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.
