What exactly happened to AZ?

[Tetris v2.0]

Seems like a mix of bad business moves (like others said) and not evolving his sound. With the right label and producers he couldve had a Fabolous-esque level of popularity. He has more talent than the average, and has the right image....seems like he may have lacked the "grind" and cosigns necessary to compete with a Jay-Z, Fab or Mase.

I dont have a favorite album of his...maybe first one or AWOL, but you can make a nice mix of all the tracks hes done over the years

 

[inndaskKy]

What I like about AZ is that he never turned bitter about not blowing up. He has the right attitude and has continued to put out dope music through the years even though he never got that major success. Third verse on this sums that mentality up perfectly:

doe r die is on par w/ iww and reasonable doubt, imo. everything after went way downhill in quality due much to poor production. i also remember reading in interviews he had lots of label trouble w/ motown and what not.

Much as the Nas/AZ comparisons are cliche, I always felt like Pieces of a Man compares to DOD the way IWW compares to Illmatic. It was slightly less classic but more straight spitting and had some great beats when you really look at it:











^^All classic tracks, off the same album. Very underrated.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

2) despite the great appearance on illmatic, he was never nas...who in turn didnt become the successful nas until iww where he proved he could appeal to more than just the streets (if i ruled the world, street dreams). az never developed that skill. and late 90s, thats exactly where the game was going.

AZ is the one that laid the blueprint for nas to blow up. "if i ruled the world" is nothing but a carbon copy of "sugar hill", which was already platinum single back when illmatic wasnt generating any money.

in '95-96, AZ was indeed fabolous status at the very least.

its not about AZ "not blowing up" because he did blow. its about him not living up to his potential, success-wise.

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

Anthony is living a good life, trust me. He is naturally gifted with this rap shyt but son knows the score of it all with the fortunate of being in a grand position in life, the "quiet money" slogan is pretty much a true statement..$$$$$.

 

[re'up]

AZ always been good with me, one of my favorites, but always under-looked, even to me. I don't think he had the intensity to really make it like that, his music is so laid back. He has released a few terrible albums since 2008 though, 'Undeniable' was my shyt though, even if he was doing some terrible Jay impressions all over that lol

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

when i heard AZ on the exclusives this week..hello freestyle and the 86 remix with rae, i was in awe at how effortlessly he rhymes..also props to the chef on that, he was sharp on that too.

 

[Emperor Sol]

You don't say? Photos of this broad?

Taysha Valez





Apparently she isn't a billionaire or even a millionaire, and she on some fraud shyt. If that's true, I doubt AZ would date or wife this broad. But seeing as this nikka hangs around Nas, I wouldn't be surprised if he was pulling heavyweight Ls too

 

[BigIke]

Nas went solo

 

[Gallo]

Taysha Valez

myTAYPCS's PonyTails & Pearls - YouTube



Apparently she isn't a billionaire or even a millionaire, and she on some fraud shyt. If that's true, I doubt AZ would date or wife this broad. But seeing as this nikka hangs around Nas, I wouldn't be surprised if he was pulling heavyweight Ls too

She's not that bad though. Could lose a few

 

[360dagod]

AZ was a victim of bad label management...

But im sure he eat better than nas....

Mannie Fresh said it best...

Id rather be rich and local,that be nationwide and broke

 

[ISO]

F*ck Chief Keef, AZ is the true Sosa.

 

[UserNameless]

What I like about AZ is that he never turned bitter about not blowing up.

“Nas got rich... ain't reached back...I ain’t riff yet.” - AZ, 'Life on the Line'

 

[bewitched]

I think nas took his lane before he had a chance to enter it

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

yo what was that so called fact about az having read god knows how many thousands of books?

 

[Uncle Trill]

Didnt have enough content to rap about, dude was just mad slick and cool but never really told us much about himself or growing up on his tracks. nikkaz never really knew AZ they just knew he was dope. His beat selection has been questionable at times too after his first album.

He's still one of my favourite rappers ever.