Trouble was an instant hit in the
Southwest region, connecting to thousands of young southerners who were
eager to hear someone from their neck of the woods make it in the hip
hop game.
But unfortunately all of the original Geto Boys
didn’t stay with the group long enough to see the group achieve the
gold and platinum height they were destined to reach.
Both Prince Johnny C and Juke Box decided to
leave the group for personal reasons, leaving Prince with the difficult
task of rebuilding the group.
"I shook every neighborhood inside
out," Prince told XXL magazine. "I put out a major talent
search, a street search on all the corners and hoods in the city to let
them know that I needed the best street guys in Houston."
His search yielded two fresh recruits from
different parts of Houston. The first one was a tall brash former Golden
Glove Boxing state boxing champion by the name of Willie D, who was from
Prince’s 5th Ward neighborhood. The second one a complex
lyrical genius/DJ named Akshun, he later changed his name to Scarface,
who hailed from Houston’s South Acres neighborhood. Bushwic Bill would
also step to the mic, bringing his macabre sense of humor to the group
as well. With his line up secure, Prince brought them together for their
first meeting.
"I brought ‘em all together before they
knew one another to brainstorm," says Prince. "I let them know
that I wanted them all to do this my way. From there they could all do
solo albums and I’d support them, but this Geto Boy thing had to be
done my way."
And doing it his way meant not looking and
sounding like cloned copies of New York rappers. Instead Prince
encouraged the group to be themselves and rap about things that that was
going on in their hood. The result of this was the monumental LP Grip It
On That Other Level, which laid the blueprint for future Southern
artists such as Eightball & MJG, UGK, and Master P’s super-group
TRU to follow. In addition to establishing a blueprint for Southern hip
hop Grip It on that Other Level also caught the imagination the hip hop
nation’s cultural elite who felt the GB’s defiant spirit and
in-your-face attitude. Hip hop impresario Rick Rubin, the man behind the
commercial success of LL Cool J, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, was
so impressed with the Geto Boys album that he inked a deal with the
group to re-lease the group tour de force LP on his Warner Bros
distributed imprint Def American. But there was a slight obstacle in the
form of the Bob Dole, Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center
who took offense to a song on the album called "Mind of a
Lunatic." In an ultimate jack move Dole, Gore and the PMRC put
pressure on the brass at Time/Warner who declined to distribute the LP,
deeming it offensive. The controversy proved to be just what the Geto
Boys needed. When the LP, re-titled The Geto Boys, was finally released
1990 it reached gold status with no airplay whatsoever.
The following year proved to be both an
artistic and commercial breakthrough for the Geto Boy. Fueled by the
classic single "My Mind Playing Trick On Me," a record the
Source called five of the most chilling moments in hip hop, We Can’t
Be Stopped reached platinum status and remains a hip hop classic.
Shortly after the success of We Can’t Be Stopped, Willie D left the
group to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Big Mike, a tall,
robust MC with a silky Louisiana drawl who was in another Rap-a-Lot
group called the Convicts. While the GBs were busy recording their next
album Rap-A-Lot dropped a greatest hits collection called Geto Dope
(1992), which contained the classic single "Damn It Feels Good To
Be A Gangsta." It went gold in less than a year.
But Big Mike, Bushwic and Scarface wasted no
time getting down to business. In the spring of 93, Till Death Do Us
Part was unleashed to an eager public. Once again controversy surrounded
the GBs as the video to the LP’s first single "Crooked
Officer," a song exposing police mis-conduct was banned by both BET
and MTV for graphic violence. The group was told that the networks would
air the video if they edited the video severely, but, staying true their
artistic vision, the GBs refused. When Till Death Due Us Part was
finally released it debut at the top of the Billboard pop charts,
selling over a million copies.
After the success of Till Death Do Us Part the
Geto Boys took a three year hiatus. During this time both Scarface and
Big Mike scored big with their solo projects. Scarface’s platinum
selling LP the Diary was hailed by hip hop fans and critics as one his
best solo projects ever while Big Mike’s solo debut Sommethin’
Serious earned him both a gold plaque and the Source Award’s coveted
Lyricists of the Year Award. The success of both artists had GB fans
hungry for another LP with Big Mike, but it wasn’t to be. Mike left
the group in 94 to focus on his solo career. However all was not lost
for GB fans as the trio would spring yet another surprise on their
legion of die-hard fans when Bushwic, Scarface and Willie D re-united in
1996 with Resurrection, their most politically charged LP to date.
Fueled by explosive jams like "The World Is A Ghetto" and the
dark and sardonic "Ghetto Fantasy," the Geto Boys proved that
despite three year hiatus they still had what it took to make a classic
album. Once again their fans embraced them with open arms as over
500,000 people rushed the stores and bought Resurrection.
Resurrection was followed by yet another hiatus
and the departure of Bushwic Bill, who went on to pursue a solo career,
but never quite saw the kind of success that he saw with his former
label. Two years later the remaining GBs soldered on by releasing The
Good, The Bad, The Ugly, which yielded the top ten rap hit "Gangsta
Put Me Down."
The dawn of the new millennium saw the
disbanding of the Geto Boys. Scarface continued to solo projects and
eventually went on to become the CEO of Def Jam South, inking a artist
deal with both J. Prince Entertainment and Def Deal as well as doing
stellar guest appearances on a myriad of rap records. Willie D also
continued to record, dropping several solo projects on his own
independent label. But as much as the two tried to put their legacy
behind them fans continued to hound them for yet another Geto Boys
album. In 2004 Willie D, Buschwic and Scarface finally heard their fans’
cry. Once again they sat down and put their differences aside and headed
to the studio to record what promises to be the ultimate Geto Boy’s
album.
