By the time that Geto Boys decided to pick up a mic and put their thoughts into music, the city of Houston was immediately put on the hip hop map. Bushwick Bill, the great Scarface, Willie D, and Dj Ready Red approached the rap game without compromises of any sort, speaking the raw truth, giving any censorship institution a great amount of work to do. "Geto Boys" was not their official first album, it was effectively their third, although it included several songs heard before on "Grip It! On That Other Level" and even one from "Making Trouble". Luckily for them, the great producer Rick Rubin decided to sign them on Def American, made a restyling work on 10 of the 13 total tracks (3 were new), and put the finished work on one album, mixing the quartet ghetto-oriented attitude with an even more aggressive sonic impact, a perfect environment for the drugs, sex & gangsta tales put on by the guys themselves.
What’s Hot
1. Fuck'Em - Straight Geto Boys attitude, nothing more, nothing less. The album gets a sudden start, it's opened by a Ready Red scratch followed by a gritty beat, the f-word is repeated countless times, and Willie D gives a taste of his aggressive rapping style, in this track he really stands out.
2. Size Ain'Shit - A Bushwick solo joint, where the lil' big man speaks about his size, which really doesn't matter because he's gonna bust your butt anyway...great beat, great rhythm.
4. Gangsta Of Love - You can hear "Sweet Home Alalbama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd all over the place, this is one of the greatest hip hop beats ever made, Rick Rubin rock/metal-oriented production gets all the credit. Lyrics are sick, must be 21 or older to listen to!
6. Life In The Fastlane - Scarface raps about his dope sellin' past over a fat beat, the harmonica lop gives the cut a unique texan flavor.
11. Scarface - A timeless classic, a great way to give new life to the "Paid In Full" beat. Al Pacino-type shit!
12. Let A Hoe Be A Hoe - A slept-on track, the title speaks by itself, and Willie D speaks nothin' but the truth.
13. City Under Siege - A noisy track that put the finishing touch on the album, has a dark piano loop sustained by angry lyrics, injustice and frustration spread everywhere.
What’s Not
3. Mind Of A Lunatic - okay, this will never be a bad song because of the insane beat, but the horrorcore/sex tale taste of the lyrics leaves with a bad taste in your mouth.
9. Read These Nikes - Very good lyrics over a floppy beat.
Bottom Line
When "Geto Boys" came out, hip hop was in the middle of a war with censorship organization and shit like that, the more mc's were censored, the more they were motivated to talk about reality that finally can be heard. The Geto Boys offers an imposing album, which talks about the surroundings and circumstances of the infamous 5th Ward section of Houston, speaking the hard truth with the same effect of a punch in the mouth. They don't care about anybody and anything, they do what they got to do anyway and anyhow, and if you don't like it, you can fuck yourself. Here's the message to be heard. Not so deep, but always a message.
0-20: Terrible listening experience
21-40: Maybe one good song
41-60: A few good songs
61-80: Half are good songs, half are weak
81-100: Great listening experience, almost all are great songs
I give this album an 88. The beats and the lyrics smash every obstacle ahead of them, this is raw, pure and cruel ghetto hip hop, matched with a superior musical production, supervised by a former metal fan who turned himself as an heavy-influencing and versatile producer. There's not a single completely weak song in here.
