Rapper Bushwick Bill recently formed his new record label, Lickle Geto Boy $N' Cents Entertainment, to help rap musicians stay away from the bad business deals that have plagued many in the past. He is marking the inception of the label with a new album, No Surrender ... No Retreat, which includes help from several artists Bushwick Bill would like to work with on the label.

"I look for people that are not trying to look or sound like me," the 4-foot-6-inch Bushwick Bill said last month. "I want artists to tell their story and share their life experience. All I have ever done is put out what I know, and that's the kind of things I want my artists to do."

Bushwick Bill was born Richard Shaw 32 years ago today in Kingston, Jamaica. Raised in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, N.Y., he was present at the 1986 formation of the gangsta-rapping Ghetto Boys (as the Geto Boys were then known) in Houston. James "Li'l J" Smith, owner of Rap-a-Lot Records, chose Bushwick Bill, Willie D and multi-instrumentalist Scarface to create a rap group that would personify the violent Fifth Ward area of Houston.

After the LPs Making Trouble and Grip It! On That Other Level, the Geto Boys switched to Def American Records. When Geffen Records balked at distributing their lyrically graphic, eponymous LP for Def American, the Boys accused the label of racism. Though the violence-filled album was eventually distributed by Virgin in 1990, the Geto Boys returned to Rap-a-Lot for the following year's We Can't Be Stopped (which included the R&B/pop hit "Mind Playing Tricks On Me").

Also in 1991, Bushwick Bill lost an eye during a drunken rage after he asked his girlfriend to shoot him to prevent him from harming their child.

Willie D quit the band in 1992; the next year, the Boys scored a big hit with Till Death Do Us Part. Bushwick Bill's solo album that year, Little Big Man, garnered attention for its scary description of how he lost the eye.

Bushwick Bill made two more LPs with the Geto Boys, but left the group in late 1994. A year later, he released his second solo effort, Phantom of the Rapra.

In September of this year, Bushwick Bill filed a $20 million lawsuit against Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, Rap-a-Lot Records, a Houston comedy club and five individuals who, he said, attacked him and pulled a gun on him Aug. 28 over his efforts to free himself from his old contract. The $20 million covers Bushwick Bill's injuries and the royalties he claims to be owed by Virgin/Noo Trybe/Rap-A-Lot.

Bushwick Bill's new album includes 19 cuts featuring such new artists (and labelmates) as D-ology, Three Hard Headz, Dual Persona and Nate G.

D-ology said of Bushwick Bill: "He comes from an artist's standpoint, and he's a good guy with a good heart." D-ology contributed to the track "Five Element Combat" (RealAudio excerpt).

Bushwick Bill dedicated the LP to Gil Epstein, the late assistant district attorney from Fort Bend County, Texas, who Bushwick Bill said helped him to realize he was wasting his life due to substance abuse.

"I'm very happy with where I am right now," Bushwick Bill said. "I've got my life in order, and I'm living my dream by having my label and working on music without people telling me what to do. I'm really proud of this project because I did it all myself."

Other birthdays: Bobby Elliot (Hollies), 56; Graham Knight (Marmalade), 52; Gregg Allman, 51; Don J. Bonebrake (X), 43; Warren Cuccurullo (Frank Zappa/Missing Persons/Duran Duran), 42; Phil Collen (Def Leppard), 41; Paul Rutherford (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), 39; Sinead O'Connor, 32; and Jim Morrison (Doors), 1943-1971.