Bushwick Bill’s is “still alive and fighting cancer” in a hospital
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UPDATED 6/9/19 12:45 pm ET: _Bushwick Bill’s publicist has told TMZ that the rapper is “still alive and fighting cancer” in a hospital. Some of Bill’s family are currently by his side with more expected to come.
Just one month after revealing he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys has died at age 52.
The news was confirmed on social media this morning by groupmate Scarface. “R.I.P. Bushwick Bill,” Scarface wrote in an Instagram post of the group performing on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise. Willie D posted a throwback picture of the trio with the caption, “This is Geto Boys for life.”
Bill’s publicist shared that someone received incorrect information and is spreading it online. Rumors likely stem from his absence at a show in Dallas on Saturday night. He was scheduled to make a special appearance, but couldn’t make it because of his hospitalization.
Initially joining the group following the exit of former Geto Boys members Sir Rap-A-Lot and Raheem, Bushwick Bill joined as a dancer under the moniker Little Billy with DJ Ready Red, Prince and Johnny C. After the group’s 1988 debut, Making Trouble, failed to garner attention, they disbanded and then restructured with Bill, Willie D, Scarface, and Ready Red.
In 1991, the group received national attention with the release of their album We Can’t Be Stopped after the album cover featured a photo of the group in the hospital following Bushwick Bill getting shot in the eye to collect insurance money for his mother.
“I was trying to find a way to, you know, have something happen to me so my mom could get insurance money,” he said on Viceland’s “Party Legends.” “If you commit suicide, I don’t think life insurance honors that. So I was trying to make an accident happen.”
“So I rolled it up in a really nice blunt,” he continued. “What I didn’t know is that there was formaldehyde inside of the weed. And it’s P.C.P.”
“I smoke it, and I’m sitting there. All of a sudden, I got this idea. What if I go wake my mom up, provoke her, hand her a gun, and have her shoot me? I’ll be able to get to heaven; my mom gets the life insurance, everybody is happy!”
“So she grabbed the gun, and I put my face right in front of it. She pulled the trigger, but she closed her eyes and turned her head first, so it didn’t work out that way. “When I came to, I thought I was dead. I got up, and I looked at myself in the mirror. I’m like, ‘If you’re dead, you ought to be able to see through yourself. Why can’t I see through myself?'” Previous reports stated Bill shot himself following an argument with his then-girlfriend.
The lead single from the album, “Minds Playing Tricks On Me” peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs Chart.
Back in May, it was announced that the Geto Boys were reuniting for one last tour, shortly after Bill pulled out of the tour after stating that promoters were exploiting his cancer diagnosis for ticket sales and promotion. He then announced his own tour that was supposed to start this weekend.
Bushwick Bill leaves behind four children.