Like later Geto Boys members DJ Ready Red and Prince Johnny C, Raheem hailed originally from Trenton, N.J., though he later adopted Houston as a second hometown. Houston has some great rappers." Raheem (who rarely used his last name Ceres), was 17 at the time that article appeared, and had already left The Ghetto Boys. were saying Texas rappers ain't about nothin'. Ceres, speaking in a 1988 Los Angeles Times story which featured the headline "No Hick Jokes, Please," emphatically stated, "Rappers from New York and L.A. The group posed for a picture in front of a car parked adjacent to a Fifth Ward brick building near the intersection of Russell Street and Liberty Road. Under the Ghetto Boys spelling, the trio released "Car Freak" in 1986 at a time when group members wore flat caps and Fila tracksuits. The first incarnation of the group, known in its early days as The Ghetto Boys, had an original lineup including 14-year-old Raheem Bashawn (Oscar Ceres), 15-year-old Sire Juke Box (Keith Rogers), and J Prince's 19-year-old brother K9/Sir Rap-A-Lot (Thelton Polk) - the original namesake of the Rap-A-Lot label.
Though the lyrics and personalities of the group - Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Willie D - are part of the public's cultural stream of consciousness, their distinctive sound should also be more known on a technical level than it is. Many groups and individual artists, working in numerous genres not just limited to hip-hop, have perhaps unwittingly and often knowingly prospered as a direct result of the group's distinctive style and ouevre. Within the context of music history, The Geto Boys have achieved rarely earned nonpareil status. Their main thematic inspirations and references have included Brian DePalma's Scarface and the occasional horror-movie nemesis like Freddie Kruger, Friday the 13th's Jason or the less obviously stated Leatherface from Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The founders of the hip-hop subgenre known as horrorcore created macabre street anthems linked inextricably to the horror movie-influenced, "Helter Skelter"-style modus operandi of H-town's post-Scorsese version of Mean Streets.
The Geto Boys are unequivocally one of the best and most famous musical groups to ever come out of Houston.