It's a Goth World: Geto Boys
It appears that, at the tender age of twenty-seven, I am getting old. My neighbor, who is a recent college graduate, (so that makes him--what?--no more than 4, 5 years younger than me) seems to believe there's an age gap in our music taste. I lent him my iPod today, while he was braving the flooded and delayed subway system, and he returned it with the following comment: "I wonder, exactly how much Geto Boys does one need on an iPod?"
I mean, really. Making fun of the Geto Boys when the three Jane's Addiction albums on there prove so ripe for ridicule? I didn't know what to say. At my last count, I have 15 songs on there from Horrorcore's ambassador--it's not like I sleep under an autographed photo of Bushwick Bill or anything. Whatever.
But that made me start thinking about the Geto Boys. They're hated by all the right people: Bob Dole cited the Geto Boy's self-titled debut as reason for stockholders to divest from Time Warner and Tipper Gore loathed them as well. Sure, maybe they did have lyrics about necrophilia (which made their label, Geffen, drop them when they refused to change them), but they also rapped about using condoms.
And this is where I begin to lose steam. Zac, I feel your pain from the Ol' Dirty Bastard entry. It's hard for me to write about rap. It's not for lack of interest, I'm just much more adep--or at least comfortable--singing the praises of the pasty, angsty denizens of Glasgow, Arlington, wherever. But while Scarface, Bushwick Bill, and Willie D. could not be described as pasty, they are angst-filled residents of a somewhat overlooked metropolis, Houston.
I never really went that deep with the whole goth thing, I think one of the reasons why I like the Geto Boys (and Gravegiddaz, et al.) so much is that they are the gothest of rap groups. Songs about satan worshipping, Halloween, and slasher movie villains really speak to the frustrated adolescent within, you know? I totally wish everyone rapped about Halloween! The sample of creepy serial killer doll, Chuckie, from their song of the same title, is something that has made even my mother (who, it should be noted, has an unhealthy fixation on the movie Child's Play and its protagonist) laugh out loud. An added bonus: extra layers of '90s nostalgia. Then there's the brilliant, laconic "My Mind Playin' Tricks On Me" whose slow delivery you could almost say paved the way for another one of Houston's break out stars, DJ Screw.
And even though the Geto Boys are no longer, and horrorcore fell off the national radar in about 1994, I leave you with these words from Willie D.: "Even though the membership changes, there will always be Geto Boys." And to my neighbor, I say: Greatest Band of All Time, dude, Greatest Band of All Time.
Gravediggas 1st album is so amazing.
My two best friends in high school were named Steve and Justin. We had a lot of irrational rules that governed our conduct. One rule was that when we were all together we could only drive in Steve's Pontiac Firebird. This car had some custom work done to it by Steve's older step-brother that included a bench front seat instead of bucket seats. Another rule was that at all times the three of us had to sit up front in the Firebird, even though that meant the perfectly-fine back seat was empty and we were rubbing up against eachother all the time. The police pulled us over once and searched the car because we looked so suspicious. We also had a rule that the only tape allowed to play in the Firebird was Best Uncut Dope by the Geto Boys. We found the tape on a picnic table at a park, and loved it. I still know all the lyrics to "My mind is playing tricks on me." The Geto Boys picture you included in this entry is now, and forever will be, the picture on my desktop. Thanks for giving the boys the recognition they deserve.
Willie D's "Bald Headed Ho's" was the soundtrack to my freshman year of college (along with Too Short's "Two Bitches"). There's some prime poetry in that song. Examples? "There should be a crime against bald-headed ho's. Why they wanna be bald? NOBODY KNOWS!" "I'm proposin' a bill, to Capitol Hill, to kill all bald-headed women at will."