The following is a Designated Cheerleader piece by @JasonJasons23 for the Best Album of 1991 tournament. Below is the cover for Geto Boys' single "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" from the album; the original cover was graphic enough that I thought it best to replace it, especially since there will be another Geto Boys DC sent to you after this one. This album is competing against Orbital's self-titled 1991 album in Round 1, hence the reference below. I hope you enjoy the piece, and I hope you follow the link to vote in the tournament. Thanks!

Wait, what’s this? Southern rap before Outkast?! I was told that simply didn’t exist!

On their second album Scarface, Willie D & Bushwick Bill deliver a fiery statement of purpose that’s righteous, threatening and fun, often all at the same time. Their pure fire and fury brings to mind previous hip hop supergroups like N.W.A. & Public Enemy, and indeed I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to call Geto Boys the south’s answer to those two groups. And just as those two groups distinctly represented their regions, with Dre’s famously funky West Coast sound and The Bomb Squad’s abrasive boom bap New Yorkah production, Geto Boys sounded uniquely southern at a time when that wasn’t a particularly viable option in hip hop (insane to think of now, when Atlanta’s been the epicenter of the hip hop world for about two decades). 

The other big effect this album had is it’s influence on the horrorcore subgenre. Hip hop had been violent and menacing before, but it had never been this downright ghoulish. Listen to a song like “Chuckie”, which is genuinely more spine tingling than anything in the Child’s Play franchise. Who else was making rap this dark in '91? There’s an air of southern flare and typical hyperbolic hip hop lunacy that keeps it from being overwhelming, but this is genuinely disturbing stuff. 

And of course there’s “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”, simply put one of the greatest rap songs of all time. The expression of pure paranoia, the perfect Isaac Hayes flip, the incredibly wise decision to let Scarface get two verses; there’s a reason it’s the song you all already know from the album. It truly is a towering achievement. 

The record isn’t without fault. Much like N.W.A., the boys mistakenly bring the same furor to women that they bring to racists and the systems that enable them. But the furor and influence shouldn’t be ignored, especially in favor of an album that sounds like the audio equivalent of those CGI VR scenes in 90’s movies. Now, I’m not going to act like there isn’t a charm to that, but it’s limited. That Orbital album is VERY 1991. It is not, to curb a phrase from Coleman and Refused, the shape of dance to come. We Can’t Be Stopped, on the other hand, is a preview of the next 30 years of what will end up being the most dominant genre in music. 

Also, listen to Scarface’s debut from this year! It’s sadly not in competition, but it’s a really solid album with a classic opener. 

--Jasonjasons23