Definitely prefer the street-centred material to the wider reaching stuff, but Face's voice and his economical approach to writing mean that even when this threatens to become overly serious it never feels overwrought, forced or preachy. More troublesome is one unforgivable example of homophobia that sticks out like a sore thumb and feels utterly unnecessary - I don't know, even though Roc Marciano tosses out the word "faggot" liberally, it feels more pronounced and more nasty when Scarface does it, perhaps in part due to the clarity of his message that comes about because of those strengths of his that I mentioned earlier (his voice and his ability to streamline his verses whilst still allowing his ideas and concepts to breathe and to feel real). Also, there's a pop-dubstep beat here that could've soundtracked an energy drink advert in 2011, and its presence has a whiff of "old man trying to be 'down with da kids' but failing miserably", but the rapping is so strong that they almost cancel each other out. Besides those moments, this album is straight fire - Face has opted for a mature, ballad-led sound, but one that nods to both the funky Southern rap of the 1990s and to contemporary trap percussion, and it allows the album to feel contemporary whilst also letting Scarface's gravelly-voiced gravitas be the star of the show, handling heavy topics (both small and large in scale) with dignity and the light touch of a master craftsman. What impresses me most about this album is the fact that in almost anybody else's hands I'd find the marriage this production and these concepts cliched and cringeworthy, whereas Scarface actually turns those particular ingredients into something that's not only tolerable but something that I actually love. Watching the guys from Wu-Tang sleepwalk their way through uninspired verse after uninspired verse really puts into perspective just how impressive Face's feats are, and the fact that a man in his mid-40s, who has been releasing music since the 1980s, has just made one of the best hip-hop albums of the year is stunning. Long live Scarface. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
New Prince, 1st listen. It'll be good to check out how far behind his contemporary heirs he is, if ever he is.
A couple of fantastic moments ('Like a Mack', '1000 Xs & 0s') on an otherwise wildly out-of-touch, haphazard record, one which tries to shoehorn in far too many contemporary R'n'B traits without having strong enough songs to pull it off. Those two aforementioned songs probably make it more memorable than both of last year's records, but it's still a pretty dire affair. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
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FlorianJones
Norman Bates
Skinny
