Willie D Wants Young Rappers To Stop Fearing Getting Older

Willie D is ready to be the elder that younger artists approach when they need guidance. The Geto Boys veteran is embracing life at 60 with a clear idea of who he wants to become.

“I asked for this,” Willie D told the Defender in an interview posted November 10. “I want to be the old dude on the porch that the youngsters come to for information.”

He’s carrying that attitude into how he talks about today’s artists. Willie D doesn’t have to like every record to respect someone making an honest living, especially after watching people around him end up imprisoned or dead.

At home, being someone his children could trust meant keeping his promises. He also credits parenting with teaching him flexibility and making room to learn from his children instead of assuming he already has every answer.

His career gives those conversations a history stretching well beyond a podcast microphone. Alongside Bushwick Bill and Scarface, Willie D helped make the Geto Boys a national presence while their music wrestled with fear and the consequences of violence.

Their 1991 album We Can’t Be Stopped earned platinum certification, and “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” crossed onto the pop charts. Its verses put paranoia into the conversation without sanding away the group’s street-level perspective.

That success came through Houston’s Rap-A-Lot Records rather than a move away from the city that shaped the group. The record reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200, while its signature single climbed to No. 23 on the Hot 100.

AllHipHop previously covered his plans for a birthday roast featuring D.L. Hughley and other comedians. This new interview puts the focus on what he wants younger people to gain from the years he’s already lived.

His solo catalog began with Controversy, which arrived back in 1989.