The last time we heard from Scarface here at TimeisIllmatic was on his partially self-titled group, Facemob’s debut album, The Other Side Of The Law, which we barely heard from Face on. Instead, the generous leader let his apprentices (Devin The Dude, 350, DMG, Sha-Riza, and Smit-D) take center stage and hold down the fort. This decision left me yearning to hear more from Face and less from his mob. I would soon get my wish, as Scarface would release his fourth solo album, The Untouchable, in March of ‘97, just nine months after The Other Side Of The Law dropped.

The Untouchable would feature some of the usual suspects on the production side (N.O. Joe, Mike Dean, and John Bido) and a few other guest producers (one in particular that we’ll discuss later). The album would yield three singles, receive favorable reviews, and shoot to number one on the Billboard Top 200. All of the critical and commercial success of The Untouchable would culminate in a second-consecutive solo platinum plaque for Mr. Brad “Scarface” Jordan.

Scarface is one of several rappers I’ve respected from a distance, but I never took the time to delve deep into his catalog until I started this blog. The Untouchable is a recent addition to my collection (I found a used CD copy for five bucks) and hopefully, a more even listen than Face’s last couple of solo projects.

Intro – The Untouchable begins with a sophisticated string orchestration, and even though it sounds nothing like the instrumental for “Notorious Thugs,” for some reason, it makes me chant, “It’s Bone and Biggie, Biggie, it’s Bone and Biggie, Biggie” every time I hear it. This bleeds into the next song…

Untouchable – I love it when a rap album gets the title track out of the way early on. The song begins with a bluesy piano riff, before the crisp drums drop and Face delivers his boastfully ballsy rhymes in his southern Baptist preacher cadence. But Face isn’t out to save souls. His mission is to “send muthafuckas to hell if they fuck with Brad.” Roger Troutman takes care of the hook with his signature talk box-induced vocal tone, adding the cherry on top of this well-executed opening track.

No Warning – The previous track ends with Face awakening some sleeping chump before blasting him into eternal rest. The fatal gunshots are followed by slow-rolling, deep-fried southern instrumentation, courtesy of N.O. Joe and Mike Dean. Ironically, Face spends the majority of the song warning his would-be victims of the violence he’s about to inflict on them. But our host’s contradictions aren’t strong enough to stifle the fire music that backs him.

Southside – Face spits one verse recalling his high school years as a knucklehead dope dealer from the southside of Houston. His story gets a little hard to follow after the vice principal kicks him out of school and tells his parents about his “profession,” but the instrumental, which is equally smooth as it is funky and clean enough to eat off of, is easy to enjoy.

Sunshine – Face’s first verse picks up where he left off on “No Warning,” issuing a plethora of violent threats to whomever it may concern. During the last two verses, Face covers more of his favorite subject: death. The dark content and dark instrumentation (which is flames!) are a sharp contrast to the hook and song title, but whatever.

Money Makes The World Go Round – Odes to money aren’t rare in hip-hop music, and Face and his guests (Daz Dillinger, Devin The Dude, and K.B.) don’t necessarily shed any new or profound light on the subject at hand (although I did enjoy Devin and K.B.’s contribution on the topic). But with an instrumental this creamy and soothing, they could have rapped the alphabet, and I would have enjoyed it.

For Real – Face spins one of his signature drug dealer tales over a decent beat and a monster bass line that more than makes up for the rest of the music’s mediocrity (the hook uses part of Al Pacino’s Scarface character’s famous line: “All I have in this world is my balls and my word, and I don’t break ’em for no one” which Face also used on “Mr. Scarface” from his debut album). The plot: some sucka has stolen some of Face’s dope, and now he’s furious with a new mission statement that he punctuates his first two verses with: “I’m so real about my motherfuckin’ skrill, that any obstacle obscuring my paper is gettin’ killed.” This was dope. I love hearing from fiery Face.

Ya Money Or Ya Life – Our host issues more violent threats over a laidback bluesy groove. The hook contradicts the song title (the title gives the would-be victim an option, but the hook has already decided for the victim). Still, it’s catchy as hell, and you’ll find yourself singing along while you slowly bop your head to the infectious music underneath it.

Mary Jane – This was the second single off The Untouchable. Years before Ashanti (who just gets finer with time) would use this instrumental for her 2002 hit record, “Baby,” Scarface would use it to worship at the feet of his herbal Queen: “A true friend in my time of need, you’re natural, you come from weed, makes me happy when I’m feeling pain, once again, makes me happy just to hear your name…so do your thang, Mary Jane.” Scarface’s lax lyrics and delivery get swallowed up by the undeniably bangin’ backdrop and the sultry singing from an uncredited female voice on the hook.

Smile – This was the lead single from The Untouchable and, I believe, the first posthumous feature from Pac. Mr. Dean and Tone Capone construct a somber soundscape drenched in a few weeping synthesized keyboard riffs for Pac and Face to rap words of encouragement in the most dismal way possible. These are the moments Pac excels, as he brilliantly spews bars of despair (“No fairytales, for this young Black male, some see me stranded in this land of hell, jail, and crack sales.”) and paranoia (“Somebody save me, lost and crazy, scared to drop a seed, hopin’ I ain’t curse my babies”) throughout his two verses that are supposed to inspire the listeners to keep their heads up. Face gets off a decent verse, placed in between Pac’s, but it’s clear who the standout is on this track. Johnny P borrows the melody from The S.O.S Band’s “Tell Me If You Still Care” to belt out a somber hook, but Face’s closing benediction and prayer for Pac (delivered in his southern Baptist preacher tone) will stir up your emotions. If this song still has that effect, nearly thirty years after Pac’s death, imagine how it hit back in 1997.

Smartz – Face gets into his conscious bag, breaking down the plots and traps that they (“they,” being the government and the other powers that be) set in black communities to destroy their inhabitants. I love reflective Face, but I’m not big on conscious Face. It’s hard for me to hear a rapper call drugs and guns “traps the demon set” after playing the role of a murderous drug dealer on five of the album’s previous ten tracks. And what a waste of a Devin The Dude feature.

Faith – Bishop Jordan returns to his pulpit and continues to contradict his dope dealing/gangsta persona with lines like: “Our whole Black community sours, crime rate towers, plagued by white powders,” and then he calls out the government for having “hypocrisy in your democracy.” The haunting melody from the female choir and the flip of Rare Earth’s “I Just Want To Celebrate” on the hook were cool but not cool enough to make me want to listen to Bishop Jordan’s duplicitous sermon.

Game Over – Face saves the best for last. He invites Dr. Dre to verbally spar with him, as the two exchange verses over the good doctor’s diabolical masterpiece of an instrumental (the dark wavering bass line is bound to leave you in a trance). Too Short opens the track with a few words for the haters, and Ice Cube adds a ferocious prayer from the bottom of his gut for the hook, completing this monster of a record.

Outro – The Untouchable ends the way it began, with the same string-led instrumental (“It’s Bone and Biggie, Biggie, it’s Bone and Biggie, Biggie”), bringing things full circle and to a close.

With his debut solo album, Mr. Scarface Is Back, Face made a memorable impression. His flow and delivery were a bit choppy, but his baritone southern accent, charisma, hunger, and obsession with death/murder made him intriguing to listen to; it also helped that Crazy C backed him with a fire southern-fried musical bed. On The World Is Yours, Face would sharpen his microphone skills while staying true to his Scarface persona, but the music on the project was uneven, resulting in a disappointing listen. The Diary would have some of the same production issues as TWIY, and Face, while still sharp and hungry, started to sound redundant in his murderous drug dealer role. The Untouchable is Face’s fourth time around the dolo realm, and like all leopards, he doesn’t change his spots.

Scarface doesn’t unearth any new dimension on The Untouchable. He continues to sell drugs, kill rivals, revel in murder and death, and occasionally gets conscious, contradicting every immoral principle his rap alias stands on. Technically, Face doesn’t sound bad on The Untouchable, but his hunger seems to have waned, making his rehashed content sound less appealing.

Thanks mainly to Mike Dean, N.O. Joe, and John Bido, The Untouchable’s production is easily the most consistent of Face’s first four albums. Dense bass lines, soulfully bluesy riffs, and the perfect sprinkle of refreshingly live instrumentation (and a mammoth banger from the good doctor to close the album) make for thoroughly entertaining music to support our host’s rhymes. But even though the music keeps you bobbin’ your head while screwin’ your face (no pun intended), it backfires on Face as the pristine instrumentals seem to overpower his voice at times, adding insult to injury already inflicted by his monotonous full belly.

Scarface’s solo work and his catalog as part of the Geto Boys helped pioneer Southern hip-hop and make the South a relevant region in hip-hop. Many consider him the greatest rapper out of the South, and some people will even throw his name into the GOAT conversation (Hell, just for penning one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time in “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” should give him legendary status). But even legends come up short from time to time. The Untouchable isn’t a bad album; it just exposes the chinks in Scarface’s armor, making him appear a little more touchable.

-Deedub

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