We Can’t Be Stopped

I think my manic depressive state and suicidal tendencies played a huge role on who I was back then. “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” was one of the numerous songs I wrote and produced myself. There were three verses: my first two verses—the verse that Bill rapped was my own third verse. It was a record I originally recorded for my solo album, but nobody wanted that song. I swear…nobody. Willie D. didn’t think the record would work, but he wrote a verse to it anyway after J had done his research on this song. He found some people who were really feeling it. He wanted everybody to rap on it. It became a Geto Boys record.

If you look at my face on the We Can’t Be Stopped album cover you can tell I didn’t want to be apart of that photo shoot. Bill was still in the hospital. He was highly sedated, man. (Just days before the We Can’t Be Stopped photo shoot, a drunken and depressed Bushwick Bill shot himself in the eye after his girlfriend refused to shoot him during an altercation.) We took that picture at the actual hospital where Bill was at. And Chief, who was our manager at the time, said, ‘Bill, take the eye patch down.’ And I was like, ‘Awww f**k! Man, this is some bulls**t.’ I strongly believe that what goes on in this house stays in this house. I didn’t really want to put Bill out there like that. How many people have gotten their eye shot out and captured it on an album cover for everyone to remember? It’s hard to wake up in the morning and deal with that one.

Any student of Hip-Hop or music in general needs to read this article, I took some of my favorite albums from Brad and put them after the jump, but Vibe has his entire catalog broken down in chronological order. Classic material.

Thanks to Vibe Magazine.

Mr. Scarface Is Back (1991)

That album cover was shot near the same place we recorded the first Geto Boys album. And, no, that wasn’t real coke on the table. That was fucking flour. But the guns were real. Still, I was so reckless back then that at 19-year-old I know I would have taken that coke and sold it [laughs].

Willie D. didn’t like the fact that Scarface of the Geto Boys was printed on the cover. He did not like that s**tone bit. But the plan was for me to always go solo. J new that; it was always understood. I think a song like “Mr. Scarface” became so popular because there were a lot of elements to it. First, it had that nursery rhyme intro that everybody could sing to. Then there was a real story you could follow. I consider myself a storyteller.

Mr. Scarface – Untouchable

I was living in Oakwood, California while I was recording The Untouchable, staying in the La Mandrian. Tupac comes up to my room and I’m already high, but this dude is trying to get me to go somewhere. Now I’m from Texas…we didn’t have that grade of weed they had in Cali. How and the fuck can I go somewhere? I was like, ‘Nigga, there’s the remote control. I’m going to watch TV.’ Pac ended up leaving, but the next day, he came through Sunset Blvd. and bust a u-turn in the middle of the street when he saw my manager. They told me Pac was downstairs and I was like, ‘Ah man….fuck’ [laughs] He was in the car with Eddie Griffin.

Pac drove up and he had a Hummer at the time when they had just come out. Him and Eddie just came from drinking at the Hyatt. ‘Pac and I toured together, so I knew how wild he could get. I found out later that he didn’t even have his driver’s license! So I come down and ‘Pac is like, ‘Yeah nigga…we are going to do some shit in the studio.’ It was his idea to record that “Smile” song. We had a blast, dog. I left and went to my recording studio and a few weeks later Pac comes though and he plays Makaveli for us. Dope, right? And again, he’s trying to get me to come out with him. ‘Pac is like, ‘Come on, man…you spending too much time in the studio. Just write and record that shit!’ I could sit in the studio for six years and not put an album out [laughs]. But ‘Pac couldn’t sit in the studio for six days and not have an album out. His work ethic was serious.

“Smile” was slated to be a single even before Tupac’s death. But I really didn’t want to shoot that video. I wanted to leave his death like it was. The video didn’t drop until after Notorious B.I.G. died. Now I’m grown and thinking about how short these geniuses’ lives were. Damn.