''The Geto Boys'' is a

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007 ...

by the

Geto Boys Geto Boys (originally spelled Ghetto Boys) was an American hip-hop group originally formed in Houston, Texas. The Geto Boys enjoyed success in the 1990s with the group's classic lineup consisting of Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Willie D, earning ...

released in 1990. The album contains one track from the group's 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 ...

'' (1988), 10 from its previous album ''

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' ...

'' (1989), and two new songs. All tracks on the album were re-recorded,

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed and revamped by acclaimed producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

with his protégé

Brendan O'Brien Brendan O'Brien may refer to: *Brendan O'Brien (bishop) (born 1943), Roman Catholic archbishop of Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Brendan O'Brien (cricketer) (born 1942), Irish former cricketer *Brendan O'Brien (journalist), senior Irish journalist on R ...

. The cover of the album resembles

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' album ''

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...

'', and the songs attracted much controversy upon the album's release.

Controversy and release

The original Def American pressing is the only

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

-distributed album with the following warning in addition to the standard explicit-lyrics sticker: Due to the controversial nature of the lyrics, especially in the songs "Mind of a Lunatic" and "Assassins", the album's originally intended distributor,

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, and CD manufacturer

Sony DADC Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (Sony DADC) is a manufacturer of CDs, DVDs, Universal Media Disc, UMDs, and Blu-ray Discs. The company has many plants worldwide. Although it primarily services Sony Music Entertainment-owned record labels, Son ...

, which manufactured Geffen's releases, refused to have any part in the release.Pareles. John
Distributor Withdraws Rap Album Over Lyrics
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. 28 August 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2011 After Geffen terminated its manufacturing and distributing deal with Def American,

arranged alternative distribution with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, which agreed to distribute the album as intended and all subsequent Def American releases with product manufacturing by

WEA Manufacturing WEA Manufacturing was the record, tape, and compact disc manufacturing arm of WEA International Inc. from 1978 to 2003, when it was sold and merged into Cinram International, a previous competitor. The last owner when the plant closed was Techn ...

.Hochman, Steve
Geffen Cancels Distribution Pact With Controversial Def American

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

. 18 September 1990. Retrieved 17 June 2011 Marketing for the album was handled by Warner Bros. sister label

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

. Subsequent pressings on Rap-a-Lot and various distributors do not contain the secondary warning. "Do It Like a G.O." was released as a single with a music video but did not chart.

Reception

In a 3.5-mic out of 5 review, ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' wrote positively of Rick Rubin's contribution to the album, writing, "The group's fuck-everybody attitude and simple straight-forward music is a perfect match for Rubin...."(Summer 1990
"Classic review : Grip It On That Other Level in The Source (1990)"
''

''. Andy Kellman of

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 ...

also praised Rick Rubin's contribution, writing, "The album is expertly sequenced, and some songs seem to have twice the impact of their original incarnations."Kellman, Andy
"The Geto Boys - Geto Boys"

. Retrieved 17 June 2011

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, on the other hand, criticized the album, comparing it negatively to

slasher films A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

. Christgau ended the review, writing, "I'm impressed by tspungent beats and vernacular. I'm glad they put Reagan in bed with Noriega. I'm sorta touched when one of them thinks to thank the first girl to lick his asshole. I admire their enunciation on 'Fuck ’Em.' But fuck ’em."Christgau, Robert
"Robert Christgau: Album: The Geto Boys: The Geto Boys"
''Consumer Guide.'' Retrieved 17 June 2011 In another mixed review,''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

's'' Greg Sandow ridiculed the album's glorification of violence, writing, "The catalog starts to seem silly. Stealing from the poor? On their next album, the Geto Boys might just as well do a song about tearing wings off flies."Sandow, Greg (12 October 1990)
"The Geto Boys Review"
''

''. Retrieved 18 June 2011

Track listing

Personnel

The following people contributed to ''The Geto Boys'':The Geto Boys - Credits

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 18 June 2011 Geto Boys * DJ Ready Red * Akshen *

Bushwick Bill 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 hip hop group Geto Boys, a group he originally joined as a breakdancer ...

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 of ...

Production * Prince Johnny C – producer (Geto Boys member) * John Bido – producer * Clifford Blodget – engineer, executive producer * DJ Ready Red – producer * Doug King – producer * Sylvia Massy – engineer * Brendan O'Brien – remixing * Ready Red – producer * Billy Roberts – photography *

– production supervisor * James H. Smith – executive producer * Howie Weinberg – mastering

Controversy and release

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

References

Further reading