I Had To Lose An Eye To See Clearly

What if Gary Coleman and the devil had a baby?...

It's pretty much an undeniable fact that Bushwick Bill is one crazy-ass mutha---and if you disagree, you may want to consider having your own head checked, freak. As one-third of the legendary Geto Boys (along with Willie D and Scarface), Bill remains one of the most intriguing characters to ever grace the pages of rap history. At this point, I'm considering launching into a boring commentary about the life and times of Mr. Bill, but I don't really want that---and hell---neither do you. Instead, I'm going to present a few random facts about the Bushman, and let you fill in the blanks (if you happen to be fascinated by diminutive rappers, like I am):

*Bill lost his right eye to a bullet in 1991, due to an unfortunate incident involving his former girlfriend. When he recounted the experience on his track "Ever So Clear", he explained that he asked his girlfriend to shoot him, and when she refused, he ultimately threatened to drop their baby. His injury allegedly ensued during the subsequent tussle. The graphic scene following the episode was immortalized on the cover of the Geto Boys' LP, We Can't Be Stopped. The image depicts Willie D and Scarface wheeling Bill on a hospital gurney right after the shooting. Not all of this was in vain though, especially since God talked to Bill afterwards, and helped him to use his inner eye to his supreme advantage.

*In 1995, he legally changed his name to Dr. Wolfgang Von Bushwickin The Barbarian Mother-Funky Stay High Dollar Billster.

*During a number of interviews, he has completely flipped the fuck out---including the last one he did for XXL several months ago.

*He's a dwarf, dammit. How many midget rappers can you name?

Billster's most recent projects include his newest solo joint, Gutta Mix, and the Geto Boys reunion album, The Foundation. One of the new Geto Boys tracks--"Leanin' On You"---features a sample of "If You Move I'll Fall" by Soul Children. You can currently download this track at The Number One Songs In Heaven, and you probably should:
http://www.londonlee.com/blog.html.

Listen to and learn about the Geto Boys here:
http://www.mp3.com/geto-boys/artists/35/summary.html.

More Bushwick stuff here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushwick_Bill

and also at this location:
http://www.mp3.com/bushwick-bill/artists/21579/discography.html.

In other musical news:

Treat Williams is doing a pretty dope retrospective of 90's hip-hop. Recently available are mp3s by Poor Righteous Teachers, Masta Ace, K-Solo, Kool G Rap, and more. Treat is permanently attached to my right...catch the link over there.

Spine Magazine is featuring a lot of nice tracks right now. I'm personally diggin' "My Favorite Mutiny" by The Coup (w/ Talib Kweli and Black Thought):
http://www.spinemagazine.com/index.php?task=.

Moistworks has a few Gravediggaz songs available for download. They also posted RZA and MF Doom's "Biochemical Equation", so if you were negligent in getting it last time, you know what to do:http://www.moistworks.com/.

At Can I Bring My Gat?, you can download a few mellow tracks by Silent Poets:
http://www.abitnice.com/canibringmygat/.

And finally, I'm gonna throw you a curve ball, but the Elbow tracks posted at Borrowed Tunes are definitely worth a listen. Some of you may already be familiar with their music, especially the song "Fugitive Motel", a track that was remixed by RJD2 for a 12" release by the group. This is my unhip-hop shit of this particular moment: http://www.borrowedtunes.com/. Hopefully you're not too gangsta to recognize...