Balls and My Word

iTunes Review

Though many fans confusedly mistook this as the follow-up to Scarface’s excellent 2002 LP The Fix, Balls and My Word is in fact a collection of outtakes scraped together from the Rap-A-Lot archives. Most of this material sounds like it comes from the late '90s, a time in which Scarface was releasing sprawling collections like the double album My Homies. Though Balls and My Word lacks the thematic cohesion that marks all of Scarface’s official releases, it does contain some excellent songs. “Make Your Peace” features one of the most stunning openings of any ‘Face track, as the rapper steps deftly into the groove with a series of existential inquires: “Is this how you made it, or is this sickness out of control? / Is the beginning of the end right now? Let me know / Do the saved souls travel the road of the souls lost? / How come the dead can't talk?” Other standouts include “Mary II,” a tale of seduction so potent that it is impossible at times to tell whether Scarface is talking about a woman or the Devil himself.