Bushwick Bill

Bushwick Bill born Richard William Stephen Shaw Kingston Jamaica December 8 1966 June 9 2019 was a JamaicanAmerican rapper and record producer He was best known as a member of the pioneering Texas hip hop group Geto Boys a group he originally joined as a dancer in 1986 as Little Billy He went on to become one third of the bestknown incarnation of the group alongside Willie D and Scarface Bushwick Bill was born Richard Stephen Shaw on December 8 1966 in Kingston Jamaica His father was a merchant marine and his mother was a maid Shaw was born with dwarfism and was listed as 3 feet 8 inches 112 cm tall Shaw got his start in the music industry in 1986 as a member of the Geto Boys 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 RapALot dropping all members from the group except for Bill and DJ Ready Red Soon after RapALot CEO J Prince recruited Scarface and Willie Dee 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 genre It was around this time the groups lyrical content began to generate controversy which was multiplied in 1991 when the cover of the groups third album We Cant Be Stopped depicted a graphic image of Bill moments after he shot himself during an argument with his girlfriend Nevertheless the album went on to be their most successful to that point being certified platinum in 1992 Bushwick Bill can be heard on the album The Chronic by Dr Dre he appears in the video of Dre Day as one of EazyEs fellow rappers His 1998 album No SurrenderNo Retreat was dedicated to his friend Gil Epstein a Fort Bend County prosecutor who was shot dead in Houston Texas in 1996 On June 19 1991 Shaw shot himself in the eye during an argument with his girlfriend losing his right eye in the process while under the influence of Everclear grain alcohol and PCP The aftermath of the incident was documented on the album cover for Geto Boys 1991 album We Cant Be Stopped which shows Shaw being pushed through the hospital on a gurney by bandmates Willie D and Scarface Shaw claims he died and came back to life during the incident and has made reference to it in his music In 2006 he became a bornagain Christian On May 2010 Shaw was arrested in Georgia for possession of marijuana and cocaine Based on his prior arrest record he was facing deportation On May 1 2019 Shaw revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer On June 9 2019 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 Colorado