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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GETO BOYS TICKETS
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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].
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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.
Discography
Albums
Album information
|
Making Trouble
- Released: 1988
- Billboard 200 chart position: -
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
- Singles: "You Ain't Nothin'" / "I Run This"
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Grip It! On That Other Level
- Released: 1989
- Billboard 200 chart position: #166
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #19
- Singles: "Do It Like A G.O/Fuck 'Em"
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The Geto Boys
- Released: 1990
- Billboard 200 chart position: #171
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #67
- Singles: "Do It Like A G.O/Fuck 'Em"
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We Can't Be Stopped
- Released: July 1, 1991
- Certification: Platinum
- Billboard 200 chart position: #24
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5
- Singles: "Mind Playing Tricks On Me", "I Ain't With Being Broke/My Mind Playing Tricks On Me/Gotta Let Them Hang"
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Till Death Do Us Part
- Released: March 19, 1993
- Certification: Gold
- Billboard 200 chart position: #11
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
- Singles: "Six Feet Deep", "Crooked Officer", "Straight Gangstaism"
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The Resurrection
- Released: April 2, 1996
- Certification: Gold
- Billboard 200 chart position: #6
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
- Singles: "The World Is A Ghetto/Still"
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Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly
- Released: November 17, 1998
- Billboard 200 chart position: #26
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5
- Singles:
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The Foundation
- Released: January 25, 2005
- Billboard 200 chart position: #19
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #3
- Singles: "G-Code/When It Gets Gangsta/The Secret", "Yes, Yes, Y'All"
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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
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Compilation albums
Album information
|
Uncut Dope: Geto Boys' Best
- Released: 1992
- Billboard 200 chart position: #147
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #31
- Singles: "Damn It Feels Good To Be a Gangsta"
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Greatest Hits
- Released: November 5, 2002
- Billboard 200 chart position: -
- R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
- Singles:
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Members and lineup changes
(1986-1988)
|
- Prince Johnny C.
- The Slim Jukebox
- Bushwick Bill
- DJ Reddy Red
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(1988-1991)
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- Bushwick Bill
- Scarface
- Willie D
- DJ Reddy Red
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(1992-1995)
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- Bushwick Bill
- Scarface
- Big Mike
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(1996)
|
- Bushwick Bill
- Scarface
- Willie D
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(1998)
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(2005-Present)
|
- Bushwick Bill
- Scarface
- Willie D
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References
- Review of ''We Can't be Stopped''
- Aqueduct - "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster"''
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnyC-NPEPtk