Mr. Scarface Is Back [Chopped and Screwed] [PA]

Performer: Scarface
Engineer: Peter Reardon
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Producers: James Smith, Scarface, Bido, Crazy C., Roland, Sam, Doug King. Audio Mixers: Doug King; Bido. Recording information: B.P.M; Sound Arts, Houston, TX. The Geto Boys' classic single, "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," was all over MTV and the airwaves when Scarface released his first solo album in the fall of 1991, billed as Scarface of the Geto Boys. Although it didn't see anything close to the crossover success that his group's albums had achieved, MR. SCARFACE IS BACK nevertheless was hugely popular in the south, especially in his native Houston, and garnered respect throughout the national hip-hop community. It proved without a doubt who was the most talented of the Geto Boys; his frank depictions of crime, drugs, and street life, delivered with an effortless flow, easily held their own against the L.A. gangstas of the time. In fact, Scarface sounds not unlike a young Ice Cube, especially when he furthers the story of "Tricks on Me"'s paranoid pessimist in "Diary of a Madman." In its own homegrown way, MR. SCARFACE IS BACK is as essential as any classic of the gangsta era. Fresh from the success of "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," his breakthrough hit with the Geto Boys, Scarface continued his streak of excellence with his exceptionally creative solo debut, Mr. Scarface Is Back. One of the first genuine masterpieces of the gangsta era, the album draws heavily from the densely layered sample-scapes of the Bomb Squad and the provocative ghetto-storytelling of Ice Cube. What sets Scarface apart from his New York and Compton peers, though, is his deep-Texas Houston locale, where coke and crime are daily operations. Scarface exploits this reality shockingly and cinematically throughout Mr. Scarface Is Back, beginning with the album-opening Al Pacino samples ("All I have in this world..."). From there, Scarface makes an explosive entry ("Ahh yeah, hah/Mr. Scarface is back in the motherf*ckin' house once again!") and tremors through one rhyme after another about the ins and outs of the gangsta life in a loose narrative sequence: drug dealing gone well ("Mr. Scarface"), the joy of recreational sex ("The Pimp"), heedless murder ("Born Killer"), mental unsoundness ("Murder by Reason of Insanity"), further mental unsoundness ("Diary of a Madman"), intoxicating heights of street superiority ("Money and the Power"), drug dealing gone awry ("Good Girl Gone Bad"), and the consequential last hurrah ("A Minute to Pray and a Second to Die"). The narrative format of Mr. Scarface Is Back flows from beginning to end with engaging fluidity, though the album is just as enjoyable in bits and pieces, particularly the ferocious "Mr. Scarface," the remorseful "A Minute to Pray and a Second to Die," and the extensive sampling (Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," War's "Four Cornered Room," and more, less-obvious source material). Scarface had always been the standout Geto Boy, and he's finally given ample space for his street narratives on Mr. Scarface Is Back, one of the first gangsta rap albums to offer as much imagination as it does exploitation. [A "chopped and screwed" version of the album appeared in 2005.] ~ Jason Birchmeier

Entertainment Weekly (11/22/91) - B+ - "...Scarface's voice [is] a riveting, battle-weary baritone that booms with authority..." Entertainment Weekly (11/22/91) - B+ - "...Scarface's voice [is] a riveting, battle-weary baritone that booms with authority..."

A member of famed Houston gangsta rap group the Geto Boys, Scarface is one of the most respected southern MCs of all time. As a solo artist, he is by far the most successful member of the Geto Boys and is often credited with bringing southern hip-hop, and the Houston scene in particular, out of the underground and into the mainstream. In the early 2000s, Scarface claimed that he was retiring from the solo MC game, but stated that he would continue to work with the Geto Boys and record and produce for other artists.

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