The Fix
by Scarface

Another great (actually, "great" might be an understatement) rapper who takes a slight turn to appeal to the masses, without compromising that much -if any- in terms of quality. Especially in this album you can guess how ambitious it is just by checking the credits. This includes both the production (Kanye West, The Neptunes, Tony Pizarro, Flip, T.Mix, Nashiem Myrick among others) and the featuring MCs (Jay-Z AND Nas, that's all you need to know) and some singers, too (Kelly Price, Faith Evans and Tanya Herron). This all-star cast manages to keep the balance, on the one hand to remain faithful to the south while at the same time adding mainstream elements. By the way, I didn't mention the above to imply that Scarface depends on others to make the album work, he plays his part as it was expected, no major complaints in that department. Lyrics present some classic crime stories ("I started small time, dope game, pushin on the corner Twenty cent cook-up, fifty flippers if you want 'em Full of formaldehyde, my clothes wreakin marijuana Cops rollin up on us, my neighborhood's like a sauna Pistol-grippin, insurin won't nobody run up on us But if they do, fuck 'em, we murderous nickel-dome 'em I ain't playin no games, I'm on a mission fo' the change Motherfuck being a lame, I'm ten toes in the game - deep I can't slip, this whole world want me sleep") mixed with some religious stuff ("I been gone away from home for so long Seems like everything I try to do without you go wrong I'm confused about a lot of things, but not with my faith So I'm depending on your holy ghost to guide me the way See, I'm a sinner in the third degree Ain't afraid to admit it, 'cause I seen niggas worse than me Who am I to judge a man when I'm a man myself In the dark, trying to get me some help? I went from pawn to king, king back to pawn Doing my best to try to ease out the storm"). One issue I have with this album is consistency, I consider the first half significantly stronger than the second, and it's a relatively short album, so it's even more striking.

My favourite album by one of the greatest rappers to ever do it. I always thought of him as a Southern Ghostface, which is doing both of them a disservice (whilst simultaneously complimenting them).