RIP Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys – tiny curations
This episode has been published and can be heard everywhere your podcast is available.
DEEP DIVES & tiny curations Podcast Episodes Available Today:
http://tinycurations.com
Listen NOW on Pandora:
https://www.pandora.com/search/tiny%20curations/
Hear the playlist on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5nBZWZDc3O8EEOvSHm0mYL?si=VAALAhBtQn6keY5F7hOYqQ
- Damn It Feels Good 2 Be A Gangsta
- Stranded On Death Row
- Intro
- Takin’ It Back
Bushwick Bill, H towns own, the Fifth Wards own, from the legendary rap group, the Geto Boys, passed away last Sunday night.
There is a great article in this week’s Austin Chronicle about him finding his musical playground here in Austin:
https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2019-06-10/in-austin-bushwick-bill-found-his-musical-playground/
He told the Chronicle in summer 2013. “I’m in my own hazy world, not even knowing all about music, and out here I get to meet real musicians where their feelings come through their fingertips into their instruments, and they mean it! It’s not programmed or sampled or stolen. The Geto Boys had played Emos, which turns out to be their final appearance there, in January 2013. Afterwards, Bushwick stayed behind and made Austin his new home for the next few years.
He would pop up impromptu at shows. I saw him one night rapping solo with a backing band at Hotel Vegas, I posted a video on Youtube, please search for it, if you would like to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9hbRkeyClE
He closed that night by announcing that he was buying drinks for the whole house! But rather than taking him up on the offer, my friend and I left and found him alone, exhausted, sitting on a curb in front of the bar.
He became the Bill Murray of Austin, appearing everywhere!
I again ran into him sitting at a picnic table, where I was able to talk with him for a bit.
A couple years later, I was watching Brown Sabbath. Which is the band Brownout doing Black Sabbath covers. Imagine this with me, in the middle of NIB, Bushwick appears and breaks into THIS: his famous rap from “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”.
It was incredible!
As for the rest of the Geto Boys, Scarface, well apparently his name is Brad Jordan, where coincidentally last Sunday, he announced that he was running for Houston City Council.
And Willie D, I ran into him a few months ago at Austin at the Office Space 20th Anniversary party, I asked him about Bushwick, but he couldn’t tell me much. A few weeks later it was announced that Bushwick was fighting pancreatic cancer.
Let’s start this tribute with the song from that film, in what is probably the best work scene / work revenge scene ever recorded:
Yep, that was Bushwick on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic album.
And finally, those last songs were Bushwick’s redemption of all of the foul language that he had spread for all of those year.
He will be missed.
Thanks for listening to tiny curations.