Bushwick Bill, a member of the Houston rap trio Geto Boys, has died at the age of 52. The rapper born Richard Shaw recently revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Geto Boys’ Scarface confirmed Shaw’s death in a pair of Instagram posts Sunday morning. “RIP Bushwick Bill…,” Scarface wrote. “You will be missed.” Geto Boys’ Willie D also acknowledged Shaw’s death on social media.
As Shaw recalled in a TMZ interview, doctors told him earlier this year, “‘We see a mass on your pancreas and we can’t understand it. It’s not alcohol, it’s not sugar, it’s not diabetes. They went through all kinds of stuff. And finally, by February 8th, they said it was stage 4 [pancreatic] cancer.”
“I figure keeping it myself is not really helping nobody, and I’m not really afraid of dying because if anyone knows anything about me from [his 1992 song] ‘Ever So Clear,’ I died and came back already in June 1991, so I know what it’s like on the other side,” the rapper added, referring to the incident where he accidentally shot himself in the eye.
Rapper Bun B was among the first to note Shaw’s death on social media. “April 7. The last time I saw him. He was, is and will always be a legend. God bless his soul and his family. There will never be another. RIP Bushwick Bill,” Bun B wrote. Juicy J, Questlove, Killer Mike and others also tweeted condolences to the rapper.
Insane Clown Posse tweeted, “RIP Bushwick Bill. I can’t even tell you how much your music has meant to me and what being inspired by your music has done for me and my life. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. You will be greatly missed. We’ll rock with you again on the other side. God bless you homie.”
The Jamaica-born Shaw, who was born with dwarfism and first performed under the moniker Little Billy, joined the Geto Boys in 1986 following a stint as the group’s dancer. As Bushwick Bill, the rapper became an important member of the rap group whose classic lineup – Bushwick Bill, Willie D and Scarface – influenced both southern hip-hop and the horrorcore genre.
This story is developing…