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Life & Arts

Get your fix with Scarface classic

Hip-hop artist helped put Houston on the map with 2002 album

by ELI JABBE
The Daily Cougar 

Brad Jordan, better known as Scarface, is a hip-hop legend. The Houston native first made an impact in the early 1990s as the leader of the Geto Boys. It's safe to say that Houston wouldn't have emerged on the hip-hop scene recently if it wasn't for Scarface. His 2002 album The Fix is a great album that you should have in your collection.

With just 13 tracks, including a spoken intro and outro, The Fix is concise, and void of filler material. 

The stellar Kanye West-produced "In Cold Blood" features a Gladys Knight sample, and Scarface explains, "I'm the real live version of the Corleone family."

Scarface teams with Roc-A-Fella stars Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel for "Guess Who's Back," the hit single that I'm sure many remember from back in high school. The three have great chemistry, which was reflected on their previous collaboration, Kanye West-produced classic "This Can't Be Life" from Jay-Z's 2000 album The Dynasty.

This time around, West produces "Guess Who's Back" and also raps on the chorus, and Jay, Scarface and Beans all shine. Jay explains, "I came from the dirt / I emerged from it all without a stain on my shirt," and Scarface explains, "I'm out here paying my dues / My baby's walking, I've gotta get him some shoes." Later, Sigel uses a football analogy with the lines, "I mastered this / Never pump fake, and you'll get past the blitz." This song is great, but it sounds like it belongs on Jay-Z's Blueprint. The three would later collaborate on another stellar song "Somehow, Some way," which is featured on Jay-Z's Blueprint 2.

"On My Block" is another classic that many will remember. It features a nice piano loop courtesy of Nashiem Myrick, crafter of several Notorious B.I.G. classics like "What's Beef" and "Who Shot Ya?" and is dedicated to Scarface's neighborhood.

Scarface shouts out Houston streets Bellfort and Scott and reminisces with the lyrics, "On my block, it's just another day in the heart of the south side of Houston, Texas, making your mark."

"In Between Us" is a classic collaboration with another hip-hop legend, Nas, who explains, " Keep your enemies close, where they can see you / It's not your enemy who gets you / It's always your own people."

The introspective "Someday" features Scarface explaining, "Who am I to judge a man when I'm a man myself / In the dark, trying to get me some help / My life is like a jigsaw dulling in time / And as I'm thumbing through this jigsaw puzzle of mine, I know God is watching me from above."

All in all, The Fix is a concise, complete album with varied subject matter.

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