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Life & Arts

Geto Boys succeed in bringing hip-hop back to its roots with 'The Foundation'

Zach Lee

The Geto Boys have been around since most college students were playing freeze tag on the playground at their elementary schools, but Scarface, Willie D. and Bushwick Bill are still as gangsta as they ever were on the group's newest attempt at a reunion, The Foundation. 

Misogynistic, homophobic and violent, their lyrics epitomize what grimy street rap should be. Simple packaging and a conspicuous lack of names like The Neptunes and Kanye West in the production credits makes the album radically different from every other rap album getting radio play. It's like someone stuck the album in a time capsule and waited until it didn't seem like popular hip-hop could get any more gimmicky to take it out and give everyone a breath of Houston's freshest air. 

The Boys bring a healthy dose of threats, bragging and regrets to the table without any sleek photo shoots or bonus DVDs -- something so subtle but so noticeable. Not only is it an album dedicated to the music rather than the image, but it's also an album that good enough to stand on its own, rather than simply a throwback for those who lived in the golden era of gangsta rap.

"Declaration of War" is an unapologetic beating of the glossy rap of today with light keys and a drumbeat marching side-by-side to a backdrop of deep horns. The hook warns rappers not to "get caught up in all the glamour." That track and the Calypso-flavored "The Secret" highlight Tone Capone's contributions to the album's production. Lines like Bushwick's "They say the ends justifies the means / so I guess the drug dealer justifies the fiends" in "The Secret" also show a nice depth to the group's lyrics.

The Scarface-produced single "Yes, Yes, Y'all" is the best contrast to where hip-hop is and where it could be, but songs like "When It Gets Gangsta" are terribly appropriate. 

The fact that the Boys are from Houston is just a little extra incentive to buy the record. No matter what, though, The Foundation is something today's gangsta rappers -- whether they're from Compton or Queens -- should use to measure their own successes. 

Geto Boys

The Foundation

Rap-A-Lot Records

Verdict: Give it up for the invincible; it's H-Town's finest.
 

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