Words By K1NG

2006 was one of the more interesting 4th quarters in hip hop of the last couple years. Nas was coming out with his controversially titled album Hip Hop Is Dead, The Game was dropping his sophomore set “The Doctor’s Advocate” without Dre behind the boards, and Jay was dropping the ill-received comeback album Kingdom Come.

However one of the better albums of that year dropped silently around the same time that the major label giants were competing for first week sales.

AZ The Format

AZ’s The Format starts off with a soulfully enriching sample flipped by M.O.P. member Lil’ Fame with precision on the song “I Am The Truth”. AZ rides the smooth beat effortlessly like he was still that young kid from Brooklyn who rhymed with Nas on “Life’s A Bitch.”

He follows the slow moving laid-back introduction track to a more hyped up Lil’ Fame production on the song “Sit ‘Em Back Slow.” The up-tempo beat is a perfect musical landscape for AZ to trade verses with his loud and obnoxious New York brethren M.O.P.

The rest of the album plays through extremely well with plenty of songs to keep your attention. He joins up with the North Carolina duo Little Brother to speak on the coming up and falling off in the street that is almost necessary with a life in the drug-game on the song “Rise & Fall.” Even DJ Premier comes through and makes an appearance on the hypnotizing title-track with his precision cuts and scratches on the chorus.

Fortunately, AZ can still stay interesting by himself with songs like “This Is What I Do,” where he explains his own rise in the hip hop game, “Get High,” where he professes his love for the green leafy plant that is ever so present in the American culture, or “Game of Life,” where he speaks on his view of how a person should live their life while they still have air in their lungs.

The only song that doesn’t seem to fit on the album, or any AZ album for that matter, is the pop-inspired duet with Dipset’s first lady Jha Jha. He makes up for that annoying and unnecessary collaboration with two songs that showcase the low toned rapper Fresh, who is signed to his new Quiet Money record label. The rookie MC seems to have no problem keeping up with the masterful MC he’s signed to on the songs “Make Me,” and “Vendetta.”

The album overall is a very cohesive project that most rappers could only dream of putting together in this age of the single-driven music industry. It was definitely worth the $10 I spent on it in 2006, and is still worth listening to today.

AZ Shots

AZ – Doe or Die (1995)

The Firm – The Album (1997)

AZ – Pieces of a Man (1998)

AZ – S.O.S.A. (Save Our Streets AZ) (2000)

AZ – 9 Lives (2001)

AZ – Aziatic (2002)

AZ – Decade 1994-2004 Disc 1 (2004)

AZ – Decade 1994-2004 Disc 2 (2004)

AZ – Final Call (Unreleased)

AZ – A.W.O.L. (2005)

AZ – The Format (2006)

AZ – The Format DVD (2006)

AZ – The Memphis Sessions (2007)

AZ – Features and Misc.

AZ Shots