Originally set for distribution by Geffen Records, the graphic nature of the group’s lyrics, especially the necrophilia described in “Mind of a Lunatic,” caused the company to pull out, and the album was subsequently distributed by Giant Records. Rick Rubin, cofounder of New York-based Def Jam Records, was impressed with the Geto Boys recordings and decided to release a different version of the Grip It! album on his Def American label. This record fared much better than the first, with several singles, including “Gangsta of Love,” “Size Ain’t Shit,” and “Mind of a Lunatic,” that earned the group a larger following and helped Houston gain national recognition in the rap music world. In 1989 the newly-revamped group, whose name was changed from Ghetto Boys to Geto Boys, released a second album, Grip It! On That Other Level. DJ Ready Red remained as the fourth member of the band. This album garnered minor local and regional support, however, the group did tour with national recording artists The Fat Boys on their Wipe Out Tour.ĭue to creative differences, Sire Jukebox and Prince Johnny C departed from the group and were soon replaced with Willie D (born Willie Dennis of Houston) and Scarface (born Brad Jordan of Houston and originally known as DJ Akshen).
The group’s first album release, entitled Making Trouble, came out in 1988 on Rap-A-Lot Records and featured a new lineup-Sire Juke Box Prince Johnny C (born Jonathan Carmichael from Trenton, New Jersey) DJ Ready Red (born Collins Leysath from Trenton, New Jersey) and Bushwick Bill (born Richard Shaw of Bushwick, New York, and originally from Jamaica) as their hype man and dancer. In 1986 the trio released the single “Car Freak,” which received limited distribution. The band (originally spelled “Ghetto Boys”) consisted of Keith Rogers (Sire Juke Box), Thelton Polk (K-9/Sir Rap-A-Lot), and Oscar Ceres (Raheem). They are also one of the first groups to pioneer what critics would call the “gangsta rap” genre within hip-hop by telling the real and fictional stories of the life of marginalized people in urban communites like Houston’s Fifth Ward. The Geto Boys are regarded as the group that not only put Houston (and the Fifth Ward) on the hip-hop map, but also the South on the hip-hop map. Geto Boys, a Houston rap group, was formed in 1986 by James “Lil’ J” Smith, owner of Rap-A-Lot Records.
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