THE STORY BEHIND SCARFACE’S THE FIX

YOUR FAVORITE’S RAPPER FAVORITE RAPPER

When it comes to influence.. There is without a doubt Brad “Scarface” Jordan is possibly one of the most influential and respected. He’s always been referenced as your favorite rapper’s “favorite rapper” He’s inspired many from Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Beanie Sigel, DMX, and amongst others. You’ll find Scarface’s name in either top 10 or top 5 why? Because of number one No rapper before Brad was able to express his paranoia or flirtation with death or paint dark pictures of the grime street life like him. His Storytelling is unmatched and he has that instinctive gruff that stood out. Scarface to my knowledge was the first to write a song talking from the perspective of a Dead person on “Im Dead” or speaking out on behalf of hip hop against its on Hand of a Dead Body where he states: “David Duke Got a ShotGun/So Why is it a problem when I have one?” Scarface’s body of work from his solos and as apart of the Geto Boys standout on its own.. But within the late 90s-early 2000sFace wanted a change and that Change created “The Fix”

DEF JAM SOUTH/ NEW OPPERTUNITY

In 2000 Scarface took the position of being President of Def Jam South. It was a move that really changed his outlook on not only his life because Def Jam paid him very handsomely. Def Jam at the time was a powerhouse, JayZ, DMX, Ja Rule, Redman Method Man, LL Cool J had Def Jam looking like a Yankees Dynasty and adding Scarface to the roster as not only a president but a artist was also a great investment. Def Jam now had operations in the South and Face had already struck gold by signing Atlanta rapper Ludacris to Def Jam South.

Rap-A-Lot Records on the other hand was going through its issues with the D.A. whom has been a thorn on J Prince’s side since the late 80s formation of the label. Listening to Scarface’s The Last of Dying Breed album, You can clearly feel that pressure and paranoia playing heavily on Face’s conscious. Look into My Eyes, Sorry 4 What, and Conspiracy Theory where he gets more indepth about Rap A Lot’s battle with the Feds:

The move to Def Jam also gave Face access to work with different producers other than Mike Dean, N.O. Joe, Tone Capone.. The budget from Def Jam is probably the biggest Face has ever received. He recruited Kanye West, Neptunes, Nashiem Myrick from the Bad Boy camp, China Black for production behind the boards. He also went and got A list features from JayZ, Beanie Sigel, Nas, Kelly Price, WC, and Faith Evans. The Fix just by listening to the first single “My Block” was clearly a different route Face sonically and it was the great kickoff for the Album.

THE FIX CEMENTS SCARF’ACE’S LEGACY

The Fix was released on August 8th 2002 and it lived up to its hype. Face’s approach to this album was more so introspective and spiritual. It also shed a lighter side of Scarface. You can hear that on songs such as “Heaven” ,”Someday” where Face seeks to search for his spiritual awakening from the higher power. But not all of The Fix is mellow records.. There are instances where he shows that he’s still the big dog on the block and not afraid of addressing snitches and sellouts as he did on “Safe” and “Sellout” Another thing that’s noticeable about “The Fix” was that he was able to get both Nas and JayZ(whom were feuding at the time) on the same album and NEITHER of them got mad at him. That shows the type of respect Face really has amongst his peers. Overall Its probably understandable why a lot of Face’s core wouldn’t like “The Fix” because its the softer side of Face.. But here he showcased a lot of growth and maturity as a artist and really cemented his legacy.