Al Pacino says hip-hop turned “Scarface” into a cultural milestone despite its rocky beginnings

Oscar-winner Al Pacino’s portrayal of Tony Montana in “Scarface” left an indelible mark on the film industry, however the 1983 film’s journey from critical skepticism to cult classic got here thanks largely to an unlikely audience: the hip-hop community.

While promoting his recent book “Sonny Boy,” the Manhattan native appeared on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast and talked about how the film is uniquely relevant to rap culture.

Whether it’s basic mentions or snippets of his own dialogue from a sampled film, “Scarface” is commonly mentioned and referenced in rap and hip-hop lyrics.

At the time of its release, “Scarface” was not universally received by critics or Hollywood pundits.

During the interview he common“At the premiere, Martin Scorsese turned around halfway through the movie and said, ‘You guys are great, but be prepared, because Hollywood is going to hate this.'”

“He told me this, but he didn’t know me from Adam,” Pacino continued. “And I said, ‘Why?’ He said, “Because it’s about them.”

He even recalled that before the premiere of “Scarface” he lost interest in acting. But the fan response said otherwise.

“The audience loved it. It took a while,” Pacino admitted.

The film’s influence began to realize on the streets relatively than within the studios. With the emergence of hip-hop within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, artists and fans alike discovered a deep connection to the rags-to-riches story of Tony Montana, Pacino’s character. It also showed the ability of a drug dealer and kingpin, which at one point became a major theme in rap music.

“Hip-hop just nailed it. They understood it,” he remarked to the host. “Rappers embraced it. And the subsequent thing you already know, VHS comes out and more people watch it.

Rappers similar to JAY-Z, Raekwon, Nas, The Lox and The Notorious BIG have referenced the film, and groups similar to Mobb Deep have sampled its music. In 2003, Def Jam released a compilation titled “Music Inspired by Scarface”, which featured other artists similar to Cam’ron, NWA, Joe Budden, and even rap pioneer Melle Mel.

Pacino identified how hard it is just not to see the influence, saying, “These rappers, we’re on records. And then it just carried on and on.

The film’s stark portrayal of Cuban immigrant Montana’s rise to power parallels the experiences of many hip-hop artists who saw themselves in its tumult.

Brooklyn’s Microphone Jay-Z examined the film’s influence in his song “Ignorant S—,” rapping, “The movie Scarface did more for me than the rapper Scarface,” referring to the Texas rapper who earned the name, though the content of his music largely didn’t reflects the character of the film.

According to Vogue, Brad Jordan initially gave the true name of the music artist Hov fired rap profession under the name DJ Akshen, but later modified it, feeling a strong bond with Tony Montana, who was “Scarface” within the film.

In 1989, Jordan released the 12-inch single “Scarface/Another Head Put to Rest,” marking his first skilled use of the name on wax. This opened the best way for him to sign a contract with Rap-A-Lot Records and join the cult Geto Boys. Since then, no other emcee has even come near questioning his name.

“I took the name Scarface because that was who I was,” he said he said within the Def Jam documentary accompanying the compilation.

Latin rapper Fat Joe called Tony Montana “the greatest ghetto superhero.”

“His attitude basically went from nothing to something,” Jermaine Dupri said. “Before we started making records, we weren’t sitting on Bentleys. We sat on the porches.”

Snoop added: “He got here from nothing. We saw him come from nothing and need to fight to get citizenship where he needed to rush.

In the identical documentary, Sean “Diddy” Combs said during an interview that he had watched “63 times” a film that depicted among the same racketeering, drug dealing and other crimes which have Combs currently held in prison while he awaits to trial for allegedly committing a crime.

“We were just happy that another cat made it,” Diddy said. “No matter how he got it.”

For Pacino, seeing “Scarface” transcend its original reception and turn out to be a symbol of ambition and resilience was incredibly rewarding.

Forty years later, the film continues to be eagerly watched by artists young and old.

Atlanta rapper Future recorded a song with Drake from once they were friends called “Tony Montana,” which introduced the film to the subsequent generation of rap fans. Future performed the identical song at an NFL game in 2012.

Younger artists similar to Lil Baby and Da Baby have used “Scarface” as storyboards for his or her music video “Child” in 2019.

Thanks to its reception by the hip-hop community, the film stays a special cultural touchstone for future generations searching for to grasp the Eighties drug scene and the history of Latino immigrant mob life.