was well received in the hip hop community, and was considered to be the group's breakout album, as it gave them national exposure and eventually sold 500,000 copies.

In 1988, Rap-A-Lot Records founder James Prince decided to invest his full budget and attention towards the Ghetto Boys, as he saw them as the most promising music-act on his label.

[5] He opted to keep DJ Ready Red and their hype man Bushwick Bill, but dropped Sire Jukebox and Prince Johnny C, as he saw the latter two as copying several artists from New York City.

[5] Willie D, who had signed to Rap-A-Lot as a solo artist in 1988, was added to the group at James Prince's request as a favor.

After hearing about a local rapper named Akshen who was gaining notoriety in the Houston hip hop community, J.

[5] As the two began to compete over DJ Ready Red's beats, James Prince was impressed by Akshen's lyrical abilities, as well as his serious subject matter, which was un-common in hip hop at that time.

[5] Akshen, who would later change his stage name to Scarface, ended up getting the spot as the fourth and final member of the Geto Boys.

[2] In the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Christian Hoard stated that with Grip It!, the Geto Boys "filled a void that the mainstream didn't know they had yet; shock-rap."