Deep Album Cuts Vol. 343: Scarface

 






I did a Geto Boys playlist a few years ago after Bushwick Bill died, and really wanted to dive into a Scarface solo playlist then, but didn't get around to it at the time. But in December, Scarface did a fantastic Tiny Desk Concert that brought some attention back to one of the greatest MCs of all time, I personally think easily one of the top 5. 

Scarface album cuts (Spotify playlist):

1. Born Killer
2. The Money And The Power
3. Lettin' Em Know
4. The Wall
5. No Tears
6. The Diary
7. G's
8. Southside
9. Money Makes The World Go 'Round (f/ Daz Dillinger, Devin The Dude, and K.B.)
10. Untouchable (f/ Roger Troutman)
11. The Geto (f/ Willie D, Ice Cube and K.B.)
12. Greed
13. They Down With Us (f/ UGK)
14. Get Out (f/ Jay-Z)
15. Safe
16. In Cold Blood
17. Never Snitch (f/ Beanie Sigel and The Game)
18. Big Dog Status (f/ Wacko)
19. Forgot About Me (f/ Lil Wayne and Bun B)
20. Do What I Do (f/ Nas, Rick Ross and Z-Ro)

Tracks 1 and 2 from Mr. Scarface Is Back (1991)
Tracks 3 and 4 from The World Is Yours (1993)
Tracks 5, 6 and 7 from The Diary (1994)
Tracks 8, 9 and 10 from The Untouchable (1997)
Tracks 11 and 12 from My Homies (1998)
Tracks 13 and 14 from The Last Of A Dying Breed (2000)
Tracks 15 and 16 from The Fix (2002)
Track 17 from My Homies Part 2 (2006)
Track 18 from Made (2007)
Track 19 from Emeritus (2008)
Track 20 from Deeply Rooted (2015)

As far as I can tell, Geto Boys were the second southern rap group (after 2 Live Crew) to go platinum in 1991, and though a couple of other Texans went platinum as solo rappers before Scarface (The D.O.C. and Vanilla Ice), it feels like Scarface is more of a true southern rap trailblazer than either of those guys. I was a kid back then, so "Smile" with 2Pac was the first time I heard Scarface, but that song just blew me away, and I still think it's amazing. I got a stack of cheap rap vinyl in the early 2000s that included The Last Of A Dying Breed and I was obsessed with "Get Out" with Jay-Z, I think that's one of the all-time best Jay-Z tracks that the average fan doesn't know. Really all the Scarface/Roc-A-Fella crossovers are classic, "In Cold Blood" is one of Kanye West's greatest productions ever. 

"No Tears" famously appeared in Office Space alongside a couple Geto Boys songs. "Lettin' Em Know" featured a "front, back and side to side" refrain a year before the more famous UGK song. The majority of the tracks on here were produced by the main Rap-A-Lot guys N.O. Joe, Mr. Lee, Mike Dean, and sometimes Scarface himself. I wanna know about the China Black who produced "Safe," though, like I don't know of anything else they produced besides that one amazing track. My Homies was kind of an early example of a label using its biggest star to market a bunch of random tracks -- Scarface is only on half the songs, with a bunch of random Rap-A-Lot guys and Houston rappers filling out the rest of the project. But since it was released at the height of Scarface's popularity and "Sex Faces" was a hit, it's one of his more successful records, one of three platinum Scarface solo albums. I think Scarface is one of the few rap veterans who doesn't have a bad album, the records after The Fix aren't as essential but they're all pretty solid. 
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