Willie D: “It’s Willie D y’all, it’s been a minute y’all If rap wasn’t payin I’d hit the street cause I’m a hustler” Me I’m a nigga from the gutter motherfucker You niggaz pitiful, cause y’all be on some weak shit

I’m the original, the author of this G-shit You niggaz chemicals, the weed got you blinded The motherfuckin criminals, see we keep it grimy

The GB, the general, the street shit, the timers Scarface: “Give it up for the invincible, it’s H-Town’s finest Their record is a testament to how hardcore reality rap should be done, and it starts with the explosive Scarface produced single “Yes, Yes, Y’all.” Pounding dark piano keys, booming bass, and perfectly chosen synth weave together the individual rappers into a cohesive whole, each sounding like they were ripped straight out a cryogenic deep freeze lasting since ’91: “The Foundation” is an aptly named record since it reunites the three members who to the public and their fanbase are indeed the foundation of what the Geto Boys have been and should be. Rap fans really only wanted to hear the Geto Boys one way, and weren’t afraid to crap on anything less than the trio together at their best.įortunately with the passage of time (and/or the lure of big money to be made) the Geto Boys have realized that as great as they are on their own (Scarface’s solo career in particular has made him a household name) they’re even better together. (actually that more or less happened on their final album “Crown Royal” and it sealed the group’s fate even before Jam Master Jay’s death). Try to imagine De La Soul records with Plugs One and Two randomly deciding whether or not they wanted to work together, or Run-D.M.C. By luck or design the combination was so dynamic that the original group became an afterthought (do yourself a favor and avoid their “Making Trouble” debut, it’s a terrible record) and for all intents and purposes they became the REAL Geto Boys, but they just didn’t seem fated to stay together for more than one or two records at a time. As a result the group went throughs several lineup changes, with Big Mike replacing Willie D on “Till Death Do Us Part,” Willie D returning on “The Resurrection,” and Bushwick Bill completely absent on “Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly.” Some even started to wonder if the Geto Boys had been a fluke from the start, since the most famous version of the group only came about when the original members Johnny C and Jukebox quit and forced Rap-A-Lot CEO Lil’ J to recruit two solo artists and a dancer (Bushwick) to replace them on the next record. Unfortunately the 1990’s proved to be a perplexing time for the group’s fans, as the trio seemed at times more interested in their solo careers than achieving more success as a unit. With almost no radio or video exposure save for the brilliant “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” single, the record pushed platinum status and assured their iconic status not only in Southern rap but in the hearts of hip-hop fans worldwide.

Parents and media critics were outraged, but the more they decried the album and the group the more they fueled it’s success. The album shows Bushwick Bill being pushed on a gurney through the hospital by his labelmates, talking on a cell phone, shortly after his eye had been shot out in a drunken domestic dispute (Bushwick later recounted the story on the song “Ever So Cleer”). Things got even hotter when the trio released “We Can’t Be Stopped” in 1991, which depending on your point of view featured the most disturbing or most brilliant cover art of all time. When Geffen records refused to distribute “Grip It! On That Other Level” due to the graphic nature of songs like “Mind of a Lunatic,” they unintentionally made the Geto Boys a cult phenomenon, assuring both the album and the group’s future success. Early in the life of the group when the membership had settled into the familiar trio of Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Willie D, the Geto Boys proved to the rap world that there was no such thing as negative publicity. The Geto Boys have always been a little bit ahead of their time, which is why after a career spanning three different decades they’re still having to fight for the props and recognition they deserve.

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