AZ

Among the numerous thoughtful gangsta rappers to emerge from NY through the mid-’90s, AZ enjoyed critical achievement early in his profession, particularly along with his debut recording, Doe or Pass away (1995), but business achievement largely eluded him over time. Blessed in Brooklyn, he originally garnered attention along with his visitor feature on “Life’s a Bitch,” among the standout monitors on Nas’ landmark debut record, Illmatic (1994). In the wake of Doe or Die’s vital achievement, AZ collaborated with Nas in the ill-fated supergroup the Company and released Bits of a guy (1998), another vital favorite. But also for one of the most component, that was it from AZ for quite some time as he dropped with the wayside, not really surfacing within a big method again until a set of Motown produces, 9 Lives (2001) and Aziatic (2002), that didn’t sell any much better than his prior efforts. He eventually had taken his music underground, regularly releasing albums like a.W.O.L. (2005). In 2004 the double-disc retrospective 10 years 1994-2004 looked back again over his profession to time, gathering up several highlights.