If you know anything about Ghetto Rainbow, you know they're brash, bombastic and brazen to say the least. As what will in time reveal itself to be the most underrated contribution to the world of Gangsta Rap, Ghetto Rainbow has already been credited as taking the art form to the next level, and in a remarkably brief period of time. In an environment where most gangsta rappers were obsessed with their "bitches and ho's", Ghetto Rainbow chose instead to focus on their "homies and bros". A bold move indeed, one that sent a shockwave through the underbelly of the music industry.
In July of '98 I signed them to my esteemed urban label Rapple-Dapple Recordingz. Most major labels were afraid to take a chance on them, and it paid off big time. To be honest, I did it because I genuinely liked them(in a completely platonic, heterosexual way of course, because I just LOVE women).
The greatest thing about GR is that they were both movers AND shakers. Just weeks after signing them, they'd already completed three albums, were embarking on a world tour, and were featured in both Right On! and Out magazine. How do you like those Rapple-Dapple Apples?!
By the end of their world tour(which included a sold-out performance at San Quentin) they had it all and then some. For like the mythic phoenix or the 500-watt bulb their candle burned twice as bright - but it also burned at both ends. Fourteen albums and eighteen months later, Ghetto Rainbow was no more.
It was on Dec. 31st, 1999 that GR made the tragic mistake so many music legends have made time and time again. Having only one hour to make it from Oakland to a New Year's gig in San Francisco, they opted to fly in Bruce G's brand-new, gold-plated Cesena. Bruce G(who'd been GR's resident beat-boxer since the group's inception) insisted that his expertise at Microsoft Flight Simulator '98 more than compensated for his lack of a pilot's license. Unfortunately he was wrong. Dead wrong.
On Jan. 1st, 2000, the gold-plated Cesena was reported to have crashed in the Rocky Mountains. The plane's black box revealed complications occuring as Bruce G busted into a freestyle beat-boxing session over the PA system, completely disregarding the controls altogether. What was to be the start of a new millenium became the end of an era.
There has been much discussion as to whether or not the plane crash was a government conspiracy, a feeble attempt to silence an outspoken minority of a minority. I don't know what to say either way, although I do know that the feds had been on GR's tail from square one. Regardless of the verdict, Ghetto Rainbow's demise will not be in vain, for their impact on Gangsta Rap, Soft-Core Rap and Hardcore Hip-Hop alike will be felt for years to come- in the bay area, and beyond!
-Cornelius Watson, CEO, Rapple-Dapple Recordingz
