46. “Yes, Yes, Y’all” – The Foundation (2005)
The weak production work endemic to The Foundation is again in evidence on this song, but a strong first verse from Bushwick Bill gives it the feel of classic Geto Boys. Undeniably, it was good to have the little guy back in the fold.

45. "Life in the Fast Lane" – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
The tunes are starting to get pretty dope now, people. Over a funky wah pedal and a damn harmonica, Scarface hits us with some frank drug-game rhymes. It’s heavy, it’s violent, it’s danceable — the sound of a group hitting its stride.

44. “What?” – The Foundation (2005)
Even in the 2000s, the Geto Boys still have a mean streak to them. “What?” is hard as hell, with mean verses, mean beats and a mean message that finds all three Boys mercilessly beating up on their traditional enemies. This is what the people want.

43. “The Other Level” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
A genuine gangsta-rap banger starring the nasty sexual adventures of one Bushwick Bill. “The Other Level” is loud, shrill and funky, and the slurping sound effects are still funny.

42. “We Can’t Be Stopped” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
As hard as it gets — full of F-bombs toward the record-industry execs and media who wanted nothing more than for the Geto Boys to just go away. Well, they’re still here, and this drum track still squashes heads.

41. "Trigga-Happy Nigga" – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
An ounce of that ether, Fifth-Ward bass, a half a key of uncut drums, and a pound of them horns with red-hot sass in ‘em — cut with the trigga-happy, motherfuckin’ Geto Boys! J. Prince’s intro on this song helped make him more than that group’s mastermind; he feels like a full-fledged member. The last one you wanna cross.

40. “Trophy” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
The Geto Boys were thoroughly unimpressed with Guns N’ Roses back in ’91. They called out the biggest band in the world on “We Can’t Be Stopped,” and again here, insulted at the very idea that anyone would be honored with an award before Willie D. In truth, the two acts probably have more in common than the Getos would have liked to admit. But only Axl took home the trophies.

39. “1, 2, Tha 3” – The Foundation (2005)
This solid, funky ol’ track from The Foundation was a happy reassurance in ’05 that the Geto Boys were still the hardest. Collectively, it’s their Bush-era best.

38. “Eye 4 an Eye” – Da Good, Da Bad & Da Ugly (1998)
A lot of the …Da Ugly material feels like it’s missing something…like maybe the point. But this tune managed to be elevated by the intensity of its rage. A decade after they first came together, Scarface and Willie D were still mad as all hell, and no one was better at capturing take-no-shit rage on wax.



37. “Talkin’ Loud, Ain’t Saying Nothin’" – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
Excellent bass and horn samples, explicit, threatening lyrics… this is Southern gangsta rap at its finest. If you can’t rhyme this hard, the Geto Boys ain’t listening.

36. “First Light of the Day” – The Resurrection (1996)
Awesome, slaughtering fun. A great, gonzo Bushwick Bill verse is the highlight, here, with Chuck flowing smoothly over a tight-ass hi-hat. It’s hard to outshine Scarface’s ultra-macho first verse, but he manages it all the same. Twenty years later, it still sounds fresh.

35. “No Sell Out” – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
This is probably the quintessential solo track by Willie D as a member of the Geto Boys. The basic theme here is that Willie D is from the ghetto — then, now, forever. And if the Man doesn’t like it, he can’t suck a dick or 12, because Willie D ain’t going soft for nobody. “No Sell Out” may set something of an impossible standard of G-ness, but at least it’s something to aspire to.

34. “Geto Boys and Girls” – The Resurrection (1996)
Menacing. This song captures the Geto Boys at their ’90s peak — picking up the pace for nothing and no one. Scarface, in particular, breaks off one of those unmistakable flows that led people to call him the greatest of all time.

33. “Seek and Destroy” – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
Here’s an early Scarface showcase in which the former DJ Akshen motormouths through a tight B-boy track. In addition to being a fly example of late-’80s hip-hop, it was also the first notice a lot of people got that this Scarface character was going to be a good one.



32. “Ain’t With Being Broke” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
If you ever wondered why the Geto Boys never seemed troubled by the idea of selling dope, well, they lay out the case here in dramatic fashion. All three turn in mean, relatable rhymes on another horns-and-guitar headbanger.

31. “Gota Let Your Nuts Hang” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
Swaggering gangsta rap delivered by Scarface with supreme confidence. “Gota Let Your Nuts Hang” is the vulgar, unmistakable sound of a man and a group that’s on a major-league hot streak, and the best is yet to come.

30. “Street Life” – Till Death Do Us Part (1993)
This is the top Scarface solo track from Till Death, an album that was full of them. Full of familiar themes, it ended up on the South Central sound track, helping to spread the sound of H-Town gangsterism to hoods nationwide.

29. “Time Taker” – The Resurrection (1996)
Scarface flows unbreakably over the funkiest marimba in hip-hop history here. Willie D, too, is in his absolute prime as a rapper and lyricist, keeping pace with his partner. Ain’t to be skipped.

28. “Gangsta of Love” ("Sweet Home Alabama" version) – The Geto Boys (1990)
Many who came a little late to the Geto Boys’ rap beatdown only ever knew this version of “Gangsta of Love,” which swaps in a Lynyrd Skynyrd sample for the original’s Steve Miller Band. The explicitly sexist lyricism is still memorable enough to earn a high spot on this list, but the rebel flag-waving Skynyrd is a bit of an uncomfortable fit.



27. “I’m Not a Gentleman” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
A thugged-out response to Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First,” “I’m Not a Gentleman” is Willie D at his dick-swingin’, swaggering best. You see, to Willie, “gentleman” is just another name for “sucker.” It’s some awfully harsh stuff, as usual, but plenty of fun to rap along to.

26. "Let a Ho Be a Ho" — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
The Geto Boys were never much given to lamenting human nature. In general, they prefer to profit from it. Willie D certainly sounds in no rush to reform any scandalous women out there on this sexist classic from his earliest days with the Boys. This was the kind of writing he was doing for the group that helped convince J. Prince that the group needed to head in a new and outrageous direction.

25. "Another Nigger in the Morgue" – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
The body count throughout the Geto Boys’ musical catalogue is astronomical, but not many songs added as many toe tags to the tally as this tune. It’s hard to top Scarface bragging about being so comfortable about death that he can fall asleep lying next to a dead man. A top-notch gangsta fantasy.

24. "Fuck ’Em" — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
Some crucial Tony Montana samples introduce this break-heavy organ tune, with all three Geto Boys triple-teaming the haters with more F-bombs than maybe any rap tune that came before. If your mom heard this one blaring out of the boom box, you were fucked.

23. "Read These Nikes" — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
On wax, Willie D is rap’s ultimate ass-kicker, and he was never more obsessed with physical violence than on this standout solo from his debut with the Getos. It was easy to take his threats seriously when he recounted these beatings (and shootings, don’t forget those!) with such obvious glee.

22. “Fuck a War” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
Bushwick Bill was against the Iraq war at least a decade before it was cool. This anti-patriotic screed was the ultimate in subversiveness back in ’91, when barely a word was spoken against the United States’ initial Middle Eastern adventure. But Bushwick let it be known he had no intention of getting his leg shot off while “Bush’s old ass on TV playin’ golf.” The song was a spiteful protest that only Bushwick Bill could carry.



21. “Six Feet Deep” – Till Death Do Us Part (1993)
A slowed-down Commodores sample sets the pace for this thug funeral anthem, which sounds like the sad audio equivalent of pouring out a 40-ouncer. Melodically, it’s a sister song to “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta,” which was released about six months prior.

20. “Making Trouble” — Making Trouble (1988)
This rip is maybe the most Rick Rubin track the Ghetto Boys ever made, made years before the superproducer got involved with the group. Run-DMC are probably still waiting on their royalties. But as far as Johnny C and Sire Juke Box’s "King of Rock" era goes, it gets no better than the album’s title track.

19. “Gangsta of Love” ("The Joker" version) — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
“Gangsta of Love” just ain’t “Gangsta of Love” without that “Joker” sample. It remains a live staple of the group’s set today because it’s still so memorable.

18. "Scarface" — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
This song was basically Scarface’s introduction to the world as a solo artist. It wouldn’t be long before his fame and acclaim overshadowed the other Geto Boys a bit, and it all started with the flow on his namesake cut.

17. "City Under Siege" – The Geto Boys (1990)
The “mugshots” album was mostly just Rick Rubin’s remix of Grip It!, but it did include a fine addition in “City Under Siege.” Drenched in dope-game paranoia, this song was tailor-made to unsettle George H. W. Bush’s America, depicting a world in which crack dealers are more trustworthy than the cops.

16. “Homie Don’t Play That” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
The most danceable affirmation yet that Willie D needs a good reason not to kick your ass. One imagines that Damon Wayans has had to listen to this classic more than he’s cared to over the years.



15. "Do It Like a G.O." — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
I can’t be sure, but I think this may have been the first song that Willie D brought to the Geto Boys, back before he’d officially joined. It’s pretty easy to hear the potential that J. Prince saw in Willie here, and the self-promoting pleasure the mogul takes in his “I ain’ts ta be fucked with!” outro is obvious.

14. “Crooked Officer” – Till Death Do Us Part (1993)
This is one from Till Death that really stuck. “Crooked Officer” could have probably used Willie D to hammer it home, but it’s memorable enough to find a place here in the Top 15.

13. “Geto Fantasy” – The Resurrection (1996)
On the fist-shaking victory lap that is The Resurrection, the Geto Boys were feeling good enough about their reunion to allow themselves a little “Geto Fantasy.” Featuring one of Bushwick Bill’s smoothest flows ever, it’s somehow upbeat despite its ever-dark subject matter.

12. “G Code” – The Foundation (2005)
This Scarface track made the biggest dent on The Foundation. Strumming some hard strings over a funky little guitar line, the instrumental track provides a terrific platform for one of the greats to go to work. It earns bonus points for inspiring those dope “We Don’t Talk to Police” billboards advertising the Getos’ appearance at FPSF a few years back, too.



11. “The World Is a Ghetto” – The Resurrection (1996)
This song accomplishes the mean feat of opening your eyes to the desperate ghetto experience around the globe without making you upset about it at all. To be perfectly honest, watching your homeboys die has never sounded like a breezier, more easygoing way to pass the time as it does here, before or since.

10. “Balls and My Word” – Making Trouble (1988)
This DJ solo track is DJ Reddy Red’s finest hour as the Ghetto Boys’ turntablist. “Balls and My Word” is mostly just gunshots and Al Pacino samples — something that’s been done countless times since. But never did they sound this fresh or musical.

9. “Chuckie” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
It was a premise too fun to resist. A demented, diminutive Bushwick Bill starring in his own auditory slasher film? “Chuckie” was hip-hop destiny, plain and simple. The biggest mystery is why Hollywood never took a crack at putting it on film. Too scared, probably. Pussies.

8. “It Ain’t Shit” – Till Death Do Us Part (1993)
Till Death Do Us Part is nobody’s favorite Geto Boys album, but no one can argue that the mighty Scarface did not pull his weight on the record. In fact, “It Ain’t Shit” turned out to be the quintessential Scarface solo verse as a Geto Boy, really solidifying his place in the conversation for greatest of all time. Till Death was a record ’Face never wanted to put out, but he still managed to turn it into his album.

7. "Size Ain’t Shit" — Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
This song was an amazing spotlight for one of hip-hop’s most fraught characters, telling you everything you need to know about Bushwick Bill in four verses. Penned for him by Willie D, this was the song that made Bill a real part of the group and solidified the classic lineup. “Size Ain’t Shit” was Bushwick’s song, but in a way, it introduced all three of them.

6. "Assassins" – The Geto Boys (1990)
This song was just a rehash of Prince Johnny C’s track from Making Trouble, sure. But it’s still great. Listening to those verses come from the lips of Willie D, Bushwick Bill and Scarface feels like the way “Assassins” was meant to be heard. No disrespect to Juke Box and them, but the original Ghetto Boys were never this hard, even on their most psychopathic tune.



5. “Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta” – Uncut Dope: Geto Boys’ Best (1992)
This is white people’s favorite Geto Boys song. Yes, they know it from the iconic montage in Office Space, which — let’s be real — did manage to elevate the song in status. It’s the closest thing the Getos have to an easygoing song, and it still works in explicit disses to Republicans and “pussy-eating pranksters” alike. As far as I can tell, it’s the only time Rap-A-Lot mogul J. Prince ever rapped on a Geto Boys track, too. The song works because it does feel good. Really good.

4. “Assassins” – Making Trouble (1988)
This was the song that really started the Ghetto Boys down the path to greatness. On that debut album, amidst all the Run-DMC worship, this track stands out like a urinal cake at a pastry shop. It was just about the most gonzo rap song ever written at the time, since believe it or not, not a lot of guys were rapping about slicing prostitutes’ guts up like spaghetti in ’88. Ultimately, Johnny C realized he didn’t have the stomach for it, either, but not before showing J. Prince how the Geto Boys could make a controversial name for themselves.

3. "Mind of a Lunatic" – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
Oh, you thought “Assassins” was pretty tough? Well, a year later, over the sound of a funky drummer, ‘Face, Bushwick and Willie D spat out a slab of righteous horrorcore that still sounds no less insane today than the day it was recorded. Its tales of smoking PCP, raping innocents, murdering cops and straight-up drop-kicking bitches were impossible to ignore, and they helped to turn the Geto Boys stars.

2. “Still” – The Resurrection (1996)
The soundtrack to cinema’s most celebrated crime against technology, “Still” would sound just as good even if Office Space never existed. The blaring, frightening opener to The Resurrection served as a potent warning that the Geto Boys were back, that they were on top of their game and that they still had a strong taste for lyrical death and dismemberment. It remains a live favorite, making Geto Boys shows the rare experience where you can watch hundreds of smiling people chant “Die motherfucker, die motherfucker!”



1. “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” – We Can’t Be Stopped (1991)
Probably no great surprise here at No. 1. “Mind Playin’ Tricks on Me” was the Geto Boys’ biggest hit, threatening to turn them into household names. But even if it hadn’t been a smash, it would still be their best song. Over the course of three amazing verses, the song explores the inner terror of living with paranoia, hallucinations and insomnia. It’s dark as hell, but still sympathetic. Most important, it helped establish once and for all that hip-hop artists from Houston, Texas, could write first-class rap songs that no one had ever dreamed of before. We’ve been on the map ever since.