Geto Boys MC Willie D recently sat down for an interview with VladTV and explained why he didn’t show up to Bushwick Bill and DJ Ready Red’s funerals.
During the conversation, Willie made some comments about Red that didn’t resonate well with his younger sister Ada Johnson.
While Red is no longer here to speak up, Johnson is.
In an exclusive statement to HipHopDX, Johnson insists her brother never groveled to get back into the Geto Boys. (He’d left in the group in the early ’90s after producing the Geto Boys’ first three albums — 1988’s Making Trouble, 1989’s Grip It! On That Other Level and 1990’s official self-titled debut The Geto Boys.)
“Though I’d been aware of the VladTV interview with Willie D regarding Bushwick Bill, I never felt compelled to watched it because I’d heard it was pretty disrespectful towards Bill,” she says. “I didn’t want to watch it out of respect to my brother and Bill’s family. But this morning [July 13], I was tagged in the segment pertaining to Will’s thoughts on Bill and my brother’s funerals and I realized my original posture was correct.
“After my brother passed away, I was really grateful to Will for his kind words to me on the phone, respecting my wish to not share the news until my entire family was notified, and for the video he posted when I gave him the go ahead. I told Will then speaking to him in that moment and hearing the love for my brother really healed my heart. So it truly saddens me to feel how I feel right now.”
At the time of Red’s death, Willie issued a video statement on Instagram, saying, “Red was the Geto Boys’ first DJ and producer. He gave us our sound. He was responsible for most of the production on the early stuff and all of the production on my first album Controversy.
“To say he was a pioneer would be an understatement. Red was before his time. There’s a lot of producers today that are eating off of Red and don’t even know why their bellies are full.”
Needless to say, Johnson was shocked Willie seemed to switch up his tone and claimed he would’ve felt unwelcome at Red’s funeral.
“Out of respect for my brother and Will, I will not sit here and go into detail about our conversation after my brother’s funeral,” she says. “I will not even go into a he said/she said dispute about who’s bitter, who was begging for who to come back into group or the status of their relationship. What I will say is my brother passed away on August 24, 2018 and a gigantic hole was left in my family in his absence.
“I will tell you that even now it’s a struggle not to call my brother’s phone or look for his daily Facebook post telling everyone to have great day. I will tell you that not a week goes by that his real friends and brothers from Rap-A-Lot don’t call or check in with me to make sure my family is ok.”
Johnson is also adamant Willie isn’t being truthful about how everything went down.
“Unfortunately, Bushwick Bill and my brother are no longer here to defend themselves, but I am,” she adds. “My brother wasn’t perfect, but he was never a beggar! He may have been vocal, but he always remained respectful towards the other members.
“In the immortal words of Tony Montana, ‘All I have in this world is my balls and my word, and I don’t break either for nobody!’ That wasn’t just a song for my brother, that was his personal motto! I just wish others felt the same.”
Willie’s focus lately has been on politics. Earlier this month, he announced he’s running for Houston City Council just like his fellow Geto Boys member Scarface.
Willie d sounded credible to me .
So you believe the sister, then?
Its always vlad channel smmfh
I’m a big Geto Boys fan and I thought Rick Rubin produced the Self titled 1990 album. Willie D was the one begging to be back in. I had his 2 solo albums with Sho on Wize Up records. They were hot but little promoted. I’ll miss Bushwick Bill he had the best solo album out of them all and Phantom of the Rapra was hot with that Robin Trower sample. Big Mike’s solo was second. IMO
You must didn’t hear “Mr. Scarface Is Back”, the album. If you did and don’t think that is the best solo album from any GB, then you’re clearly tweekin’.
Mr Scarface Is Back wasn’t better than Diary. Even scarface put it low on his favorite alabums list.
Mr Scarface is back isn’t better than The Diary though. Scarface put it low on his list of best albums.
Big Mike Somethin Serious, Bushwick Bill Phantom of the Rapra and Scarface The Diary are my favorite solo albums. Big Mike spit the best out of all em.
Bushwick Bill had the best solo album out of the group?? You must be one of those millennials who heard that Bushwick passed away, and then you started listening to his music. Just like those kids who never listened to NWA until they saw Straight Outta Compton. No way in hell Bushwick’s solo albums are better than Scarface’s. But hey, it’s your opinion.
First off I’m from htown born and raised so let me give you some information the world is yours is way better bushwick’s first album ever could have been lot of respect for my boy though rest in peace but the untouchable and the fix are arguably two of The Greatest Albums in hip hop history
What About Scarface’s Solo Abums?
Never knew Show had another one. I got the first one. What’s the name of the second? I need to hunt that down.
Interviewers these days are so desperate that they will interview a mentally impaired man, like this man, to increase the size of their audience. Even if the interviewer did not know this man was mentally impaired before the interview, the moment the interviewer saw the man’s child-like demeanor, blank stare while being spoken to, emotional detachment, and struggle to communicate basic thoughts, he should have done damage control for the man. Instead, the interviewer just sat back and let the man make a blubbering fool of himself.
doing it for clout
He never said anything about anybody grovelling or begging to get back in the group. He just said he wanted back in, and they denied him because they already replaced him.
What exactly did lie about?
I saw the interview and I didn’t see nor hear Willie D say anything disrespectful. I thought he chose his words very carefully. If you watch or read stories about Bushwick before his death, the stories are the same crazy ass type of stories. Bushwick was off the chain, why change the narrative after his death, in life, he did crazy shit!!!!
Willie dickhead is a bitch. Mad bill fucked his wife and sister.
Never heard of that
I didnt know so much turmoil was going on in if not of my favorite hip hop group’s of all time. Whatever they were going through didnt effect the music nor the message. If anything i thank them all for being able to whold it together long enough to wake up and inspire the hip hop community. I cant imagine rap without the Geto Boys contribution.
Where you been. Been problems with that group since the original, original group got replaced with the ones everyone thinks are the originals, and then there was always beef between the members, mainly Face and Willie D. with Bushwick, and then Big Mike and Face don’t fuck with each other at all. The only part I never heard was the Ready Red beef. The rest is what you get when yo put three crazy mofos together like them.
U sound mad
So what if she is mad? That was her brother. I don’t know a person alive that hasn’t been angry . Sometimes people don’t know what to say so they just say stupid shit like you sound mad. Well you sound stupid.
Just in response to Face’s best album…to ME…it was Untouchable…hands down. RIP Bill AND Red! ✌
Fix ,diary, balls n my word. Take ya pick
I PICC “THE DIARY”.
Hell or Made
Face’s most popular album in the mid 90’s is “Untouchable,” but the best one is “My Homies II,” 2006.
WOW.
Aww C’mon. Dissing Willie D Like That?!
God Bless DJ Ready Red he was a close friend of mine he is definitely missed
That interview wasn’t disrespectful, it could’ve been misleading to the ones who know what happened…but that interview was for the fans not the families ..all that other dumb shit stays with the group and the families..willie has nothing to gain from red or bill dying..shit, without willie most of the fans wouldn’t even know bill and red passed …red might told his sister one thing and then said something else…same for willie…bottom line, the music is dope and the geto boys made their mark….let that dumb shit go