Dirty South Legends

Geto Boys, Gray Matters, Rap Class, Cassow

GETO BOYS
By EMILY BERKEY

If you know Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa, then you know Houston's Geto Boys. Originators of the soulful Dirty South sound, the trio's influence on hip-hop spans generations, with samples of the group's classic records popping up on tracks by some of today's most popular rappers. But if your only exposure to Scarface, Bushwick Bill and Willie D is secondhand, then you're barely scratching the surface of the Geto Boys' bizarre legacy. After all, this is a group that rose to infamy in the early '90s by plastering an album cover with a photo that showed Bushwick Bill—its Jamaica-born, dwarf-sized frontman—posing on a hospital gurney only hours after an argument with his girlfriend left him minus a right eye. While such shock tactics were a significant part of the Boys' appeal, there was much more going on beneath the gory surface: Legendary singles like "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" are prime examples of the threesome's grim storytelling, still captivating after all these years.

 

GO: Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE Cesar Chavez Blvd., 233-7100. 7 pm Wednesday, Oct. 9. $25 advance, $30 day of show. 21+.

WWeek 2015

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