Scarface - "Emeritus" Album Review

Scarface - "Emeritus" Album Review

There have been a few occasions in hip-hop where an artist has actually announced his retirement as opposed to being unceremoniously escorted from the building. It’s rarely stuck as we saw with Jay-Z but this time it’s legendary MC Scarface who is hanging up the mic. If you’ve read the interviews you probably felt the same way I did, that Face was just of bored with hip-hop, sick of the politics, and just down right ready for a change.

Scarface is one of a few MC’s who can’t fall off lyrically if he tried. On “High Powered” Face spits like a man possessed and show his street cred with verses like, “Real nigga he don't talk about it he be about it, cause he a G about it/I got a problem with a nigga I go squeeze him out/And what the fuck am I gon' talk to the police about? / I'm from the streets doin the type of shit you read about/ I got chrome 45's under pressure, and in the dresser/ And now you're froze on the stretcher/ You wanted trouble, I wouldn't settle for lesser/ I'm the devil in the flesh, my pistol is my protector/ See my reflection as it fades into black/ When I reappear on a nigga it's a ragin attack yeah/ And I solemnly swear, any problem I have/ I just empty the clip and him callin square/ That's on my life because I represent the mob/ Since you niggaz want that heat I'm bouts to, turn up the knob to high power.

On “Redemption” Scarface sums up how people have viewed him as an artist with this verse, “A rapper - you hated to love, respected and feared/what I'm capable of there's nothin they say in our ears/ I'm a soldier for fortune, I've got murderous plots/ Plus I'm suicidal, walkin this parking lot/ With my dangerous thoughts, I'm a dangerous dude/ When I up it and cock the hammer I'm aimin dude/ I came in to do, I'm a killing machine/ And with life comes a price so I triple the fee/ When it's trippin with me, either you win or you lose/ In the end he who wins is he who finishes fools/ I'm sentencin you, to a home in the sea/ With the lint in your pockets, you rolled with weed/ Exposin the weak, you hoes fin' to sleep/ with the fishes bitches and y'all should know the demeanor.

Other standout tracks on the album include “We Need You”, “High Note”, “Who Are They”, and “Can’t Get Right”. But the problem with this album is the fact that it was hard for me to label and songs, as standouts and I couldn’t label any songs as straight up wack. I attribute that in large part due to the lackluster production. There are no beats that just catch your ear from jump and there aren’t any beats that make you want to skip the track. The beats are just there.

Face delivers lyrically but like I said that’s no surprise. Face could spit the hottest lyrics you’ve ever heard at the drop of a time. The problem with this album is that it’s just there. It doesn’t break any new ground but it doesn’t exactly stick to that old Scarface formula. It’s just there. It feels like it’s in hip-hop limbo. It’s indifferent. The album does feel like Scarface is bored with the genre and ready to move on.

If you’re looking for classic tracks like “My Block” or “Seen A Man Die” you won’t find them here. If you’re a die-hard Face fan and you want to hear him spit that raw you will get that. This was a hard album to review. It’s neither here nor there. Is this Scarface’s last opus? I highly doubt it. When that hip-hop bug bites again he’ll be back. This wasn’t a bad album at all and it is worth a listen. It’s just not typical Scarface. Make of that what you will.

Scarface on MTV