Raheem Bashawn, formerly of the Geto Boys, was only 17 when, in 1988, he recorded his first solo album, The Vigilante. Because the infamous, highly controversial Geto Boys are best known for gangsta rap, some people might assume that The Vigilante is a gangsta rap album. But it isn't. Although The Vigilante is definitely hardcore rap, it doesn't contain any first-person accounts of drive-by shootings, gang bangs, or carjackings. Raheem actually spends most of the album attacking rival MCs and articulating why he believes he's superior; so lyrically, The Vigilante is much closer to L.L. Cool J, Run-D.M.C. or Big .