Why Scarface is the greatest Southern rapper ever

Brad Jordan is a Southern rapper who goes by the stage name Scarface.  Scarface is a rapper who is the most important piece to the legendary group, the Geto Boys.  When you talk catalogs, Scarface might have one of the most impressive ones in hip hop. His music career expands nearly 30 plus years, and the Houston, Texas legend has made an impact for being one of the greatest rappers we have ever seen.

In 1994, Uncle Face (as he’s affectionately known in hip hop circles) released his third album, The Diary.  This would be one of the most important hip hop albums released in what many people call the greatest year ever for the genre.   The Diary is one of the few albums to receive a perfect rating from The Source and XXL magazine, which also speaks to why Scarface is the greatest Southern rappers of all time.

In 1997, Scarface scored his first number one album on the U.S. Billboard 200 when his fourth album, The Untouchable, reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album included the classic song “Smile,” which featured Tupac Shakur.  Scarface is beloved by fans and critics and has proved over and over again that when it comes to making complete albums, he is one of the best at it.  Scarface has three platinum albums and four gold albums, and that’s just solo albums. If we were to count The Geto Boys’ albums, he would have three more gold albums.

When it comes to song writing, Scarface was ahead of everyone in the early ’90s.  On his debut album, “Mr. Scarface Is Back,” face had a track on the album called “I’m Dead,” which explored a dark concept that wasn’t really touched in Hip-Hop. When it comes to Scarface his most famous verse comes from the classic Geto Boys track “Mind Playin Tricks On Me,” which dives deep into depression and seeing things that aren’t there.

The argument about who the greatest rapper of all time is always a hot topic.  But breaking it down into who is the best in their region can sometimes be easier.  Scarface is the best rapper from the South, and there is no one who even comes close to the level of rapping that he has reached in his musical career.

Scarface is one of the best storytellers in hip hop’s history and has created his blueprint when it comes to being a successful Southern artist. When it comes to rapping with other emcees, he always comes out on top no matter who he is on a track with. When it comes to Face’s music, bars, introspection, vivid storytelling, and dark beats are what we can expect each time.

So I want to highlight some reasons that make Brad Jordan one of the greatest, if not THEE greatest to touch a mic.

1.Originality

When it comes to Scarface’s music career, he has always made it his point to be original and tell stories from what he’s been through in his life.  Scarface was one of the first rappers to rap about death and life and how karma can come back to get a person.  Scarface’s whole career is built on his originality; everything from the way he writes to the way his voice sounds is all original; what Scarface brought to the game is that he was raised up around blues and soul singers, which made him want to play the guitar and produce his music. Think about this, Scarface was a rapper that was focus on not only making sure his lyrics were on point but he made sure the production was the best it could be.

2.Body of work

When it comes to hip hop music, the more an artist puts out albums, the more those albums hurt an artist’s discography because they might not have the same determination they had when they were a new artist. When it comes to Face, he has been consistent throughout his whole rap career.  Scarface has released eleven solo albums and seven group albums with the Geto Boys. With each album, Scarface proved why he is one of the greatest emcees ever to touch a mic. Scarface has one of the best discographies in rap history.  The feeling is that  Uncle Face has never made a bad album, which is hard for a rapper to do that’s been in the game as long as he has.

3. Storytelling

When it comes to storytelling the only rappers that might come close to face are B.I.G, and Nas and both are on record saying that Scarface influenced them to tell stories in their music. On The Diary, two songs come to my mind “Hand of the Dead Body” and “I Seen a Man Die” these two songs would be two standout songs on the album that showed the tension that humans face from the inside and out.  The feeling of dealing with one’s own reality in life.

4. Impact

The impact of Scarface is that he influenced rappers to go deep when they did storytelling records and to not hold anything back. Scarface allowed his emotions to carry over through the most so that the fans could feel the pain he’s in.  He has also influenced an entire generation of Houston rappers that came after him such as UGK (technically from Port Arthur, Texas), Slim Thug, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire and so on.  He’s definitely one of the founding fathers of Houston rap along with the legendary DJ Screw.

5. Songwriting

Scarface’s songwriting abilities are the type of skill that a lot of rappers which they could have. His lyrical content is the perfect example of street laced music with deep self-awareness of one’s fault and the consequences that come when involved in the streets.  If you really think about it, every “emo” rapper owes Scarface because he was the first rapper to rap about battling demons, talking about life and death, and dealing with it all while being a Black man in America.

Marquis is an Ohio native, a hip hop lover and has a passion for writing.  You can find him on Twitter (@_MarquisArnold ) and Instagram (@_MarquisArnold)