Emeritus...

Scarface
written by 4Bars

To this date I have purchased 3 Scarface albums: Last of a Dying Breed, The Fix, and recently Emeritus. LODB was the soundtrack for a plane ride in which I unknowingly mean mugged countless passengers and stewardesses, The Fix was simply a phenomenal album, and Emeritus is yet another great offering from Uncle Face.

The album opens as most Rap-A-Lot projects do, with J Prince’s trademark “AWWWW YEAH…” and the most laid back diatribe about some real gangsta ish you will ever hear. This time he’s speaking about his recent lawsuit and the apparent conspiracy against all black entrepreneurs in hip hop by the Federal and local governments. While some may find it far fetched, a lot of us know better.

The first track is “High Powered” which I’ve been jamming for a while but it was good to hear again. Face continues J Prince’s theme with his own lyrical diatribe expounding on unnamed “bitch ass niggas”. The Lil Wayne and Bun B assisted “Forgot About Me” speaks for itself with all three on their game enhancing a well made track. The next 3 tracks are characteristic Scarface tracks, hard hitting beats with him spilling out his introspective thoughts about his life, the one he used to lead, and the lives that he’s been in touch with.

There is a feature song with Slim Thug where they address the sad sight that is the gold digger; and in the theme of the Scarface classic “F#@k Faces” there is “High Note” where Face eloquently speaks on his sexual endeavors. When I first read the track listings, I saw two tracks with Wacko of UTP and I’m not gonna lie, I was worried. Luckily, he only sang the hook on the two songs and Face did his thing.

The one problem I’ve always had with Scarface albums is the ending. On Last of a Dying Breed, I felt like the last song with WC was a terrible way to end a great album. The Fix ended with a brief instrumental Outro and Emeritus ends the same way, albeit a slightly longer Outro, it’s still just an instrumental. Maybe there is significance to this but it has always escaped me.

I love Scarface as an artist and will continue to support him. Emeritus is a great album and totally worth the purchase. I do wish he would alter the endings, however, so that I wouldn’t eject the CD with the “wha?” look on my face. I’m not sure how long Face will continue to make albums but if Emeritus is any indication of what he is still capable of, I can’t wait til the next one.