{"id":1219,"date":"2023-03-27T09:17:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T14:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/?p=1219"},"modified":"2023-04-10T13:30:25","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T18:30:25","slug":"geto-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/2023\/03\/27\/geto-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"Geto Boys"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Geto Boys was a rap group from Houston, TX. It was founded in 1986 by James \u201cLil\u2019 J\u201d Smith, the owner of Rap-A-Lot Records. Before you ask, yes, it was originally &#8220;Ghetto Boys,&#8221; but it was changed for marketing reasons after their first two albums were released. The original lineup consisted of Keith Rogers (Sire Juke Box, age 15), Thelton Polk (K-9\/Sir Rap-A-Lot, age 19), and Oscar Ceres (Raheem, age 14). The trio released the single &#8220;Car Freak&#8221; in 1986, but it was not widely received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"448\" height=\"287\" src=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/geto_boys.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/geto_boys.jpg 448w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/geto_boys-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><figcaption>Left to Right: Raheem (Oscar Ceres), Sire Juke Box (Keith Rogers), and Sir Rap-A-Lot\/K-9 (Thelton Polk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The group underwent lineup changes consistently, but the most notable was that consisting of Bushwick Bill, Scarface, and Willie D. The group was active from its founding year in 1986, up until 2019, with the unfortunate death of Bushwick Bill. Since his death, Scarface and Willie D have started a podcast, Geto Boys Reloaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/03\/IMG_7874.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Left to Right: Scarface, Bushwick Bill, Willie D<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/qsz49j8x9izaeha3zav2itlcc9tu3lj.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/qsz49j8x9izaeha3zav2itlcc9tu3lj.png 800w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/qsz49j8x9izaeha3zav2itlcc9tu3lj-300x83.png 300w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/qsz49j8x9izaeha3zav2itlcc9tu3lj-768x211.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption>Timeline showing each member&#8217;s role and time in the group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks Live (1991) | #BushwickBillRIP\" width=\"1505\" height=\"847\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4Nz16qDMmiU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Artifact 1: Geto Boys (Scarface, Bushwick Bill, Willie D) Performing <em>Mind Playing Tricks<\/em> Live<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contributions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Geto Boys are thought of as the group that put not only Houston (and the Fifth Ward) but also the South on the rap and hip-hop map. They also are regarded as one of the first contributors to what we now know as &#8216;horrorcore&#8217; or what some may call &#8220;gangta rap.&#8221; Horrorcore, also known as death rap or horror rap, is a subgenre of hip-hop based on horror-themed lyrics and imagery. The themes often associated with this genre are death, psychosis, psychological horror, mental illness, self-harm, cannibalism, mutilation, murder, torture, drug abuse, etc., which we all see are prevalent in Geto Boys music. The song above, <em>Mind Playing Tricks<\/em>, is about &#8220;extreme paranoia and the stresses of the street life built around haunting narratives.&#8221; Below is another song by the Geto Boys, <em>Mind of a Lunatic<\/em>, where you can see these controversial and gory lyrics in full force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Artifact 2: Lyrics, <em>Mind of a Lunatic<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>[Verse 1: Bushwick Bill]<\/strong>\nParanoid, sitting in a deep sweat\nThinking, I gotta fuck somebody before the week ends\nThe sight of blood excites me, shoot you in the head\nSit down, and watch you bleed to death\nI hear the sound of your last breath\nShouldn't have been around, I went all the way left\nYou was in the right place for me at the wrong time\nI'm a psychopath, in a minute lose my fucking mind\nCalm down, back to reality\nDon't fear death, cause I know that it's promised to me\nFlashes, I get flashes of Jason\nGimme a knife, a million lives I'm wastin'\nThe shadow of death follows me, I don't give a fuck\nPussy play Superman, your ass'll get boxed up\nPut him in a straight jacket, the man's sick\nThis is what goes on in the mind of a lunatic\n<strong>[Verse 2: Bushwick Bill]<\/strong>\nLooking through her window, now my body is warm\nShe's naked, and I'm a peeping tom\nHer body's beautiful, so I'm thinking rape\nShouldn't have had her curtains open, so that's her fate\nLeaving out her house, grabbed the bitch by her mouth\nDrug her back in, slammed her down on the couch\nWhipped out my knife, said, \"If you scream, I'm cuttin'\"\nOpened her legs and commenced the fuckin'\nShe begged me not to kill her, I gave her a rose\nThen slit her throat, and watched her shake till her eyes closed\nHad sex with the corpse before I left her\nAnd drew my name on the wall like helter skelter\nRun for shelter never crossed my mind\nI had a gauge, a grenade, and even a nine\nDial 911 for the bitch\nBut the cops ain't shit when they're fucking with a lunatic\n<strong>[Verse 3: Scarface]<\/strong>\nI sit alone in my four-cornered room staring at candles\nDreaming of the people I've dismantled\nI close my eyes and in a circle\nAppears the images of sons of bitches that I murdered\nFlashbacks of bodies being fucked up\nOnce I attack, I'm like a pit on a rage that's going for guts\nBoys used to die when I'm full of that fry\nI be amping when I'm high\nSo I say 'fuck' and just let bullets fly\nLike I said before, Scarface is my identity\nA homicidal maniac with suicidal tendencies\nI'm on the violent tip, so yo, get a grip\nAnd bitch, come equipped, ain't taking no shit\nCause here comes a lunatic\n<strong>[Verse 4: Scarface]<\/strong>\nMy girl's getting skinny, she's strung out on coke\nSo I went to her mother's house and cut out her throat\nHer grandma was standing there,\u00a0she was screaming out, \"Brad!\"\nAs she reached for the telly, I put the blade on granny's ass\nWent to the back and grabbed a shovel\nNow granny's on her way to meet the devil\nPulled out my .38 and aimed at the bitch\nA cop says (Freeze, motherfucker!) Bitch, suck my dick\nI said, \"Die, motherfuckers!\" as I blasted\nSomething clicked in my head, visions of bodies in plastic\nThe scent of buckshots in human flesh\nPigs dying, from bullet wounds to the chest\nNo sheriff's gonna take me on a road\nDark as fuck, and let his pistols explode\nFuck that, cause I ain'ts to die\nSo I reloaded my Uzi and\u00a0fired up another fry\nIt got me crazy as fuck\nA raging psychotic full of that Angel's Dust\nThe cops had the place surrounded\nHunted for a way to get out - I found it\nInnocent bystanders were watching; set an example\nI popped one\n\"Let me go, goddammit, Scot free\nOr all of these mothafuckas coming with me\"\nAll of a sudden the shit got silent\nI remember waking up in an asylum\nBein' treated like a troubled kid\nMy shirt was all bloody, and both of my wrists was slit\nThink this is harsh? This ain't as harsh as it gets\nNo telling what's being thought of in the mind of a lunatic\n<strong>[Verse 5: Willie D]<\/strong>\nNovember 1st 1966\nA damn fool was born with the mind of a lunatic\nI should've been killed\nBut sister fucked around and let me live\nNow I developed a criminal behavior\nFuck with me, and I'll slay ya\nAss, beyond recognition shit\nYour dental records couldn't prove your identity, bitch\nI beg your pardon, on talking to Borden\nYou'll never find a mother fucker, so save your milk cartons\nCross the line, your ass is mine\nI don't give a fuck if you're 9 or 99\nBlind, crippled, or crazy, don't phase me\nYour funky ass will be pushing up daisies\nYou wanna know what makes me click?\nMy psychiatrist said I got the mind of a lunatic\n<strong>[Verse 6: Willie D]<\/strong>\nI ain't got it all, so don't fuck with me\nUnless your ass wanna be made history\nI'll blow your motherfucking house up\nAnd if your wife and kids are inside, they're fucked\nI don't give a damn who I slay\nDon't let me get a hold to some E&amp;J\nCause when the shit hit the fan\nI'll stab your ass quicker than a Mexican\nThe nightmares I leave you with on the scene\nWill make Freddy bitch ass look like a wet dream\nThis is fact, not fictional, son of a bitch\nI got the mind of a lunatic<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, this genre is not for the faint of heart. Other artists associated with this genre are Three 6 Mafia, Gravediggaz, Ganksta N-I-P, and Tech N9ne.  The Geto Boys had a large contribution to the rap game and this subgenre in particular. Multiple artists cite Geto Boys as their inspiration such as 2 Pac, Eminem, T.I., Outkast, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Insane Clown Posse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fun, but not so fun, Fact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Bushwick Bill, who stood at just 3 ft 8 inches, lost his eye in a very interesting way. One day in 1991, he was high on PCP and was drinking Everclear, a very strong liquor. He claims he went home and woke his girlfriend up, asking her to shoot him because he &#8220;wanted to die.&#8221; She did not want to do this, so he shot at her and their 3-month-old baby. He then attempted to assault her with a vacuum cleaner, by hitting her over the head and missed. He says she reached for the gun and put her finger on the trigger, and he put his eye in front of it. Other sources claim he shot himself in the eye himself, or his mother did it as a way to claim insurance money (which was an idea Bushwick Bill came up with himself.) He claims he &#8216;died and came back to life&#8217;. Bushwick Bill&#8217;s eye injury was featured as the cover for their album, &#8220;We Can&#8217;t Be Stopped&#8221; where you can see the other two members wheeling him down a hospital corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:#ffef8e\" class=\"has-inline-color has-dark-gray-color\">Content Warning for the images shown below.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Did She Shoot Him In The Eye? Bushwick Bill 1991 interview\" width=\"1333\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7LaX9ijjRKY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Artifact 3: Bushwick Bill talks about losing his eye<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/3bcc945bb833265e0465ffee0a9b6fdd.700x700x1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/3bcc945bb833265e0465ffee0a9b6fdd.700x700x1.png 700w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/3bcc945bb833265e0465ffee0a9b6fdd.700x700x1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/files\/2023\/04\/3bcc945bb833265e0465ffee0a9b6fdd.700x700x1-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption>The now notorious album cover for &#8220;We Can&#8217;t Be Stopped,&#8221; which featured the injury<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sources<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Anderson, Jack. \u201cWe (Still) Can&#8217;t Be Stopped: A Geto Retrospective.\u201d <em>KUTX<\/em>, 9 July 2021, https:\/\/kutx.org\/words-on-music\/deep-dives\/we-still-cant-be-stopped-a-geto-retrospective\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aziz, Adam. \u201cHow Horrorcore Became a Forgotten Sub-Genre.\u201d <em>Okayplayer<\/em>, 9 Aug. 2020, https:\/\/www.okayplayer.com\/music\/horrorcore-rap-albums.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cockburn, Harry. \u201cThe Incredible Story of the 3ft 8in Rapper Who Shot Himself in the Head and Did an Album Cover Photoshoot the next Day.\u201d <em>The Independent<\/em>, Independent Digital News and Media, 10 June 2019, https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/bushwick-bill-dead-geto-boys-shot-self-eye-head-album-we-cant-be-stopped-a8952396.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHorrorcore Music Guide: 3 Characteristics of Horrorcore Music.\u201d <em>MasterClass<\/em>, 21 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/www.masterclass.com\/articles\/horrorcore-music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lopez, Raymond. \u201cGeto Boys.\u201d <em>TSHA<\/em>, 29 May 2013, https:\/\/www.tshaonline.org\/handbook\/entries\/geto-boys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Geto Boys was a rap group from Houston, TX. It was founded in 1986 by James \u201cLil\u2019 J\u201d Smith, the owner of Rap-A-Lot Records. Before you ask, yes, it was originally &#8220;Ghetto Boys,&#8221; but it was changed for marketing reasons after their first two albums were released. The original lineup &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[109],"class_list":["post-1219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artifacts-of-texas-music","tag-artifacts-of-texas-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1219"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1467,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions\/1467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-spring-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}