Bushwick Bill

Today in Hip-Hop History: Geto Boys Dropped Their Third LP ‘We Can’t Be Stopped’ 33 Years Ago

by
24 geto boys we cant be stopped 1991 controversial rap album covers

On this date in Hip-Hop history, Houston legends the Geto Boys released their most popular album to date, We Can’t Be Stopped, on J. Prince’s Rap A Lot Records.

With Bushwick Bill’s self-inflicted gunshot wound to the eye on the album cover and their uber-popular “Mind Playin’ Tricks On Me” dominating airwaves, Bill, Willie D, and Face’s most revered album helped re-define the term “hotter than July”.

The 14 track classic was certified platinum less than a year after its release, making Geto Boys a household name and making room for Brad Jordan to drop his debut album, Mr. Scarface Is Back.

Rest In Peace to Bushwick Bill and NJ-born DJ Ready Red, who was an original member of the Geto Boys, who left the group during the reocrding of this album. Salute to Uncle Face and Willie D for giving us such a timeless piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Geto Boys Dropped Their Third LP ‘We Can’t Be Stopped’ 33 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Geto Boys Dropped Their Third LP ‘We Can’t Be Stopped’ 33 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Today In Hip Hop History: Geto Boys’ Bushwick Bill Passes Away Five Years Ago

by
BushwickBillPassedAwayatAge

On this date in 2019, Richard Shaw who is better known as “Bushwick Bill” to the Hip Hop world, died after a short battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Bill was 52 years old.

One of the original members of the Houston-based Geto Boys, Bill appeared on the group’s debut album Making Trouble and managed to stick around when Rap-A-Lot Records CEO J. Prince restructured the group. Prince kept Bill and NJ-born DJ Reddy Red and recruited Houston newcomers Willie D and Brad “Scarface” Jordan. The new collective dropped the group’s second LP, Grip It On That Other Level in 1989, which is considered a Horrorcore classic. The group’s third album, 1991’s We Can’t Be Stopped, was the epitome of the trio’s success and controversy, with the album being certified platinum less than a year after its release, but the album’s cover art showing Bill’s self-inflicted gunshot injury to his eye raised the most eyebrows about the group’s content.

When asked about the impact of that unforgettable album cover, Bushwick regretfully said, “It still hurts me to look at that cover because that was a personal thing I went through… I still feel the pain from the fact I’ve got a bullet in my brain… I think it was pretty wrong to do it, even though I went along with the program at first.”

Bill announced a month before his passing that he was diagnosed with cancer, but died shortly thereafter.

Bushwick Bill will forever be remembered as an unequivocal part of Hip Hop history!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Geto Boys’ Bushwick Bill Passes Away Five Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Geto Boys’ Bushwick Bill Passes Away Five Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Today in Hip-Hop History: Geto Boys Dropped Their Debut LP ‘Making Trouble’ 34 Years Ago

by
Screen Shot 2022 02 17 at 9.26.21 AM

On this day in Hip-Hop History, Texas OGs The Geto Boys released their debut LP Making Trouble 31 years ago. Although the start of the career of one of the most prolific southern rap groups to ever grace the mic, this project may have been their least heard and most unknown album.

Coming at a time in the group’s history where they were referred to as the more conventionally spelled “Ghetto Boys”, this album showcased the lyrical ability of a then four-member underground group. At the time the group was composed of DJ Reddy Red of Trenton, NJ(RIP), Prince Johnny C, and the Slim Jukebox, with Bushwick Bill on the roster as a hypeman and a dancer. It wasn’t until after the release of this project that Rap-A-Lot Records dropped Reddy Red, Johnny C, and Slim Jukebox to add Scarface and Willie D.

On this project, the group used a style of rap and aesthetics that resembled the legends Run-DMC. The mimicry of the New York rap trio was deep. The group wore all black with top hats and thick gold chains, their music featured heavy rock influence with guitar riffs and high energy drum patterns, and their group dynamic of two emcees and a DJ is exactly what Run-DMC sported.

This album was not the most popular album from the Geto Boys camp, but it is, however, an interesting piece of the group’s history. This project shows the growth and development it took for the group to grow to become the legends that they are respected as today.

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Geto Boys Dropped Their Debut LP ‘Making Trouble’ 34 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.