Richard William Stephen Shaw (December 8, 1966 – June 9, 2019), better known by his stage name Bushwick Bill, was a Jamaican-American rapper. He was a member of the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

hip hop group Geto Boys, a group he originally joined as a

breakdancer Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

in 1986 as Little Billy. He went on to become one third of one incarnation of the group, alongside

Willie D William James Dennis is an American rapper, best known as a member of the Houston rap group the Geto Boys, alongside Bushwick Bill and Scarface. He maintains and regularly uploads to his YouTube channel, posting social commentary videos. As o ...

and Scarface.

Early life

Bushwick Bill was born Richard William Stephen Shaw on December 8, 1966, in Kingston, Jamaica. His father was a merchant mariner, and his mother was a maid. Shaw was born with dwarfism and as an adult was listed as tall.

Career

Shaw got his start in the music industry in 1986 as a member of the Geto Boys, where he performed as a dancer known as Little Billy. He later transitioned to rapping, and was featured on the Geto Boys' debut album, ''

Making Trouble ''Making Trouble'' is the debut album by the American hip hop music, hip-hop group the Geto Boys, Ghetto Boys. The group originally consisted of Bushwick Bill, DJ Ready Red, Sire Jukebox and Prince Johnny C. Following the release of ''Making Trou ...

'' in 1988. The album received little attention and negative reviews, which led to

Rap-A-Lot Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records with the release of Raheem's 1988 debut ''The Vigilante''. The label w ...

dropping all members from the group except for Bill and DJ Ready Red. Soon after, Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince recruited Scarface and

ee, two local aspiring artists out of Texas as the second incarnation of the group. The new lineup began recording together in 1988 and their debut project as a group and second overall for the Geto Boys, ''

Grip It! On That Other Level ''Grip It! On That Other Level'' is the second studio album by the Houston, Texas based hip-hop group, the Ghetto Boys (later spelled Geto Boys), released on March 12, 1989, on Rap-A-Lot Records. Following the disappointing results of the group' ...

'' was released in 1989 to much better reception, being considered a classic album and one of the earliest entries into the

Horrorcore Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, or death rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip h ...

genre. It was around this time the group's lyrical content began to generate controversy, which was multiplied in 1991 when the cover of the group's third album ''

We Can't Be Stopped ''We Can't Be Stopped'' is the third studio album by Geto Boys, released on July 9, 1991. It was among their most successful records in terms of units sold. The album is analysed track-by-track by Geto Boys in Brian Coleman's book '' Check the ...

'' depicted a graphic image of Bill moments after he shot himself during an argument with his girlfriend.Full Clip: Scarface Breaks Down Geto Boys & Solo Catalogue
''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

''. August 6, 2010 Nevertheless, the album went on to be their most successful to that point, being certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in 1992.Bush, John
"Geto Boys"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved June 17, 2011 Bushwick Bill can be heard on the album ''

The Chronic ''The Chronic'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label Death Row Records and distributed by Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place in ...

'' by

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

; he appears in the video of "

Dre Day "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", or as a single titled "Dre Day", is a song by American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, released in May 1993 as the second single from Dre's ...

" as one of Eazy-E's fellow rappers. His 1998 album ''

No Surrender…No Retreat No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed � ...

'' was dedicated to his friend Gil Epstein, a

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

prosecutor who was shot dead in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas, in 1996.

Personal life

On June 19, 1991, Shaw shot himself in the face following an argument with his former girlfriend, losing his right eye in the process; he had been under the influence of Everclear grain alcohol and PCP. The aftermath of the incident was documented on the album cover for Geto Boys' 1991 album ''

'', which shows Shaw being pushed through the hospital on a gurney by bandmates

and Scarface. Shaw claimed he "died and came back to life" during the incident, and he made reference to it in his music. In 2006, he became a born-again Christian. In May 2010, Shaw was arrested in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

for possession of marijuana and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

. Based on his prior arrest record, he was facing

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

Illness and death

On May 1, 2019, Shaw revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On June 9, 2019, reports emerged that Shaw had died, but news of his death was later refuted by his son. However, it was subsequently reported and confirmed that Shaw died later that day at a hospital in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Discography

References

External links

*
Bushwick Bill
on Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Bill, Bushwick 1966 births 2019 deaths American people with disabilities Jamaican emigrants to the United States American rappers of Jamaican descent American shooting survivors Converts to Christianity Horrorcore artists Entertainers with dwarfism American performers of Christian hip hop music Rappers from Houston People from Bushwick, Brooklyn Musicians from Brooklyn Rappers from Brooklyn People from Nassau County, New York African-American male rappers 21st-century American rappers Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Colorado People from Kingston, Jamaica 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people