The Diary gets straight to the point—but that’s Scarface, never one for theatrics. The Southern gangsta rap pioneer’s third solo album represents his most focused vision, one shaded by violence, political corruption and mortality, plus a touch of funk. On the swaggering but solemn “Hand of the Dead Body”, he recruits Ice Cube to mock critics who conflate gangsta rap with urban violence, while the hushed, echoing “I Seen a Man Die” delivers a profoundly haunting narrative about coming to terms with death firsthand.