How come AZ never blew up.........

[$cam-U-Well_Jack$on]

"Pieces of a black man. My thoughts travel, trapped in savage land, it's like taboo..."

 

[Walter H White]

One of the smoothest lyricist of all time.

 

[C-Styles]

So 50 it's only a run, enjoy this here
Matter of fact you ain't done, enjoy this year
And uh it's only fair I make this clear
You could neva fukk wit me, so don't neva fukk wit me
If money makes the man then on Iraq land
Saddam statue will still stand on top of the sand
You a fan so overall respect my hand
Cause I can see what's goin' on, I respect your scam
And we can toast to the life that showed us both
That trials and tribulation only bring forth growth
And when we ghost, you could bet who be felt the most
So live your life 'til the reaper approach..

yooo... 11 years looking back to this, this has to be right up there with ETHER for PROPHECY purposes!! Everything AZ said in that verse came to life no matter how you see it! When i first heard this back in 05, i kind of laughed at it but A was right on point with this

basically he was saying, be the sell out and live off your gimmick as much as you can, cuz when people look back, i got the most classics and classics will always prevail

 

[Arithmetic]

yooo... 11 years looking back to this, this has to be right up there with ETHER for PROPHECY purposes!! Everything AZ said in that verse came to life no matter how you see it! When i first heard this back in 05, i kind of laughed at it but A was right on point with this

basically he was saying, be the sell out and live off your gimmick as much as you can, cuz when people look back, i got the most classics and classics will always prevail

AZ a prophet. This was right around the time Curtis dropped. 50 aint been the same since.

 

[DaHNIC82]

His label Noo Tribe dropped the ball. He had Hey Az as one of the summer flyest songs. It was all over clues tape and he was also on that firm album so he had a lot of buzz.

Noo Tribe didn't clear the sample and hey Az got left off the album which explains why Pieces of a man sounds so disjointed. Then by then young spitters like Mase came through with a machine spitting fly East Coast shyt. A shame really

 

[Crayola Coyote]

Because in his prime the following artists made better music

• Has
• Jayz
• Mobb deep
• Biggie
• Redman
• The wu as a group
• GfK
• Gza
• Raekwon
• Odb
• Method man
• I haven't even left NYC yet
• Gangstarr
• Tupac
• Snoop
• Ice cube

I'll stop there you get the picture

So everyone sounded the same as you got partynextdoor, Bryson tiller and the weekend?

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

People already gave the reasons but just to re-iterate...

If you're a rapper in the 90s, you need more than just skills to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack, there's just way too much talent. AZ could spit, but in reality Nas was a better version of him, and it was the 'Nas' version that got all the recognition, but Nas also brought more to the table.

He was also content being underground so that also speaks for itself. Same case with Inspectah Deck.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Cause already had that spot

 

[C-Styles]

AZ a prophet. This was right around the time Curtis dropped. 50 aint been the same since.

nah this was when the get rich or die trying soundtrack came out and then AZ responded with that prophecy, then Curtis dropped the next year and we all know what went down...

 

[Big Boss]

Some people just don't blow up

 

[Bruce Wayne]

AZ was very Slept On. I think thought that's a Blessing for some Artists like him. You're so Ill and all but you get no Fame for it, however in the long run it's AZ that always makes Good Music because he's Sharp. He always Rhymes like he's Hungry.

It's a Damn Shame that The Firm wasn't a Great Success either.

 

[Farrinto]

AZ is in my top 5 and Pieces of a Man is one of my favorite albums of all time.

 

[JayBaldacci]

because he never dropped a classic album and he's bland and predictable despite his technical ability which is almost second to none.

 

[SirBiatch]

To answer the question.... his image wasn't as appealing, his delivery isn't as compelling as a Nas/Jay-Z nor as accessible, questionable charisma, his beats were mostly bland and wordplay-to-the-exclusion-of-everything-else is for geeks.

But more importantly, he just didn't want to blow. You could tell rap wasn't that important for him.

The Come Up and Rather Unique are the best shyts he's ever made though

There's a video for this?! Holy shyt! I used to play the shyt out of this song when it came out.

 

[up in here]

Not too many straight up lyricists blow up. But he has had a 20 year career and I never heard he was driving cabs or delivering Chinese food so I'm sure his life ain't been all that bad.