Scarface - Balls and My Word (CD)

All Music Guide

Though nothing on the packaging states so, Balls and My Word is RapaLot's attempt to spruce up a bunch of Scarface outtakes and make them seem like a new studio album by a departed and increasingly popular legend. Circa 2003, the year RapaLot released Balls and My Word, the Texas indie label was in dire straits. The rise of myriad indie rap labels during the early 2000s took away a big chunk of the Dirty South market that RapaLot once dominated; furthermore, the departure of the label's marquee artist, Scarface, for the greener pastures of industry heavyweight Def Jam certainly didn't help. Desperate times breed desperate measures, so RapaLot definitely goes for broke here on Balls and My Word, taunting 50 Cent, who was presently the industry's hottest rapper, on "Bitch Nigga." It's a baiting track, for sure one that absolutely begs for a response, one that would garner ridiculous media attention and, in turn, some muchneeded publicity for RapaLot. The catch, of course, is that it's n...ot Scarface who does the baiting; rather, it's RapaLot figurehead J Prince and his latest signee, ZRo, who hijack a dusty verse of 'Face's about snitches and misplace it into a new context. (Scarface has no beef whatsoever with 50 and, in fact, even went so far as to affirm this in the media.) This publicity ploy is downright crass, but if you can look past all this, Balls and My Word does contain some quality performances by Scarface and his longtime producer, Mike Dean, as well as a production by Murder Inc.'s inhouse mastermind, 7 Aurelius ("Spend the Night"). - Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide Read more Less