audio review : Thugg Niggaz ( song ) … Geto Boys ( featuring Dorasel + DMG )

The best part of this song is the beat, but it would sound even better if it fully embraced its reggae roots. The bassline, for example, should’ve been set more prominent in the mix.

Still the song is anthemic despite its clunky title. The “puffing” bit ties in well with the music; Rastafarians are known for smoking ganja; and Scarface’s verse is a highlight.

my rating : 4 of 5

1998

audio review : Da Good Da Bad And Da Ugly ( album ) ... Geto Boys

audio review : The Resurrection ( album ) … Geto Boys

audio review : The Resurrection ( album ) ... Geto Boys

They were never really dead, not even in a metaphoric sense, so this is only a Resurrection in that the Geto Boys are back to what they once were; Scarface, Bushwick Bill and Willie D; the latter of which “left the group in 91”. There’s a verse here that insists the split was the result of real-life beef, but “we settled our differences”, so he’s back and still yelling, though not as loud as he used to. Big Mike, who replaced him for the last album, is missing in action.

With things back in place, you’d expect, or at least hope for, a fitting follow-up to We Can’t Be Stopped; their best album; but, though it’s only been five years, times have changed. The beats are more airy and vivacious; less hip-hop, more sinister mob music. It seems the Boys have also matured into grown men, so it’s mostly serious business with social and political commentary between murders; less time for funny disses, careless sex and Chuckie dolls.

That makes for a less interesting album; a dark undertaking with a conceptual fixation with death. At one point Bushwick Bill even kills himself after declaring to passenger Willie D that he Just Wanna Die. D dares him to shoot himself in the head while driving, which he does. You can hear the tires screech as the ride swerves off the road and crashes into something hard. The decision for him not to be heard again for the rest of the album was a clever one.

That bit is followed by a Willie D solo song comparing Niggas And Flies, but, while he’s Still the most entertaining (funniest) member of the group, we’ve heard better from both rappers. The best songs are actually Blind Leading The Blind, led by the Menace Clan, and Point Of No Return. The album would also do better without an on-going prison phone call from an annoyingly race-obsessed Larry Hoover to Rap-A-Lot founder and CEO J Prince.

my rating : 3 of 5

1996

audio review : Da Good Da Bad And Da Ugly ( album ) … Geto Boys

audio review : Da Good Da Bad And Da Ugly ( album ) ... Geto Boys

The 1996 Resurrection of the Geto Boys didn’t last long. Bushwick Bill, the only member there since the beginning, is nowhere to be found. As far as this album is concerned, the group is down to just Willie D and Scarface backed with a gang of guest rappers, including, randomly enough, Caine from Menace To Society.

Dawn 2 Dusk, which also features DMG and Yukmouth, is one of Da Good songs. Others include Eye 4 An Eye, on which Willie D goes off on an angry and epic rant against racist white people, Gangsta and Thugg Niggaz. I also like Bitches And Hoes. None of the rest is particularly Bad nor Ugly, but most is middling.

my rating : 3 of 5

1998

audio review : Play Witcha Mama ( album ) … Willie D

audio review : Play Witcha Mama ( album ) ... Willie D

“Homie Don’t Play That”, Willie D warned on his last Geto Boys album. The sentiment continues on this, his third solo, project. “You need to go in there and Play Witcha Mama,” Ice Cube says on the title song, which, thanks to the guest’s lazy contributions, sounds more like a demo. The album’s biggest blunder though is how the following Rap Rehab break, which comes too early in the set, and Doin The Nasty skit interrupt the flow of songs, most of which “sound real fat”.

Creepin, Throat, Whatcha Know About That and Smoke’m all serve as highlights. Perhaps it’s no coincidence they all feature Wize Up labelmate Sho, whose poignant raps complement Willie D’s more humorous approach. He’s not hollering like he used to, despite claiming he Ain’t Changin Shit, but he’s still funny as he caps on Dionne Warwick’s “big-nose ugly ass” or tells his girlfriend he wants to have her Mama’s pussy “dripping like a wet Jheri curl”.

my rating : 4 of 5

1994