Scarface Says He Dislikes All Geto Boys LPs & Rap-A-Lot Tried to Ruin His Career
Scarface is gearing up to release Deeply Rooted on September 4. In a career that spans nearly 30 years, it will only be the third time Brad Jordan is releasing a studio release outside of Rap-A-Lot Records (2002’s The Fix, 2006’s One Hunnid with Tha Product). However, the Houston, Texas mainstay is finally opening up about the label he worked with in the ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, and early 2010s.
Speaking with Noisey, ‘Face decried some of the releases that have used his name. Although during his Rap-A-Lot tenure, he released three platinum and three gold LPs, some of those efforts were “compromised” according to the heralded MC.
“[Rap-A-Lot Records] put my name on My Homies 2,” Scarface said of J. Prince and the label, also calling out 1993’s The World Is Yours, 2000’s The Last Of A Dying Breed, and 2003’s Balls And My World. “If anything, I feel like [J. Prince] was trying to ruin my career with cut-away material that never ever made the album. Just a totally disrespectful dude when it came to your shit. J didn’t give a fuck about you. He gave a fuck about him. He didn’t give a fuck about your family. He gave a fuck about his. He didn’t give a fuck who you fed. He only fed his people. That’s real shit. I’m not making this shit up.”
Although these albums featured involvement from Jay Z, Ice Cube, Erick Sermon, and UGK, Scarface dismisses their authenticity. Notably, Balls And My World featured Z-Ro dissing the then-white-hot 50 Cent on a song with previously recorded Scarface and Bun B vocals. “Bitch Nigga” was released as a single, edited to “Snitch N*gga.”
Of the label that was once home to Geto Boys, Devin The Dude, Bun B, Z-Ro, Trae Tha Truth, Big Mike and The Convicts, Tela, Yukmouth, Hussein Fatal, and Seagram, Scarface said that oversaturation and greed brought down the dynasty. Claiming that J. Prince emulated Master P and No Limit Records’ restless release schedule, he said, “I feel like [it] was the fall of Rap-A-Lot Records to me. A lot of people may not see it like that, and some people might have gotten paid, but from a creative stand point, [J. Prince] trying be like Master P and put out albums every six or seven minutes fucked up our brand. I think greed fucked up the brand.”
Scarface last released 2008’s Emeritus on Rap-A-Lot. The label is currently home to Bun, and Turk, formerly of Hot Boys fame.
In the same feature, Scarface claimed that all of the Geto Boys releases he was involved with are not to his standard. “I don’t like any of the Geto Boys albums at all. Not one,” said the MC of the acclaimed Gangsta Rap releases that also involved Willie D, Bushwich Bill, and on occasion, Big Mike. “I didn’t learn anything from [those albums], and it was a bad time in life for me too. With the label, with life, whatever… it’s a point in my life where I was the most miserable. Everybody else was happy but I wasn’t. I did all of this shit for everybody else and nothing for me.” Although Scarface supported the Geto Boys’ efforts to crowd-source fundraising for an eighth album, he stepped away from the group upon not meeting a capital goal upon deadline. He has toured with Bill and Willie as the Geto Boys as recently as this year.
If you removed the four solo releases in question, is Scarface’s legacy better or worse than it is at present?
Read: Rank Your Records: Scarface Ranks All of His Solo and Geto Boys Releases
Related: Scarface’s Deeply Rooted Single Steer Gets A Dramatic Treatment (Video)