The Geto Boys Are Reuniting For a New Tour and Possible Album
It's been more than a decade since the Geto Boys released their last group album, 2005's The Foundation, and years since they graced the same stage. The decade since has been an up and down one for the Houston trio, to say the least; both Willie D and Bushwick Bill spent time in prison on various charges (Bill was nearly deported in 2010), while Scarface has dealt with family issues surrounding his son last year. But things haven't been all negative, either: Scarface just released a memoir and all three MCs have continued releasing solo material.
But now the pioneering rap group is getting back together. Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill announced a month-long tour that will take them around the country beginning June 7 in the nation's capital and wrapping up on the 4th of July in Cincinnati. So far that's the extent of the reunion, but it may not be the end: according to Willie D, the group is on board to craft another album, with logistics so far being the only delay. "We know that we want to do a record but it's a situation where right now we're at the point of getting the paperwork done right so everybody's on the same page," the MC told XXL in a phone conversation last week. "Once we get the paperwork done then we can do it."
The Geto Boys have always balanced the rawness of their gangsta rap with a socially conscious morality in their music, with songs like "The World Is A Ghetto," "Crooked Officer" and "Six Feet Deep" among their best-known work. Two years ago, Willie D and Scarface linked again for the song "Hoodiez," with an accompanying video dedicated to Trayvon Martin. Now that the trio is back together, the social unrest in the world, but particularly in the U.S. over the past decade, has reinvigorated them. Ahead of the opening of the Geto Boys' tour, Willie D spoke to XXL about the reasons for reuniting, the possibility of crowd-funding an album and why he feels the group needs to speak on the police brutality that has come up again and again in this country. —Dan Rys
But now the pioneering rap group is getting back together. Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill announced a month-long tour that will take them around the country beginning June 7 in the nation's capital and wrapping up on the 4th of July in Cincinnati. So far that's the extent of the reunion, but it may not be the end: according to Willie D, the group is on board to craft another album, with logistics so far being the only delay. "We know that we want to do a record but it's a situation where right now we're at the point of getting the paperwork done right so everybody's on the same page," the MC told XXL in a phone conversation last week. "Once we get the paperwork done then we can do it."
The Geto Boys have always balanced the rawness of their gangsta rap with a socially conscious morality in their music, with songs like "The World Is A Ghetto," "Crooked Officer" and "Six Feet Deep" among their best-known work. Two years ago, Willie D and Scarface linked again for the song "Hoodiez," with an accompanying video dedicated to Trayvon Martin. Now that the trio is back together, the social unrest in the world, but particularly in the U.S. over the past decade, has reinvigorated them. Ahead of the opening of the Geto Boys' tour, Willie D spoke to XXL about the reasons for reuniting, the possibility of crowd-funding an album and why he feels the group needs to speak on the police brutality that has come up again and again in this country. —Dan Rys
Related: Watch Big K.R.I.T. Spit Bars Over Geto Boys’ “Mind Playin’ Tricks On Me”
Waka Flocka Talks Favorite Geto Boys Song “Mind Playin’ Tricks On Me”
A Look Back at Classics by Ice Cube, Geto Boys & A Tribe Called Quest
Leave a Comment