Geto Boys & Scarface Get amazing Vinyl Reissues

[The Predator]

The Diary lyrical booklet 

The blue swirled vinyl 

I am humbled and appreciative of Get On Down giving me the chance to unbox and show off these vinyl reprints of two classic Rap-A-Lot Records releases - the 35th anniversary of Geto Boys' "We Can't Be Stopped" and the deluxe bonus track edition of Scarface's "The Diary." Non-affiliate links are below. I get no compensation if you buy them. Standard editions are still available as of this writing, but for color variations you may need to visit a third party or reseller.

https://getondown.com/products/we-can...
https://getondown.com/products/the-di...

Geto Boys & Scarface Get AMAZING Vinyl Reissues


The items you see in this review and the accompanying video were a promotional courtesy from Get On Down and Rap-A-Lot Records, to whom we are very thankful for their kindness and generosity. No money exchanged hands and no party reviewed the video or this article before their publication.

One of the defining (and most controversial) records of my childhood was "We Can't Be Stopped" by the Geto Boys. The United States seems to go through a moral panic over something that hits the mainstream culture every few years, and once heavy metal and smoking marijuana had their turn in the 1980's, the laser focused on the increasing popularity of rap music. From the politically charged anthems of Public Enemy to the lascivious raps of 2 Live Crew to the unapologetic gangster raps of N.W.A, the targets were as geographically diverse as they were stylistically different. New York, Miami and Los Angeles weren't the only batters on deck though. Houston had something to say too.

The summer of 1991 became the year the Geto Boys broke out nationwide. The lead single from their latest effort "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" had a slick Isaac Hayes sample along with verses from each rapper in the group that showed them gripped by paranoid delusions. It was as unforgettable as the shocking cover of the album that followed, showing Bushwick Bill on a hospital gurney moments after surgery following a suicide attempt. His bandmates being there to support him in a moment of crisis might seem like a moment too private to share, but you're not the Geto Boys or their publicist are you? The outrage over that picture and attempts to censor it or cover it up only made the album more desirable to people my age at the time — a classic "Streisand effect" before the term even existed.

35 years later the H-Town legend lives on, proving the Geto Boys can't be stopped then or now, and Get On Down decided to commemorate this historic anniversary with a double vinyl re-issue of a rap classic. For this review/article they sent me the "metallic blue" variant, which you won't be able to get through them (it's sold out), but the regular edition is just as worth picking up. The audio has been remastered, the artwork has been restored to its full size, and by spreading 14 tracks across two records the grooves are NICE AND FAT for each song. This is a record meant to stand the test of time, not a "Quickie" that's going to disintegrate after the needle runs over it a few times.

Besides the thick and colorful 180 gram edition of "We Can't Be Stopped," G.O.D. and Rap-A-Lot also blessed me with a reissue of "The Diary" by Scarface. It's an impressive package that comes almost 32 years after the original album dropped, complete with a publicity photo, lyric booklet, and all of the remastered audio and artwork of the other reissue. It also includes a bonus track that didn't originally make it to the record when it first came out, which could take this album from a 9.5 to a 10 for some. This too was a color variant provided by the publicist, in what I like to call Kool-Aid cherry red, but the black version is still in print as of this writing.

So you might be saying to yourself "Flash I already own both of these classics. You and your writers gave them high marks and I knew they were dope even before that. What else is there to say?" For one supporting physical media is what there is to say. With Sony ending physical production of disc based media, one of the largest purveyors of Blu-Rays, compact discs and DVDs has said "nah son." They don't want you to own your music, movies, or video games. They want you to pay to stream or license a download of it, which they can then revoke at any time leaving you with nothing while they pocket your money. Own what you love. If you own it digitally, you own nothing.

Even if you do already have physical media of these classic Geto Boys and Scarface records, supporting the artists still matters. While Bushwick Bill is sadly no longer here, Scarface and Willie D will definitely pick up a few extra royalties from the units of these albums sold. Given it's premium vinyl they may even get a better share of it than they would from discs or digital (but that's just speculation). There's also something to be said for the oversized vinyl record, the large jacket that it comes in, the larger than life artwork that can be printed to go around it, the feel of the whole thing in your hands. I couldn't love either of these albums more than I already did, but Get On Down found a way, which is why I'd encourage you to consider getting them yourself.


Quality 9.5

Collectability 9.5

Overall Score 9.5