

The group released their debut album in 1988 entitled, Making Trouble. The first single the group released was “Car Freak” in 1986, which then followed with two LPs “You Ain’t Nothin’/I Run This” in 1987, and “Be Down” in 1988. Little Billy would later become Bushwick Bill. When Raheem and Sir Rap-A-Lot left, the group added DJ Ready Red, Prince Johnny C, and Little Billy (a dancer who came out on stage to warm the crowd up before the rappers took to the stage). Formed as the Ghetto Boys, the group consisted first of Raheem, The Sire Jukebox, and Sir Rap-A-Lot. When the Geto Boys came together in 1986, though, it was with a completely different lineup. After releasing solo albums during the mid-’90s, the Geto Boys reunited in 1996 for their most praised album yet, The Resurrection. Their follow-up, We Can’t Be Stopped, eventually hit platinum, though the trio of Scarface, Willie D, and Bushwick Bill began to fracture by 1993. The controversy, which occurred two years earlier than similar censorship incidents involving Ice-T and 2 Live Crew, gave the Geto Boys a large amount of publicity. Blocked from distributing their 1990 major-label debut by Geffen - who insisted that a track dealing with necrophilia as well as murder was a step too far – the group’s label, Rap-A-Lot Records struck a deal with producer Rick Rubin, who arranged another distributor for the album, released on his own Def American label. Though the controversial subject matter of gangsta rap wasn’t much of a barrier to popular success during the ’90s, the Geto Boys’ recordings proved almost too extreme for widespread exposure.
