Geto Boys
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| Geto Boys | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1986-2007 |
| Label(s) | Rap-a-Lot/Asylum/Elektra Records Rap-a-Lot/Noo Trybe/Virgin/EMI Records Def American/Warner Bros. Records |
| Website | Official Web Site |
| Members | |
| Bushwick Bill Scarface Willie D |
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| Former members | |
| Prince Johnny C Jukebox Slim DJ Ready Red Big Mike |
|
Geto Boys (originally spelled Ghetto Boys) is a hip hop group from Houston, Texas, consisting of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill. The original Ghetto Boys consisted of the following members: Prince Jonny C, Sire Jukebox; DJ Reddy Red; and Little Billy, the dancer who later came to be known as Bushwick Bill. The group released a critically acclaimed album titled Making Trouble that contained songs such as "Making Trouble", "Ghetto Boys Will Rock You", "Balls and My Word", "Assassins", and "Snitches".
The group broke up shortly after and a new line-up was put together with the inclusion of Scarface and Willie D, both aspiring solo artists.
The Geto Boys earned notoriety for its transgressive lyrics which included gore, psychotic experiences, necrophilia, and misogyny. Despite the explicit content of their songs, critic Alex Henderson argues that the group "comes across as much more heartfelt than the numerous gangsta rap...wannabes who jumped on the gangsta bandwagon in the early ’90s."[1]
The Geto Boys broke new ground with their soulful southern sound (perhaps a precursor to the Dirty South style), which was produced by people like Johnny C, Doug King, and later N.O. Joe and Mike Dean.
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[edit] History
The group’s 1990 album The Geto Boys had to switch distributors from Geffen to Warner Bros. Records (with marketing done by WB sister label Giant Records) because of controversy over the graphic portrayal of rape, necrophilia, and murder in the song "Mind of a Lunatic." It was later released with alternate lyrics on iTunes and on its compilation album Uncut Dope. The Geto Boys (released by Rick Rubin's Def American Recordings, later re-named American Recordings) is actually a compilation, consisting mainly of ten tracks taken from its 1989 album Grip It! On That Other Level, as well as two new songs and one song from its debut LP, Making Trouble.
In the early part of the decade, several American politicians attacked gangsta emcees, including the Geto Boys (though most famously Ice T and the 2 Live Crew). A high-profile incident in which Bushwick Bill lost an eye in a shooting with his girlfriend helped boost sales of its third album, We Can't Be Stopped. The album cover had a picture of the injured Bushwick being carted through a hospital by Scarface and Willie D. On the album's title track, the group responded to being dropped by Geffen Records. "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" became a hit in the hip-hop community.
All three members began solo careers, but Willie D. was the only one who actually left the group. Scarface and Bushwick Bill continued with the Geto Boys, adding Big Mike for Till Death Do Us Part in 1993. Willie D. returned for 1996's The Resurrection and 1998's Da Good, Da Bad, & Da Ugly. After years on hiatus, the group released its seventh album, The Foundation, in 2005. The Geto Boys were featured on Scarface's My Homies Part 2 album.
The Geto Boys' popularity was boosted somewhat in 1999 by the prominent use of two songs—"Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta" (original, later released as a single on vinyl) and "Still" (from The Resurrection)—in Mike Judge's film Office Space, now considered a cult classic. Also, the song "Mind of a Lunatic" was covered by rock band Marilyn Manson in 2003, as a B-side off of the album The Golden Age of Grotesque.
The single "Damn it Feels Good to Be a Gangsta" has also been covered by the band Aqueduct and country singer Carter Falco.[2] The song "Street Life" from the album Till Death Do Us Part was featured on the motion picture South Central. A video clip for this song with footage from the film was also released [3].
[edit] Biography
Though the controversial subject matter of gangsta hip-hop wasn't much of a barrier to popular success during the 1990s, the Geto Boys' recordings proved almost too extreme for widespread exposure. Blocked from distributing its 1990 major-label debut through Geffen—which insisted that a track dealing with necrophilia as well as murder was a step too far—the group was saved by producer Rick Rubin, who arranged another distributor for the album, which led to a new distribution deal for his Def American label. The controversy, which occurred two years earlier than similar censorship incidents involving Ice-T and the 2 Live Crew, gave the Geto Boys a large amount of publicity. Its follow-up, We Can't Be Stopped, eventually hit platinum-level certification by the RIAA, although the trio of Scarface, Willie D., and Bushwick Bill began to fracture by 1993. After releasing solo albums during the mid-1990s, the Geto Boys reunited in 1996 for its most praised album yet, The Resurrection.
When the Geto Boys came together in 1986, though, it was with a completely different lineup. Formed as the Ghetto Boys in Houston by hip-hop entrepreneur James "Li'l J" Smith (and signed to his Rap-A-Lot label), the group originally consisted of Prince Johnny C., the Slim Jukebox, and DJ Reddy Red. During 1987–1988, both Johnny C. and the Jukebox quit, forcing Smith to add a midget dancer-turned-emcee named Bushwick Bill (born Richard Shaw, in Jamaica) and two Rap-A-Lot solo acts: Ackshen (aka Scarface born Brad Jordan, born in Houston) and Willie D (William Dennis, born in Houston).
After the Geto Boys' Grip It! On That Other Level caught the ear of hip-hop impresario Rick Rubin (LL Cool J, Beastie Boys), Rubin re-mixed and re-recorded tracks from the album. He was ready to release it on his Def American label in 1990 through his distribution deal with Geffen Records, which balked at "Mind of a Lunatic," a track that described necrophilia with a murder victim. By late 1990, Rubin had found another distributor, Warner Bros. Records, and the album was released as The Geto Boys that same year.
The Geto Boys' association with controversy was far from over, though: hip-hop groups were a hot topic for moral-minded politicians during the early 1990s, and several leaders used the Geto Boys as an example to decry the state of modern pop-oriented music. The fires were fanned in 1991 with the release of the group's third proper LP, We Can't Be Stopped. Before the release of the album, Bushwick Bill had lost an eye in a shooting incident with his girlfriend, and the cover featured Willie D. and Scarface wheeling Bushwick Bill into an emergency room, with a prominent shot of the damaged eye. Inside the album, proceedings were among the most extreme in the history of American recorded music. Obviously, radio airplay was non-existent, but We Can't Be Stopped was still certified platinum by the RIAA in early 1992—thanks to the underground hit "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," one of the most effective inner-city vignettes in hip-hop history.
By 1993, all three members had begun solo careers, although Willie D. was the only one completely separated from the band, citing artistic differences. Scarface and Bushwick Bill continued with new member Big Mike, releasing Uncut Dope in 1993 and Til Death Due Us Part the following year but split late in 1994. Just one year later, Willie D. returned to the fold for another Geto Boys release, The Resurrection, which showed the group in fine form. Now it was Bushwick Bill's turn to leave the group. DMG took his place for 1998's Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly but returned for the group's 2005 reunion album, The Foundation. [4]
[edit] Name
The group’s name, Geto Boys, comes from a deliberate misspelling of the word Ghetto. For both its first album 5th Ward Chronicles: Making Trouble (1988) and its second album, Grip It! On That Other Level (1989), the spelling was Ghetto Boys, according to standard English spelling rules. For its third album, The Geto Boys, they changed it to the "Geto" spelling, which the group still uses today.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album information |
|---|
Making Trouble
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Grip It! On That Other Level
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The Geto Boys
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We Can't Be Stopped
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| Till Death Do Us Part |
| The Resurrection |
Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly
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The Foundation
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[edit] Charting Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | |||
| 1991 | "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" | 23 | 10 | 1 | We Can't Be Stopped |
| 1993 | "Crooked Officer" | - | 70 | 4 | Till Death Do Us Part |
| "Six Feet Deep" | 40 | 37 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | "The World Is a Ghetto" | 82 | 37 | 12 | Original Gangstas Soundtrack |
[edit] Compilation albums
| Album information |
|---|
Uncut Dope: Geto Boys' Best
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Greatest Hits
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[edit] Members and lineup changes
| (1986-1988) | |
|---|---|
| (1988-1991) | |
| (1992-1995) | |
| (1996) | |
| (1998) | |
| (2005-Present) |
[edit] References
- ^ Henderson, Alex. "Review of We Can't be Stopped". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:apfoxqy5ldfe~T1. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ "Aqueduct - "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster"". Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjgWgjOyhuo. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnyC-NPEPtk
- ^ allmusic ((( Geto Boys > Biography )))
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Web Site
- Discography at discogs.com
- Discography at rateyourmusic.com
- Complete history of The Geto Boys
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