On October 18, 1994, Scarface released The Diary, his third solo album, through Rap-A-Lot and Noo Trybe. Thirty-two years later, it still sits near the top of any serious conversation about Southern rap’s greatest albums, and it’s the record that made a lot of people outside Texas finally understand what Houston had been saying all along.
What Made It Hit
The Diary is dark, personal and tight. Scarface produced alongside Mike Dean, N.O. Joe and Uncle Eddie, and the beats leave room for his storytelling to breathe. The lead single, “I Seen a Man Die,” is a haunting look at a man coming home from prison and running out of time. It reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Face his first top-40 hit. The follow-up, “Hand of the Dead Body,” brought in Ice Cube and Devin the Dude and peaked at No. 74.
Deep cuts carried weight too. “No Tears” later opened the 1999 cult comedy Office Space, introducing Scarface to a whole new crowd.
The Numbers
The album debuted at No. 2 on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and the RIAA certified it Platinum on December 5, 1994, less than two months after release. Critics were all in: The Source and XXL each gave it a perfect score, a rare double, and Pitchfork later rated it 9.3 out of 10.
A Stacked Release Day
October 18, 1994, was one of those Tuesdays. The same day, O.C. released his debut Word…Life on Wild Pitch, featuring the classic “Time’s Up” and production mostly from Buckwild, a record that helped cement his place in D.I.T.C. Digable Planets also dropped Blowout Comb, their jazz-soaked second and final album. It peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard 200 and didn’t sell like their debut, but critics loved it, and the group’s 30th anniversary tour last year showed how much it still means to fans.
The Legacy
Scarface has always been the rapper’s rapper from the South, and The Diary is the clearest proof. It showed that street rap could be reflective without going soft, and that Houston could compete with anybody on the coasts. If you only know Face from features, start here.
Keep the nostalgia going with yesterday’s On This Day on Diddy’s Press Play. What’s your favorite track on The Diary?
Sources: Wikipedia: The Diary, Wikipedia: Word…Life, Wikipedia: Blowout Comb, 1994 in hip-hop
