Geto Boys’ Raunchy Rap Gets the Green Light

Look out, the Geto Boys are back in business.

The controversial rap group’s Def-American Records album, which became a record biz cause celebre when Geffen Records refused to release it last month, will now be distributed by the WEA Corp. That’s right--the same firm that distributes Warner Bros., Elektra and Atlantic Records . . . and Geffen Records.

Def-American chief Rick Rubin confirms he has been talking to all three major WEA labels about making a deal for the Geto Boys or distributing his entire label, which he says he’s contractually “free” to take elsewhere since Geffen refused to release the Geto Boys album.

As a producer of such hit-makers as LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, the Cult and shock-comic Andrew Dice Clay, Rubin is a highly sought-after industry Wunderkind. But the label chiefs wooing Rubin aren’t necessarily willing to risk signing the Geto Boys unless they also get the rest of Rubin’s Def-American roster, which includes Clay and heavy-metal hotshots Slayer and Danzig.

Eager to get the Geto Boys’ self-titled album out while the band is still a media draw, Rubin took the shrewd step of going directly to WEA distribution chief Henry Droz and making a deal.

“Geffen Records has taken the position of not distributing the album, but since there is apparently genuine interest in the group from our other labels, WEA is accommodating Mr. Rubin,” explained Droz, WEA Corp. president, who said the album will hit the stores Friday. “It’s really a label-to-be-named-later deal. Evidently one of our labels will be involved with the group, so we’re simply distributing the record until a decision is made about who’ll be representing Rick’s label.”

Who has the inside track? Rubin isn’t saying. In fact, with tempers cooled, he refused to rule out the prospect of staying with Geffen (which signed Rubin when his previous distributor, CBS Records, refused to release his first Danzig album). “I may decide Geffen is the best place to be,” he said. “In fact, they’ve expressed an interest in my staying.”

Meanwhile, Rubin doggedly insists that the Geto Boys, who offer both the violent imagery of N.W.A. and the graphic sexual raunch of 2 Live Crew, are a valid pop phenomenon. “Their record is very entertaining--I listen to it every day,” said Rubin, who sees the group as pioneers of a horror-rap genre. “They don’t use language or ideas that teen-agers haven’t heard every day.

“If this record had been made by a white group like the Beastie Boys, it would never have caused a sensation. But because the group is made up of young blacks, it’s viewed as scary.”

In fact, what Rubin really finds scary is the record industry’s attitude toward censorship and artistic expression. “It’s a bad time in the music business. We’re seeing labels cave in after the slightest bit of pressure. Warners made Sam Kinison enclose an AIDS education pamphlet in his record. Atlantic rejected lyrics from a recent Ratt song. That’s wrong--artists should control the way they present their art.”

Still, many industry execs--even die-hard rap supporters like Tommy Boy Records chief Monica Lynch--have blasted the Geto Boys, saying they would never promote a record with such violent language and foul, sexually graphic attitudes toward women.

“It’s unrealistic to interpret these songs as endorsing the hatred of women,” responded Rubin. “I don’t think the group actually hates women any more than I think they’re going to go out and kill somebody. We’re dealing with horror and entertainment here. The images in their lyrics, whether it’s sleeping with seven women or cutting someone up with a chain saw, are exaggerations. It’s not any more real than a horror movie. These guys are just having fun.”