UPDATE: According to TMZ, which originally reported Bushwick Bill's death, the rapper's publicist says that the MC is still alive and the stories of his passing were incorrect. TMZ also suggests that the rumors of Bill's death may have stemmed from the cancellation of a performance in Dallas Saturday night.
ORIGINAL POST: Bushwick Bill — a founding member of the iconic Texan hip-hop group Geto Boys and the self-described inventor of horrorcore — has died. He was 52. Geto Boys' Scarface confirmed the news via Instagram. Bill was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in February, and though the group announced in May that they would embark on a reunion tour, that trek was eventually canceled.
Born Richard Shaw in Jamaica, Bushwick Bill first joined Geto Boys in the late Eighties as the dancer under the name "Little Billy" before he began rapping in the group. The cover of Geto Boys' classic 1991 album, We Can't Be Stopped, infamously featured a graphic photo of Bill in the hospital after losing an eye in a gunshot incident. According to legend, the rapper was declared dead only to wake up in the morgue very much alive. Bill — who issued six solo albums, in addition to his releases with Geto Boys — pioneered the "horrorcore" style, which focuses around themes of horror, gore and death, rapping about being a real-life version of Chucky from Child's Play and more. As such, he paved the way for everyone from Insane Clown Posse and Necro to Ghostemane and $uicideboy$. Bill was also beloved by many metalheads and metal bands, including the Deftones, who invited him onstage at SXSW in 2016; you can see video of that performance below.
