The Geto Boy’s definitely came out with a Southern version of the hip hop that ruled the day, confrontational, politically bold, and violent. ‘Face introuduced a whole new level of mental and emotional complexity on rap music, which the program revealed was possibly fueled in part by his own history as a manic depressive. Scarface of course, would go on to be one of the greatest M.C’s and lyricists of all times, whose vocalizations and content influenced other top shelf M.C’s such as Tupac and Jay Z, in short, an M.C’s M.C.
Prince that was the way to go, and he ended up finding a group of Geto Boys who would match and excel the violence levels found in “Assasins.”įrom there, the groups classic lineup of Willie D, Scarface and Bushwick Bill came about. The success of the song however, convinced J. In this particular case, it was Johnny C’s idea to write the song, but it was only one song in his arsenal, it didn’t seem he intended to make a whole career out of this type of content. It was brought out that that early itineration of the group had a surprise hit with a hardcore rap song called “Assasins.” One aspect of that early success that I found very interesting was that J Prince, the founder and owner of the label, practically demanded that Johnny C write more explicit, murderous raps after he saw the success of “Assasins.” It brings to mind questions of whether artists choose to write violent raps or if their record labels request it. The original lineup included D.J Ready Red and an M.C named Johnny C, and although they were the group that ended up sparking southern rap, Johnny C was actually a New York based M.C.
The program covered the fact that the group was put together by Rap a Lot impresario J. It’s interesting that a group that is known for having three very distinctive M.C personalities was basically an inorganic, studio creation. They also produced one of the most influential M.C’s of all time in the form of Scarface, known to the IRS as Brad Jordan. Of course, the other essential ingredient in the Geto Boy’s legacy is the fact they were one of the first groups to break out from the South, which has been dominant in hip hop over the last decade and a half. The Geto Boys were seen as ambivalent and nihilistic in their time, but the rap generation that followed would be even more remorseless in their tales of guns and drugs. This makes them an essential part of hip hop’s “golden age”, including rappers such as KRS-ONE and BDP, Rakim, Schooly D, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube and NWA, Public Enemy, and Ice T, in that they made rap records that both spoke in terms of street level violence while also bemoaning the futility of it. The Geto Boy’s were unique because at the same time that they produced some of the most outrageously violent, pshychopathic hip hop ever recorded, they also made songs that expressed a strong social consciousness. I can recall very clearly when the Geto Boy’s heartfelt hip hop masterpiece, “My Minds Playing Tricks On Me” came into it’s hallowed place in the hip hop canon back in 1991, which was smakc dab in the middle of my adolescence. The Geto Boy’s episode was very special to me, much as the Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and Heavy D episodes, because the groups music has represented a touchstone in my own life. This weeks episode will go back into the classic soul period to cover the career of the Delfonics. Last weeks Geto Boys episode of TVOne’s hit “Unsung” program continued the theme this season of late ’80s, early 90’s hip hop and R&B.
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