Tracks of the Week: The Geto Boys Spike King Curtis’ Soul Recipe
I’ve got three recipes for you: one for soul, one for rocksteady, one for dope.
This recipe book starts in Memphis, stops in Jamaica, and ends in Houston’s 5th Ward.
If you like a tasty buildup where the track — sometimes with the help of a human tour guide — shows off its elements, one of my faves is “Memphis Soul Stew” by King Curtis and the Kingpins, where he breaks down all the ingredients that went into a classic Memphis soul track:
It wasn’t long after that that rocksteady giant Lyn Taitt and his band heard that, liked it, and made a Jamaican version of the recipe in 1968:
About two decades later, the Geto Boys are bullying their way into the national gangster rap conversation and putting Houston on the map through sheer force of will.
They raid Curtis’ original composition for samples, but add exciting regional ingredients:
I don’t listen to a ton of Geto Boys or southern stuff in general, but as the years go by, I get a greater respect for that regional, highly motivational grudge that drove Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill to grind as hard as they did.
Fair warning: The King Curtis-style buildup is playful in a “having fun at the trap” kind of way. The verses that follow are not.