Searching For Willie D of The Geto Boys

Willie D of the Geto Boys. The name is one that is loaded with so many aspects of Hip-Hop that I don’t know where to start. Let me begin this with one word: BOLD. Willie D., who was one of the lead rappers in the Geto Boys, is a man that exemplifies the word bold, […]

Willie D of the Geto Boys.

The name is one that is loaded with so many aspects

of Hip-Hop that I don’t know where to start. Let me begin this with one

word: BOLD.

Willie D., who was one of the lead rappers in

the Geto Boys, is a man that exemplifies the word bold, because he fearlessly

said whatever he wanted, regardless of the repercussions.

Many people consider Scarface as the foundation

that kept the Geto Boys solid, but I beg to differ. I say Willie D was to the

Geto to what Ice Cube was to NWA. He had everything a person could want in a

rapper – political opinions, street cred, nice with the ladies, and outspoken

as all hell!

What he didn’t have lyrically, he made up

for in more ways than one. [I might add, this is a real ode to Willie D, not

some twisted joke.]

With all respect, Public Enemy might have said

“Fight The Power,” but Willie D, of similar mind state, would specify,

“F**k The KKK.” [From his debut album and rare gem Controversy.]

On his 1989 epic, he said:

"They said this song was forbidden, it couldn’t

be written

As you can see them muthaf***kas weren’t’

bullshittin’

Many feel the Klan would hush ’em

But I snatched the pen and said f### ’em

Wrote the rhyme, put it in time

My mind, it ain’t blind to their kind

Muthaf**k a gotdamn KKK"

Willie hated the Klan, as most of us do, but

he also had disdain for those in the community posing as dons. On the burgeoning

drug dealer, Willie said:

Everybody’s coming with guns

N***as gettin pimped by Columbians

They put em on the streets like a b####

N***as slangin’ but the Puerto-Rican getting’ rich

I never sold the mess

But if I did, it would be for my gotdamn self

(“Do It Like A G.O.”)

Ingenious? You damn right it was. That sort of

frankness can’t be found these days as rappers neuter themselves while

killing innumerable, nonexistent Black men on wax. A former boxer, Willie D

was also the type to throw the fist, “because he loved to chunk toe to

toe.”

His song, “Put the Gun Away,” was a

cautionary tale for so-called men that pull out their burner in fear of getting

their a** kicked. In that same song, he make it clear that he was down for a

fight, but had no problem putting a bit of lead in you.

"He was waving a .357 at me

He didn’t know I had a m#### f***in’

UZI

If he took another step I couldn’t refuse

to put his a** on the 10 o clock news”

Willie’s ill lyrical content didn’t

stop with fake gangstas and white supremacists; dude had endless songs that

went against Black and White America’s collective grain. One example is

“F**k Rodney King.” Oh, and this was made at the time Rodney’s

lips quivered, “Can’t-we-all-just-get-along?” The D was not a

fan of such passive notions, especially as it pertained to racist, brutal cops.

Here’s how he felt about Rodney.

"F**k Rodney King and his ass

When I see the muthaf***a I’ma blast

Boom in his head, boom, boom in his back

just like that

Cause I’m tired of you good little n***as

Saying increase the peace and let the violence

cease

When the Black man built this country

But can’t get his for the prejudiced h####

Rodney King, gotdamn sell-out

On TV crying for a cop

The same mother f***as who beat the hell

out ya

Now I wish they would’ve shot ya

Cause this s### is deeper than Vietnam

And ain’t no room for the Uncle Tom"

Now, certainly you might not agree with his lyrics,

especially the use of the word “h####.” Willie might have used a more

powerful word that doesn’t remind us of George and Weezie Jefferson. Nevertheless,

the message is clear – No Justice, No Peace.

A champion of justice, Willie D wouldn’t

hesitate to put our own United States politicians on full blast like heat in

an Artic winter. “Bar None” was a slogan of the Geto champ and he

didn’t neglect anybody.

"J. Edgar Hoover I wish you wasn’t dead

So I could put a bullet in your motherf***in’

head

Gotdamn fa***t motherf***in’ drag queen

I know you put the hit on Martin Luther

King

And Fred Hampton, Malcom [X] and the others

You red neck punk mutharf***er

Bob Dole keep you muthaf***in’ mouth shut

Before a n***a beat your old a** up

Jumpin’ on the rap bandwagon ain’t helpin’

it

You need to be concerned about the muthaf***in’

deficit

While he was on the cutting edge of political

rap, Willie D was not one to appreciate women that hacked too much off the top.

That’s right ladies, he had a song called “Bald Head Hoes,” which

was funny as Dave Chappelle. Check the lyrics if you think I lie.

“What the f**k is goin on in this gotdamn

world

What are you b***h a boy or a girl?

I can’t tell cause your [hair] on the sides

is gone

You remind me of that monkey lookin’

b***h Grace Jones

F***ed up is how you look to Willie D

I just gotta have a b***h that has more

hair than me

Some

try to cover up by weavin’ it through

You ain’t foolin’ nobody

We know you’re bald headed too”

Within his own relationships, The D showed flashes

of vulnerability. One such moment was “Homie Don’t Play Dat”

from the Geto Boys smash album We Can’t Be Stopped. In the song,

D worries about his friends trying to take his girl.

Ni**as say I’m crazy

When I say keep your comments about my

lady

They say “You’re lucky, I wish

I had a girl like that!”

I never smile cause I know where they heart

is at

All in front of my girl sayin’ how

pretty she looks

Game recognized, I wrote the book

“Got a good thing, hold tight, don’t

lose her brother”

You may as well straight up say you wanna

f**k her

Still waters run deep man

And ain’t nothing worse than one who

fronts like a friend

Call your crib when they know you ain’t

home

Tryin’ to rap to your girl on the

telephone.

Rap is something Willie D has done a lot of.

He’s dropped a total of six solo albums (Controversy, I’m

Goin’ Out Like A Soldier

, Play Witcha Mama, Loved By Few,

Hated By Many, Relentless and Unbreakable) and about six

with the Geto Boys. That’s a tour of duty reserved for legends and that’s

what Willie D is.

The truth is, Willie D is one of the greatest

rappers to ever walk this Earth (as opposed to Saturn.) Go buy his old songs,

go buy his newest album Unbreakable.

You will find that he is a diamond that has been

buried by a mountain of trash rap. Scarface might be the King of the South,

as Lil’ Flip would say, but Willie D is the Judge, Jury and Executioner

in the Derrty.

RECOGNIZE.