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Scarface - MadeAlbum Review by:
William E. Ketchum III
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
 Hip-hop, unlike other genres of music, isn’t as respectful toward its elders as it should be. While rock acts like Sting and Rolling Stones can tour decades after the heydays of their careers, the likes of LL Cool J and Nas are dismissed as irrelevant just for being having more years under their belt than their younger contemporaries. While some of this is understandable due to the up-to-the-minute nature of rap and its origins as a genre of the youth, it’s still disconcerting to see rap fans dismiss veterans whose music is just as—if not more—potent than the tunes blaring airwaves today.
Scarface has never seemed too concerned with that, though. Serving as the frontman of seminal Houston group Geto Boys since the late 80s, Brad Jordan’s solo career has seen him rhyming alongside the likes of everyone from Jay-Z and Nas to 2Pac and Gang Starr, with gold and platinum plaques on his wall to boot. While he’s kept himself out there with his group The Product’s stellar 2006 debut One Hunnid and his compilation-styled My Homies Part 2, M.A.D.E. can easily be considered as his first solo release since 2002’s The Fix (excluding 2003’s Balls & My Word, a disc of previously unreleased ‘Face outtakes).
Scarface definitely uses his OG status to his advantage. Tracks like “Bigg Dogg Status” literally contrasts his gangsta to that of newcomers, while others are more indirect. “Burn” features him recounting the actions and emotions surrounding a murder scene while still keeping a general perspective (“We live in a do or die society/you do it either die trying, or do it psychologically”), and “Never” is a rundown of his street code of ethics. While “Girl You Know” would seem like an obligatory lady pleaser with its title and Trey Songz feature, instead, it ends up being a forum for Scarface to chastise a would-be wifey for reasons like not loving his kids like she loves her own. Production-wise, he stays away from producers du jour and sticks to his tried and true team of Mike Dean and N.O. Joe, with newcomers like Enigma and Drumma Boy following suit of their ominous, subdued backdrops. Rather than try to keep up with the new breed of trap rappers, a frank and stoic ‘Face sticks to what he knows, and does it well.
But aside from Scarface just sticking to his roots, M.A.D.E. succeeds because it’s good music. “Boy Meets Girl” is a tragic tale of hood love, while “Who Do You Believe In” investigates politics, race, religion and poverty, and how they all intersect. “The Suicide Note” sees ‘Face returning to his old hood, mourning both its newly-worsened condition and a friend who killed himself. All of the tracks are gloomy, eerily detailed and demanding of repeated listens.
The primary flaw in M.A.D.E. (outside from the dated, generic-sounding “Git Out My Face”) is its length. Weighing in at a paltry 42:37 and only 10 tracks long (excluding a verse-less intro and outro), the disc can be unsatisfying, especially to those who don’t enjoy all of the songs equally. But with ‘Face’s depressing rhymes and melancholy soundscapes, more music may have been unbearable anyway. Despite any minor gripes, though, M.A.D.E. shows that Scarface has still got it.
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