It was hard not to stand out with a group that included Willie D, a former Golden Gloves boxer Bushwick Bill, a brash Brooklyn transplant and former breakdancer who stood less than four feet tall and Brad Jordan, a lyricist with enough street cred to wear the stage name of rap's most celebrated kingpin: Scarface. When "Mind Playing Tricks" came out, the Geto Boys were already legendary in the South. And " Mind Playing Tricks on Me," by the Houston rap trio Geto Boys, was bumping out of nearly every car with speakers in the trunk, putting a voice to the angst and paranoia that defined what it meant to be a young black man in America at the time. Rodney King's beating by LA cops was on virtual loop on the small screen. John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood was playing on the big screen. But Tony Soprano wasn't the first gangster to expose his sensitive side to the world: That distinction came nearly a decade earlier, thanks to three gangstas of a different stripe. When HBO's drama The Sopranos began airing in 1999, the idea of a mob boss seeking therapy was revolutionary.
Find more at NPR.org/Anthem.Įditor's note: This story includes includes brief mentions of suicide.
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This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Left to right: Scarface, Bushwick Bill and Willie D of the Geto Boys perform in Houston in 2015.
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