On the 20th anniversary of the release of his solo album The Diary, Houston, Texas rapper Scarface chopped it up with XXLMag.com about his 1994 studio release.
While addressing The Diary, the Geto Boys lyricist recalled a quote the late Tupac Shakur shared with him in regards to music, and later detailed his decision to create an album that touched on death and other grim topics.
According to Scarface, his choice to speak on death on his LP left people with no choice but to think.
“We rapped for the neighborhoods,” Scarface said. “I didn’t give a fuck about rap, being a rapper. I just wanted to impress the guys in the neighborhood that I grew up with. I just give a fuck about how many numbers of people in my neighborhood loved my shit, how many cars drive by bangin’ my shit. I think when a person touches on death, and when you further touch on death and touched it in the way that I touched it, you can’t do nothing but think. And ’Pac used to always say, ‘You gonna make a muthafucka think, or you gonna make a muthafucka dance’ That’s ’Pac’s words. He’s saying, ‘The niggas want what the bitches want.’ I wanted to make a muthafucka think.”
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Scarface later spoke on being compared to the likes of the Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and other Hip Hop greats. He also revealed that being “one of the best rappers” the people have heard will go down as his legacy.
“In order to be a great, you gotta be among the greats,” he said. “For a muthafucka to even put me in the company of the likes of a [Notorious] B.I.G. or a fuckin’ Nas or a fuckin’ Rakim or a Slick Rick or a Doug E. Fresh or a Big Daddy Kane or a [Kool] G Rap or a Jay Z or a Beanie Sigel or a fuckin’ Q-Tip. Whoever they put me [with]. Or a 2Pac. If my name surfaces in that shit, I know I did something. Out of all of the muthafuckas that could have been, I was one of the best rappers that they ever heard. That’s my legacy.”
Released on October 18, 1994, Scarface’s The Diary featured guest appearances from Ice Cube and Devin The Dude and was one of a select number of albums to receive a perfect rating (five mics) in The Source.
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