We Can't Be Stopped

Recording

We Can't Be Stopped took only a few weeks to record. During the recording of the album, DJ Ready Red, one of the original Geto Boys members, left the group for personal reasons.

The title track was a criticism of the Geto Boys' former intended distributor, Geffen Records, after the label refused to distribute the group's previous album, The Geto Boys, because of its violent lyrics. The Bushwick Bill solo, "Fuck a War", is a criticism of then president George Bush, an anti-war song inspired by a close relative of Bill's serving in the Persian Gulf War. The hit single "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" was originally intended to be a Scarface solo with three verses but later became a group song with Bushwick Bill rapping Scarface's last verse. "I'm Not a Gentleman" was a response to Queen Latifah's "Ladies First", while "Chuckie" is a Bushwick Bill solo written by a fellow Rap-A-Lot member, Ganksta N-I-P, after the two watched the movie Child's Play together. The track "Punk Bitch Game" was influenced by Salt of Salt-n-Pepa wanting more female participation in the song, while the album's final track, "Trophy", was about the Geto Boys' frustration over the lack of attention they were receiving from music awards.

In We Can't Be Stopped, each member of the group has three solo tracks. Three tracks have all three members on the rapping roster, including a short verse from DJ Ready Red on the title track.

Album cover

The album cover is a graphic picture of member Bushwick Bill in the hospital. Bill was shot in the eye as he and his girlfriend tussled over a gun. Bushwick Bill wanted her to kill him and during the altercation he was shot as both hands were on the gun. The other two Geto Boys members and the group's management team took Bill out of the hospital room in order to take the picture, removing his eyepatch and intravenous drip in the process. Bill has expressed regret over the album cover, saying "It still hurts me to look at that cover because that was a personal thing I went through... I still feel the pain from the fact I've got a bullet in my brain... I think it was pretty wrong to do it, even though I went along with the program at first."

Reception

Alex Henderson of AllMusic called the album "an engaging, disturbing effort that comes across as much more heartfelt than the numerous gangsta rap albums by the N.W.A and Cube clones and wannabes who jumped on the gangsta bandwagon in the early '90s." James Bernard of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a "B," concluding his review with "Still, much of their new album stings, and their raw honesty has driven it onto the Billboard pop Top 40..."

The track "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" has been singled out for praise. Pitchfork Media ranked the song #45 on its Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s list, with reviewer Tom Breihan writing "This track established the South as a serious force in the music, proving that these Texans could do dark better than anyone on either coast." XXL ranked the song #14 on its list of the 250 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs from 1990 to 1999. The Source gave the track its "Best Song" award in 1991. Robert Christgau gave the album a choice cut rating, only liking "Mind Playing Tricks on Me".

There's a 'Chopped and Screwed' version of the album by DJ Spice.

Sample credits

The following samples were used on We Can't Be Stopped: