Mr. Scarface is Back

Following his appearances on the Geto Boys' sophomore album Grip It! On That Other Level in 1989, the self-titled remix album in 1990, and the release of the group’s breakthrough single “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” in July 1991, Scarface released his own hard-hitting debut album Mr. Scarface is Back on October 8, 1991 through Rap-A-Lot Records with distribution by Priority Records. Produced by Scarface and Crazy C, the album achieved gold status with support from the singles “Mr. Scarface,” “A Minute to Pray and a Second to Die,” and “Money and the Power.” Despite the controversial content, Scarface was praised for his storytelling abilities on tracks such as “I’m Dead” and “Diary of a Madman.”

Scarface talked about the album cover and going solo:

That album cover was shot near the same place we recorded the first Geto Boys album. And, no, that wasn’t real coke on the table. That was fucking flour. But the guns were real. Still, I was so reckless back then that at 19-year-old I know I would have taken that coke and sold it [laughs]. […] Willie D. didn’t like the fact that ‘Scarface of the Geto Boys’ was printed on the cover. He did not like that shit one bit. But the plan was for me to always go solo. J [Prince] knew that; it was always understood.