Scarface Album: “Balls and My Word [Edited]”

Description :

Personnel includes: Scarface, Z-RO, Dirt Bomb, Bun B, Devin The Dude, Tela, Aries, Tanya Herron, Lil' Papa Roach. Producers include: N.O. Joe, Mike Dean, T-Mix, Ensayne Wayne. Recorded at Dean's List House Of Hits and Hippie House Studios, Houston, Texas; Enterprise Studios, Burbank, California; Larabee Sounds, N. Hollywood, California. Personnel includes: Scarface, Z-RO, Dirt Bomb, Bun B, Devin The Dude, Tela, Aries, Tanya Herron, Lil' Papa Roach. Producers include: N.O. Joe, Mike Dean, T-Mix, Ensayne Wayne. Even the most casual of rap fans will likely remember Scarface as one third of the Geto Boys, the Houston act who stirred up national controversy with the dark, graphic classic WE CAN'T BE STOPPED. However, the scope of his influence can easily be underestimated; more than just a part of a scene, he made a mark on wave after wave of Southern-fried platinum-selling movements from the No Limit Posse to the Screwed Up Klick (he even brought Ludacris to Def Jam). And that doesn't even touch on his prolific, respected career as a solo artist. With BALLS AND MY WORLD, Scarface offers his trademark deliberate bass-heavy sound and uncompromising, scathing, raw lyrics. He has always been about as subtle as an anvil, and he outdoes himself on "Bitch Nigga," a thinly-veiled attack on 50 Cent that goes so far as to simulate the omnipresent beat of the Queens rapper's No. 1 crossover pop hit "In Da Club." Scarace somehow manages to put a new spin on the topic of money-seeking women on "Only Your Mother." However, the most remarkable track here is "Make Your Peace" which conjures up the creepiest, most alluring elements of the Geto Boys with its odd juxtaposition of positive message and spirituality with a spooky, other-side-of-the-grave delivery. Even the most casual of rap fans will likely remember Scarface as one third of the Geto Boys, the Houston act who stirred up national controversy with the dark, graphic classic WE CAN'T BE STOPPED. However, the scope of his influence can easily be underestimated; more than just a part of a scene, he made a mark on wave after wave of Southern-fried platinum-selling movements from the No Limit Posse to the Screwed Up Klick (he even brought Ludacris to Def Jam). And that doesn't even touch on his prolific, respected career as a solo artist. With BALLS AND MY WORLD, Scarface offers his trademark deliberate bass-heavy sound and uncompromising, scathing, raw lyrics. He has always been about as subtle as an anvil, and he outdoes himself on "Bitch Nigga," a thinly-veiled attack on 50 Cent that goes so far as to simulate the omnipresent beat of the Queens rapper's No. 1 crossover pop hit "In Da Club." Scarace somehow manages to put a new spin on the topic of money-seeking women on "Only Your Mother." However, the most remarkable track here is "Make Your Peace" which conjures up the creepiest, most alluring elements of the Geto Boys with its odd juxtaposition of positive message and spirituality with a spooky, other-side-of-the-grave delivery.

After 7 solo CDs, including the double disc, "My Homies", Scarface is back with another one after dropping "The Fix" in August of 2002. "The Fix" displayed a more mature sounding Scarface as his gangsta fairytales were exchanged with collaborations with Kelly Price, Faith Evans, and Tanya Herron. "The Fix" was very well rounded and with tracks like "In Cold Blood", "What Can I Do", "On My Block", "Heaven", "Guess Who's Back" w/Jay Z & Beanie Sigel and "I Ain't The One" with WC is was hard to argue that this offering was one of Scarface's best. However, J Prince who is the head of Rap-A-Lot records, was not happy with the way Def Jam handled "The Fix". So 8 months later, in what I see as an attempt to try to resurrect the struggling label, Scarface is back once again. The CD starts off with an interlude from the movie, "Scarface", and from there Face is back in gangsta mode on this CD. "Recognize" gets things off to an impressive start as he pulls out some of the old Scarface that most of his core fans are used to. This is definitely my favorite song on this CD. "On My Grind" follows the same format and fans of Face's earlier CDs will enjoy this song as well. Scarface collaborates with Z-Ro, Dirt Bomb and Bun B of UGK on the 50 Cent diss track "[***-***]". Following a concert in Washington DC, it didn't seem as if Scarface and the infamous Backyard Band were too impressed with some of 50's antics. "Stuck At A Standstill", "Make Your Peace", and "Dirty Money" with Tanya Herron are vintage Scarface songs as well. Devin The Dude and Tela join Face on the hilarious but true "Only Your Mother" as the three collaborate together about a woman who thought she was too high post for everyone, but in the end once they got famous wanted to try to get with them. If you haven't picked up Devin The Dude's "Just Trying To Live", then believe me you need to do so. "Mary 2" is a midtempo sequel to the Scarface classic "Mary Jane", that Irv Gotti & Ashanti decided that she had to use on her debut CD. "Mary 2" is a nice song but it could never compare to the original track. This latest Scarface CD will definitely satisfy the core Scarface fan of his earlier music. "The Fix" is a better all around CD in my opinion. However, any Scarface CD is worth having in your collection.

Track Listing:

1) Intro

James' Top 5

1) Recognize

This Cd takes you back to what face used to sound like. This album is more like the diary then his last two albums. there is more of that ruff thug ... on this one. However this album is very suspious. If you look you will see that this album was put out by rap-a-lot not def jam south like the fix was. So why would face leave his comfortable position as the head of def jam south to go back to to the ultra cheap rap-a-lot. This is why the album was not promoted and has a cheap insert ala rap-a-lot. There is also no telling when these songs were produced this album sounds like a lost tracks album becuase it does not follow suit with his others. For instance track #8 Make Yo Peace has some of the exact same lyrics as track #11 heaven on the fix word for word. This album does bump and is better tan his last couple but is it really new?

yes, he has went back to rap-alot and got mike dean and n.o joe to but that g-rated music back into his album. the fix was good,but any true scarface fan knows that him and rapalot mix together real good. this album to me is like if you combine the diary and last of a dying breed together. i luv scarface cause always kept it real for us present and past street dwellers. the only knock on this album is on maybe two songs he uses some verses he has already kicked on other outside projects. true fans will notice, others won't-so thats okay. go get the album, trust me, thats my balls and my word.....