“Mind Playing Tricks On Me” Started Out as a Scarface Record
The Geto Boys “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” may be the greatest rap record of all time. An anthem of pain and anguish for the ages, Bushwick Bill, Scarface, and Willie D’s portrait of mental illness over a haunting Isaac Hayes loop is equal parts beautiful and disturbing. Utilizing the sample-as-chorus technique that Scarface perfected on several of his early records, “Mind Playing Tricks” showcased delivery, lyrics, and production that were all years ahead of their time. Hard as hell yet lyrical and thoughtful, every verse paints a complex picture of a narrator struggling to avoid the endless abyss of insanity.
Before appearing on The Geto Boys sophomore album We Can’t Be Stopped and gaining the group national attention, the song started out as a record for Scarface’s solo debut Mr. Scarface is Back. “I wish I could find the original version of this song, the one I first recorded,” Scarface told the website Genius in a personal notation from 2015. “I gave it to a buddy of mine named Lil’ Silver, and he died. That’s the only copy of ‘My Mind Playing Tricks On Me’ with every verse by me. Somebody has that fucking tape somewhere.”
Having written and produced “Mind Playing Tricks”, Scarface was responsible for every verse on the track except for Willie D’s. “There were three verses: my first two verses — the verse that Bill rapped was my own third verse,” Face told the website Da Shelter in a 2010 interview. “It was a record I originally recorded for my solo album, but nobody wanted that song. I swear…nobody.”
“I was always taught to write your heart, write your life. If you’re not crying when the song’s done, you ain’t wrote the right record.”
Even some of Scarface’s group mates missed the song’s potential when they first heard it. “Willie D didn’t think the record would work, but he wrote a verse to it anyway after J. Prince had done his research on this song,” Face told Da Shelter. “[J. Prince] found some people who were really feeling it. He wanted everybody to rap on it. It became a Geto Boys record.”
As the years pass, critics and fans continue to marvel at the power of every lyric in the song. Listeners should note that the turmoil found in the words from “Mind Playing Tricks” wasn’t just good storytelling— it was a reflection of Scarface’s life. While breaking the song down for HardKnock.tv in a 2013 interview, Face said his frequent self-medication at the time of the song’s release made him paranoid. Experimenting with a toxic cocktail of downers, shrooms, and weed, the Houston icon was in rough shape when he wrote lyrics like:
At night I can’t sleep, I toss and turn
Candlesticks in the dark, visions of bodies being burned
Four walls just staring at a n***a
I’m paranoid, sleeping with my finger on the trigger
My mother’s always stressin’ I ain’t living right
But I ain’t going out without a fight
“It was a record I originally recorded for my solo album, but nobody wanted that song. I swear…nobody.”
Despite the seemingly insurmountable internal battle, he was fighting at the time, his mental illness and paranoia also served as part of his creative fuel. “I think my manic-depressive state and suicidal tendencies played a huge role on who I was back then,” he told Da Shelter.
Face was in such a dark place it’s fair to wonder what would have happened without music as an outlet. “I was in a part of my brain that was almost spooky,” he told HardKnock.tv. “I was in a real fucked up state of mind man. To the point that I just wanted to die.”
Scarface wasn’t the only group member in the depths of despair when “My Mind’s Playing Tricks” dropped. Right before the release of We Can’t Be Stopped, Geto Boys rapper Buskwick Bill shot himself in the eye during a drunken dispute with his then-girlfriend. Rap-A-Lot then made the questionable decision to use his injury as a photo op. According to Scarface, his sullen facial expression on the album cover is a result of his annoyance with the label’s exploitation of Bill. “I didn’t really want to put Bill out there like that,” he told Da Shelter. “How many people have gotten their eye shot out and captured it on an album cover for everyone to remember? It’s hard to wake up in the morning and deal with that one.”
“I was in a real fucked up state of mind man. To the point that I just wanted to die.”
While the harsh realities of life provided the initial inspiration for the song, Scarface credits the creatives from his early years for teaching him how to turn his pain into art. “I grew up around musicians and writers,” he told HardKnock.tv. “I was always taught to write your heart, write your life. If you’re not crying when the song’s done, you ain’t wrote the right record.”
Although Scarface’s tears may have resulted in plenty of iconic records, that hopeless place from many years ago isn’t a state of mind he plans to revisit. “I’m so glad to be out of that shit,” he told HardKnock.tv. “I don’t ever want to go back in there.”
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