Rap’s Scarface Shows His Heart : His third album, ‘The Diary,’ has sold more than a million copies, but the standout is a tender Top 40 hit track, ‘I Seen a Man Die.’

The stocky Scarface looks like your stereotypical hard-core rapper--tough enough to take care of himself in a back-street rumble. So it’s a surprise that his biggest hit turns out to be one that showcases his tender side.

“I Seen a Man Die” is the best song on his latest hit album, “The Diary.” All about dealing with death, it’s uncharacteristically sensitive, with the haunting refrain, “I never seen a man cry until I seen a man die,” and a final tender sequence chronicling a spirit’s adjustment to the afterlife.

The song has become his most popular solo single, giving the Houston-based Scarface, 24, the kind of exposure that has helped push “The Diary” past the million sales mark--almost twice the sales of each of his first two solo albums.

Don’t think everything about “The Diary” is soft. The rest of the collection is filled with hard-core rap’s characteristic brutality and frequently crude sexism.

A former member of the Geto Boys rap group, Scarface (whose real name is Brad Jordan) is obviously pleased with the album’s success, although he has some misgivings about both the state of gangsta rap and the long range implications of his own hit single.

Question: What led you to write “I Seen a Man Die,” which is outside the usual hard-core rap boundaries?

Answer: For me boundaries are made to be broken. Rap will die if rappers don’t try new things.

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Q: Was it tough to do a song that shows your sensitive side?

A: Not really. There’s not much in rap I can’t do if I put my mind to it. What’s so surprising about people from the ‘hood showing feelings? We’re not robots. Even people who shoot and kill have feelings. Your buddy dies, your relatives die--you feel it way down deep.

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Q: Do you mind showing your sensitive side?

A: There’s stuff inside me, like there is in anybody. What can you say about it? You can’t talk about it too much. Feelings are . . . aw, who knows?

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Q: “The Diary” album is different from your last two solo albums. It has a stronger mainstream feel, less standard funk. Was that intentional?

A: No, I just went in and made the album. There wasn’t any big plan. But this time I took more of a role in everything. There’s more of me on this album than on any of the others.

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Q: Why do you think your rap is any different from most of what’s out there?

A: My stuff is real . I talk about things in a way that’s more honest. People sense I’m not a fake. That comes across loud and clear. I’m not trying to shock anybody by having more gunshots and talking more about whores and bitches.

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Q: What kind of rap do you listen to?

A: I don’t listen to rap. I don’t really like it anymore. I listened to a lot of it last year, but I’ve had enough. It’s too dry. It doesn’t move me.

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Q: So why continue being a rapper?

A: I’m not talking about my raps. Too many of those other rappers aren’t telling the truth. They’re standing still, going way overboard. I can be creative and be a good rapper and still not listen to the other crap out there.

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Q: Looking ahead, what do you see for gangsta rap?

A: I don’t see a lot of changes--but changes are needed. Rappers need to be more creative. They need to talk less about killing and chasing women and get into other areas. Also, we like the term reality rap-- not gangsta rap. I’m no gangster, and I don’t glorify that stuff.

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Q: But you have songs on “The Diary” like “The White Sheet” and “No Tears” about gunning people down. Isn’t that glorifying gangsterism?

A: It’s all in how you look at it. I’m telling what happens, not glorifying it. Rappers like me are just calling attention to what’s going on in the ‘hood. If people hear enough about how horrible it is, maybe the people in power will start doing something about changing it.

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Q: Since you don’t listen to rap, what do you listen to?

A: I’m well into ‘70s and ‘80s rock. I’ve been listening to it since I was a kid, when I first heard it a lot at my uncle’s place. Ask me anything about rock from that era and I’ll tell you. I like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, and I’ve always liked Pink Floyd. I listen to some new rock too. I just got hip to that group Mazzy Star.

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Q: You seem to relish being a maverick--being different from the pack. Is that true?

A: I pride myself on it. When I was a teen-ager, I was different and I felt different--and I almost didn’t live though it.

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Q: What do you mean?

A: When I was 14, I tried to commit suicide. I was even in a rock band, playing lead guitar and singing, and I wrote a song about suicide. I was feeling outside of things and very depressed. If felt different--like I was out of tune with everything. I slashed my wrists. You can still see the scars. I was in and out of the hospital for 20 months after that.

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Q: Why did you want to commit suicide?

A: Growing up poor and black in this country is hell. It messes up your mind. That and other different things were weighing on me--like an elephant on my head. I’ve learned how to cope. Things don’t get to me the way they used to. I’ve learned it’s OK to be different. I don’t have to constantly feel happy.

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Q: What about the Geto Boys? Are you still in the group?

A: No, I’m not. Actually, no group is for me. I’m not a follower. You have to be a follower to be in a group. You’ve got to be able to do things when the other people want to do things. You can’t be your own person.

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Q: What do you see for yourself in the future?

A: Maybe in the next few years I’ll rap about something very heavy--like the end of the world. Or maybe talk about why the universe doesn’t end. People might think I’m crazy--but a lot of them think that anyway.

Things keep getting worse in the ‘hood, so there’s a lot to talk about. I’m like time. I just march right on.

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