Bushwick Bill

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 hip hop group Geto Boys, a group he originally joined as a breakdancer in 1986 as Little Billy. He went on to become one third of the most popular incarnation of the group, alongside Willie D and Scarface.

Early life

Bushwick Bill was born Richard William Stephen Shaw on December 8, 1966, in Kingston, Jamaica and was raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn. His father was a merchant mariner and his mother was a maid. He was born with dwarfism and as an adult was listed as 3 feet 8 inches (112 cm) tall.

Career

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 Rap-A-Lot dropping all members from the group except for Bill and DJ Ready Red. Soon afterwards, Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince recruited Scarface and Willie Dee, two local aspiring artists from Houston to be in the second...

Read full biography on Wikipedia →