Richard William Stephen Shaw (December 8, 1966 – June 9, 2019), better known by his stage name Bushwick Bill, was a Jamaican rapper. He was a member of the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

hip hop group

Geto Boys Geto Boys (originally spelled Ghetto Boys) were an American hip hop group originally formed in Houston, Texas. They saw commercial success in the 1990s with the lineup consisting of Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Willie D. The group became best ...

, a group he originally joined as a

breakdancer Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly of ...

in 1986 as Little Billy. He went on to become one third of the most popular incarnation of the group, alongside

Willie D William James Dennis (born November 1, 1966) is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He emerged as a member of the hip hop group Geto Boys, which he formed in 1986 alongside fellow Houston rappers Bushwick Bill and Scarface. He signed wit ...

and Scarface.

Early life

Bushwick Bill was born Richard William Stephen Shaw on December 8, 1966, in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica. His father was a merchant mariner, and his mother was a maid. Shaw was born with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

and as an adult was listed as tall.

Career

Shaw got his start in the music industry in 1986 as a member of the

, where he performed as a dancer known as Little Billy. He later transitioned to rapping, and was featured on the Geto Boys' debut album, '' Making Trouble'' in 1988. The album received little attention and negative reviews, which led to Rap-A-Lot dropping all members from the group except for Bill and DJ Ready Red. Soon after, Rap-A-Lot CEO

J. Prince James Prince (born James Andre Smith; October 31, 1965) is an American record executive, music promoter and talent manager. He founded the Houston-based Southern hip-hop record label Rap-A-Lot Records in 1986, which has discovered or signed art ...

recruited Scarface and

ee, two local aspiring artists out of Texas as the second incarnation of the group. The new lineup began recording together in 1988 and their debut project as a group and second overall for the Geto Boys, '' Grip It! On That Other Level'' was released in 1989 to much better reception, being considered a classic album and one of the earliest entries into the

Horrorcore Horrorcore (also called shock rap, horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, death rap, or murder rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from ...

genre. It was around this time the group's lyrical content began to generate controversy, which was multiplied in 1991 when the cover of the group's third album ''

We Can't Be Stopped ''We Can't Be Stopped'' is the third studio album by Geto Boys, released on July 9, 1991. It was among their most successful records in terms of units sold. The album is analysed track-by-track by Geto Boys in Brian Coleman's book '' Check the ...

'' depicted a graphic image of Bill moments after he shot himself during an argument with his girlfriend.Full Clip: Scarface Breaks Down Geto Boys & Solo Catalogue
''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

''. August 6, 2010 Nevertheless, the album went on to be their most successful to that point, being certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

in 1992.Bush, John
"Geto Boys"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved June 17, 2011 Bushwick Bill can be heard on the album ''

The Chronic ''The Chronic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his record label Death Row Records along with Interscope Records and distributed by Priority Records. The recording ses ...

'' by

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

; he appears in the video of "

Dre Day "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", or censored as a single (music), single titled "Dre Day", is a song by American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg and uncredited vo ...

" as one of

Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. Eazy-E is often re ...

's fellow rappers. His 1998 album '' No Surrender...No Retreat'' was dedicated to his friend Gil Epstein, a Fort Bend County prosecutor who was shot dead in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, in 1996.

Personal life

On June 19, 1991, during an argument with his girlfriend (who was also the mother of his child), Bill was shot in the face. He lost his right eye as a result. Reports vary as to who actually fired the gun, as both participants' hands were on the weapon during the altercation. Bill has clarified that he was suicidal and attempting to force her into killing him, even going as far as to threaten their sons' life. It has also been suggested that part of the motivation was an attempt to score life insurance money for his mother. He had been under the influence of Everclear grain alcohol and PCP. The aftermath of the incident was documented on the album cover for

' 1991 album ''

'', which shows Shaw being pushed through the hospital on a gurney by bandmates

and Scarface. Shaw claimed he "died and came back to life" during the incident, and he made reference to it in his music. In 2006, he became a

born-again Christian To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

. In May 2010, Shaw was arrested in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

for possession of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

. Based on his prior arrest record and not being an American citizen, he faced

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

Illness and death

On May 1, 2019, Shaw revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. Over a month later, on June 9, reports emerged that Shaw had died, but news of his death was later refuted by his son. However, it was subsequently reported and confirmed that Shaw died later that day at a hospital in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Discography

References

External links

*
Bushwick Bill
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill, Bushwick 1966 births 2019 deaths Jamaican emigrants to the United States American rappers of Jamaican descent American shooting survivors Converts to Christianity Horrorcore artists Entertainers with dwarfism American performers of Christian hip-hop Rappers from Houston People from Bushwick, Brooklyn Rappers from Brooklyn People from Nassau County, New York African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers 21st-century American rappers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Colorado Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians Jamaican people with disabilities American musicians with disabilities Jamaican male rappers Eyepatch wearers