For real?

I was paging through Rolling Stone this morning, and lingered a bit over a where-are-they-now gimmick feature, on various hip hop figures. Among them: Willie D, who was with the Geto Boys when they had the landmark hit, “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.” The Geto Boys, you may recall, were eargly gangsta rappers, with extremely raw raps and a pretty convincing Fifth Ward thug attitude. Anyway, Willie D left the music business a few years ago, took a shot at being a boxer, and today “most of his business concerns revolve around real estate.”

So far, so dull. But here are the specifics: “In 2004, the MC turned entrepreneur made signifcant property investments in the oil-rich republic of Azerbaijan. ‘Azarbaijan ain’t like the USA,’ Willie D says of the country, where he now lives with his wife and children.”

Um, what?

He goes on to say that his new home “took some time getting used to,” for reasons relating to the food and that “you’ll get your ass killed if you talk about the government.” But: “With real estate, it’s all about getting in early.”

Well, I think it’s safe to say he’s gotten in early.

Anyway, some media organization needs to send a writer or a camera crew to Azerbaijan to hang with Willie D. Immediately.