transcript of Jay-Z's commentary on Scarface:

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Here's something intresting I noticed watching the Documentarys on this dvd.
Brian DePalma said that back in 1983 they wanted to give this movie an X rating. Which means nobody under 17 can see this movie, basicly because it can have an affect on the teen.
And as history has shown with the black & hispanic community it has and in a bad way.
This movie is some of the proof on how movies, t.v. & music can have a bad effect on socity.

not sure how much longer this thread will be around before its deemed racist (not saying that I think that, but people can be really touchy)

...Anyways I think its funny that rapppers equate their lives to Tony Montana's. I mean, come on...this guy took on the Colombian cartel, the Feds, and everyone else. Eminem starts feuds with Christina Agulleria (sp) and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog...These guys think they are living the Scarface life because their lawyers (or limo drivers) get them out of trouble every time they get brought up on gun charges? Please. It's been a while, but didn't Tony fight with friggin' grenade launcher? The fact that 50 Cent even has a career is because he has been shot "X" amount of times while dealing drugs...All that tells me is that crack heads need to aim higher.

Instead of ridiculing these rappers for idolizing this movie I chose to understand were they are coming from and see things form their point of view. I can relate being born and raised in Detroit in an area were you need to be in the house by 7pm or your just another casualty of the street violence that infects Detroit’s hopeless majority of young black youth. I too took some of Tony Montana’s attitude after seeing this movie back in 86. I loved the way he didn’t take shit from no one and was hungry for success. Now I chose to channel this energy in a way I felt would benefit me in the long run, such as these rappers in this documentary chose to channel this energy. In “Da Hood” you have very tough choices to make and unlike any other city out side the hood these choices could lead to your death in a flash. There’s a saying in the Hood were I’m from “You have to show them that your Hard!” “No one respects you if you Cry,” and living in the hood will make any man cry. I think that it is more constructive to try and understands other people’s circumstances and forced situations than to judge them. If these people have broke laws then by all means let the law run its course, but if you have never lived in the ghetto, or been to the ghetto let those who are in the ghetto continue to express (hip hop) there feelings about the world the way they see it.

So Scarface represents everyone in the hood's struggle to make it to the top and teaches important lessons that closely mimick those found in the black urban society. Are you snorting the same stuff Tony Montana used in the movie. Your a white man saying this. Am a white man reading your post. If I were an african american I really be pissed that someone in the white community thought like you. By the way a good thread for you to start would be a review of the DEF Jam feature. Alot of people are complaining already that the rappers intervewed are so stupid that the only word that they continually use throwout the feature is F this F that. One guy even said he had to turn it off after two minutes. It was unwatchable. The million dollar question to me is who at universal desided to produce this feature for the 20th aniversary dvd. It's an insult to all scarface fans. The guy should be fired. The studio should have had commentary tracks with Brian Depalma and Oliver Stone. I have the original scarface dvd and am a huge fan of the film, am also very aware that the video and audio are far superior on the new release but because of this rappers feature am not buying the new release. I flat out refuse to have any disc in my dvd collection with RAPPER content in it.

Amen.

So just buy the DVD, enjoy the improved a/v quality, and don't watch the rapper featurette. You are over-reacting to its pressence on the disc. Or better yet, get drunk and then watch the rapper thing. I'm sure you'll enjoy it that way.

I really have no idea why most of you have a problem with rappers or the hip hop culture. You have to understand rappers really dont embody or emulate Scarface, it's just the "cool" thing to do since every other rapper is doing it. It is the media that really twists the perception of rappers as doing the "gansta" thing 24/7. 99 percent of the time, rap is all about braggado with volume turned up another 200 percent. They talk about I will shoot you etc.... but in reality this is just a show for music. I find it mildly amusing how many of you take it seriously that most rappers are street tough gansters. The age of the ganster rappers was over in the late 90's. After N.W.A, Tupac, Biggie the gansta rap genre has dissolved. Today's rappers are more of the pampered type. They just want really expensive cars and big houses. Even rappers like Scarface has toned his music down big time. If you listen to his first album The Diary to his last album The Fix it is not as "gansta" as the earlier ones. There are some exceptions to today's rappers such as 50 cents but for the most part look at rappers like Nelly, Jay-Z, Eminem, Nas, Benzino and others to see it is more of a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous rather than a gansta's ball.

It is a shame that Universal used this connection as a marketing ploy. They are making it worse. I liked this movie, but am sick of hearing the hip hop artists praise it like it is their own biography.

They have giving themselves the name, gangsters, then occasionally shot at each other to prove it to us.

Rappers are stupis and glorify violene and abuse. They identify with stupidity and ast cash and death. Mainly they are idiots and don't see the main message that you live by the sword you die by the sword. But then again their stupidity makes them thnk that that's a great way to go out.

Idiots!

Wow, some people here got really worked up over this.

I gotta agree though with rap. They call it "the game" because it is just one big game. Take Snoop Dogg, for example. The guy raps about hoes, blunts and having sex all the time, yet he is married with two kids and currently off the wacky tabacky. But of course everything he raps about he does. It's all one big "game"....

Still, I can understand people who have animosity towards the rap culture...they boast like there's no tomorrow, many are uneducated, and many of them made more money overnight than you did working your miserable job for 20 years. But to say you aren't buying a DVD because of a rap feature (you don't even HAVE to watch) is ridiculous. You aren't supporting rap music, Def Jam or the rapper Scarface by buying this DVD. Come back down to Earth, seriously

Wow.. just, wow. Go back to your Star Trek people.

If you watched the feature, most of them say that in the end his lifestyle caught up with him and that is one of the lessons learned. I'm not going to label anyone a racist on the basis of a couple of posts in a dvd thread, but most of you have extremely stereotypical attitudes toward "rap culture". If you don't want to be exposed to it, then don't. It's that simple. you don't have to watch the feature or listen to radio stations that play the music. As far a most on the feature saying that Tony is their idol...I think they mean it in a very loose sense. It doesn't mean that they all want to be drug lords. If you look at it sociologically, most of the rappers that were on the feature came from lower income areas. They came from nothing. Meki Phiffer (sp?) said it best when he said something along the lines of "you don't have to respect Tony's profession but you have to respect his drive." It seems that most you didn't even watch the feature and that's fine...just don't comment on it as if you have.

I haven't bought the remastered version yet but it's sad they added this "documentary" to it. Most people hate that crap. I agree whoever made the call to add this should be fired from Universal. Something relating to the film would have been welcomed by all and not alienated many of the fans of the movie.

Most people hate that crap?

The blind uneducated hate in this thread rocks. Made my day, that's for sure!

Not all rappers! What about Positive K? He was all about pursuing positive knowledge.

But in all seriousness, not all rappers are stupid and glorify violence and abuse(be careful about calling people stupid and mispelling the word). Arrested Development, Run DMC, Public Enemy and others don't glorify violence, nor are they stupid. Rappers like Busta Ryhmes and Snoop Dogg(at least nowadays) are more about having fun and partying.

Thanks for typing all that it saved me the trouble.

fixed

Given the way that this 1983 film is FLYING off the shelves in most stores (and, it's a double-dip, no less)... I'd say that Universal made the right decision.

Ultimately, this is a great film. I don't care who else likes it (or what other groups/cultures/whatever have embraced it). In time, all of that will blow over. People will move on. But the film will still be great.

In 10 years, all of these 'gangstas' will be tracking their mutual funds in the Wall Street Journal and trying to decide whether to get the muffin or croissant with their mocha lattes. But I'll still be enjoying my DVD... I can ignore a silly rapper featurette in the supplements. That's not tough.

kurupt sumed up my feelings as well.

I watched the whole documentary, and most (if not all) of the rappers said that Tony's downfall was a lesson learned, and the reason why they didn't follow his lead. They saw too many people like him and didn't want to end up that way.

I'm having trouble understanding why so many people line up to defend the ugly, narcissistic, hedonistic and violent lifestyle as glamorized by "hip-hop culture".

It's like some people want to make a career out of playing Devil's Advocate. The amount of rationalization that goes on is priceless:

"But....you're stereotyping!!!. That's bad!!!."

"Not ALL rappers are violent!"

"You are just jealous/racist/insert whatever else here."

Either these people are really young, really naive, or just plain airheaded. You'd have to be one of these things to not see the negative influence ghetto "roleplaying" has had on urban (and even suburban) youth in the last 20 years.

what if scarface influenced my life, then damn it, I want a documentary about it damn it.

you mean, 50 Cent [who used his label advance money to sell crack] & BIG [yet another drug dealer] aren't positive influences on the sub/urban youth..?

nawwwwww...

[while artists like Mos Def aren't even heard from...]

'sides, 50's been shot NINE times!

[I think BIG was too..]

I never had any interest in understanding Scarface's influence in hip-hop culture in the first place.