In the wake of the groups national success came solo albums, one of which being Scarface s debut, Mr. The ensuing controversy surrounding the groups debut put the Geto Boys on the map and set the stage for the impressive We Cant Be Stopped (1991). This album featured the song Scarface, which introduced Akshens alter ego, a title he would keep from that point onward. The Geto Boys second album (and first to feature Scarface ) Grip It On That Other Level (1990), later repackaged and re-released that same year simply as The Geto Boys shocked many with its vivid depictions of violence and its overall extreme nature. Smith was trying to launch a group he tagged the Geto Boys, and he eventually asked Akshen to join the group in the late 80s. Scarface consequently enjoyed the most successful album of his career, The Fix (2002), and a revival of interest in his back catalog, which his former label, Rap-A-Lot, repackaged that same year on Greatest Hits.īefore Brad Jordan (born November 9, 1970) became known as Scarface, he called himself Akshen.Īs such, he began his rap career first as a solo artist in his native Houston during the mid-80s for James Smith s then-fledging Rap-A-Lot label. In the early 2000s, Def Jam Records rewarded his staying power with a lucrative contract, a wealth of industry connections, and a powerful marketing push. Still, likely because Scarface never crossed over and remained aligned to the streets, his influence never waned, making him one of the few veterans able to sustain in the here-today, gone-tomorrow rap game. His albums were often plagued with filler, his lyrics were simply too harsh for radio, and his devotion to producer Mike Dean led to a stagnant, albeit trademark, sound. This became glaringly evident in the late 90s when a massive wave of young MCs arose from Houston, New Orleans, and Memphis emulating his style of hard-boiled, ghetto-bred, straight-up hardcore rapping.īesides serving as the father of Southern thug rap, it seemed as if every hardcore rapper wanted to align himself with Scarface during the 90s everyone from Ice Cube and Dr.ĭre to 2Pac and Master P collaborated with the former Geto Boy all in an attempt to foster credibility among the loyal Southern rap audience. He essentially defined what it meant to be a Southern thug rapper years before anyone even coined the term Dirty South. Led by a Kanye West -produced collaboration with Jay-Z, Guess Whos Back, it spawned a popular single, My Block, and attracted widespread embrace.Įven if he never scored any national hits or stormed up the charts with any of his numerous albums throughout the 90s, no one could question his clout throughout the South. Executive Produced by Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, and Emily Barclay Ford for Team Downey and C13Originals, together with Josh McLaughlin for Wink Pictures and written, produced, and directed by Peabody-nominated C13Originals, a Cadence13 Studio.He has been a solo artist since 1991, becoming one of the most p read more. The Sunshine Place tells the mind-blowing, true-story of Synanon - one of America’s most cutting edge social experiments, turned into one of its most dangerous and violent cults - as it’s never been told before: by the people who lived it. Dederich, aka “Chuck,” would be the one to destroy it all, along with the lives of many of his followers and millions of dollars in assets. The man who made the miracle happen, Charles E. What started in a house on the beach, soon spread to compounds across the country. Before long, it would make an even bolder claim: It could cure any of your problems. Once called “the miracle on the beach,” Synanon began in the 1960s as an experimental rehab facility in Santa Monica, California with a radical claim: It could cure heroin addiction.