Willie D, the Fifth Ward-bred founder of Houston rap pioneers the Geto Boys, is marking his 60th birthday with an all-star roast at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land. The event, dubbed “The Roast of Willie D: Cooked by Legends,” is set for Wednesday, October 28, and will be recorded live for television, arriving just days before his actual birthday on Sunday, November 1.
D.L. Hughley will host the roast, with Cedric the Entertainer and Houston native Ali Siddiq among the featured comedians, according to the Houston Chronicle. Organizers say more guests will be announced in the coming weeks, promising a lineup of comedians, musicians and surprise appearances. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer share a well-worn comedic partnership dating back to Spike Lee’s 2000 concert film The Original Kings of Comedy, which grossed more than $38 million and helped cement both men as national comedy stars.
Tickets for the roast go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through ATG Tickets, per the Houston Chronicle’s reporting, though presale access reportedly opens Wednesday ahead of that general release, according to CultureMap Houston. Smart Financial Centre, an $84 million venue owned by the City of Sugar Land and operated by ATG Entertainment, opened in January 2017 and can seat up to 6,400 guests, making it the primary indoor performance venue in Fort Bend County, per the City of Sugar Land Economic Development office.
From Fifth Ward Roots to Rap-A-Lot Records
Willie D, born William James Dennis, is turning 60 as one of the last surviving founding voices of the Geto Boys, the group that formed in Houston’s Fifth Ward in the late 1980s and, per the Chronicle, put Southern hip-hop on the national map. Recording for Rap-A-Lot Records, the Geto Boys pioneered horrorcore, a subgenre built on horror-themed lyrics and imagery, and the classic lineup included Willie D, Scarface and Bushwick Bill. Their 1991 single “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” co-written by Willie D, peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped push the album We Can’t Be Stopped to platinum status, according to Alchetron…