“Refuse 2 Die” - Review Of AZ’s Legendary
ALBUM REVIEWS By MZ on June 19, 2009 at 1:34 pm
There are certain words within each profession which are reserved for a select few who have toiled to reach a higher plateau. Within the world of music, terms like classic and legendary are bestowed upon those who have created acclaimed works and/or proven themselves to be head and shoulders above their peers. Being involved in such a fickle industry, where people constantly come and go, a long and consistent career can lead to an individual gaining a hyperbolic perception of self. With fifteen years in and the completion of his 8th studio album, Legendary, AZ certainly feels he’s entitled to such a lofty title. But is he really a legendary figure within the realm of Hip-Hop or is he just a legend in his own mind.
Lyrically “The Visualiza” still has the capability to paint a vivid picture with his words, but at this stage of his career he’s like Monet painting water lilies in his backyard. Instead of exploring new ground, he’s content to pain the same picture from every imaginable angle. On “Before It’s All Said & Done,” he depicts the tale of someone who attained a life of leisure and is reveling in their success. The chorus brings to mind “City Of Gods” off of 2005’s A.W.O.L. which isn’t the worst thing, but unfortunately the following song, “Livin The Life” depicts the exact same tale. While it’s not uncommon to revisit the same theme on an album, if it was wasn’t for spaced out synths on the former and sped up soul sample on the latter, it’d be impossible to differentiate the two. He also doesn’t get much help on the feature front, as Sheek Louch and Hell Rell do little to add to the album’s appeal.
AZ, who’s made a career out of spitting over chopped up Soul and R&B samples isn’t given much to work with on the production side of things either. Cosmo, who produced 90% of the tracks with actual rapping, only provides beats only in the most elementary sense of the word. Loops rarely get chopped up more than four bars and lazy bass lines are prevalent throughout. This essentially handcuffs his usually nimble, nonchalant yet vigorous flow to the point of apathy for a majority of the album. Only on few occasions, like “Good For Nothin” does he rap with a sense of passion and of course it’s when he decides to air out his absentee father. The intro and outro are arguably the best beats and he doesn’t even rap on them. It’s not to say AZ doesn’t pull it all together at times to show glimpses of why he’s been able to hang around so long. “Money Makes The World Go Round” finds a confident sounding AZ backed by a powerful chord sequence that allows his flow to take flight.
As long as he’s been around, there’s no denying AZ has carved a spot for himself in the annals of Hip-Hop history. While his contemporaries, like Jay-Z & Nas are still adding to and expanding their legacy, AZ is pretty much holding onto his past glory. Thanks to his affiliation with Nas and early success in his career, his legacy is pretty much cemented at this point of his career. Nothing on Legendary will ever appear on a “Best Of” or “Greatest Hits” compilation bearing AZ’s name and he’s unlikely to gain any new fans with this outing. But on the flip side, can his loyal fans be able to listen to it and honestly say this is AZ at his best either?
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22 Comments
AZ man I miss his music…
agree with this one, i was hoping for more, the cd sounds good the first time, but then it doesnt get any better after a few more spins only more boring…i blame the beats tho
maybe that’s not an official album, like Sheek Louch and Freeway this year, that was mo street album, or leftovers track from another, or just mixtapes shyt ? AZ isn’t still on (ex-Koch) E1 records ? Sheek too ?
Real Talk Ent is just a street label release i think. i hope nevertheless
cuz no promo, no videos.. that’s bad thang for legendary album..! trust.
“Mo Money Mo Murder” was legendary. Doe or Die is my shit forever.
http://dimewars.com/Video/Brazil-s-Biggest-Booty—Andressa-Soares-Documentary.aspx?bcmediaid=e595bd4b-5789-4f34-9ab7-efffcadf4727
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3WU9J1NF
http://rapidshare.com/files/246206322/Air_Yeezy-by_killa_kid.rar
Always have and always will fucks wit AZ (The Essence is that song/Pieces of a Man is that album), but this is a fairly weak album for dude. There is only like 4-5 songs worth holding onto. Plus, as has been said above, he got NO publicity for this-but maybe deservedly so.
Either way though, AZ is like Cutty from The Wire to me: he’s a vet who’s going to be in the game long as the game is going on, but may be a bit outta his element in this 21st century.
Jury in RIAA Trial Slaps $2 Million Fine on Jammie Thomas
* By David Kravets Email Author
* June 18, 2009 |
* 6:57 pm |
* Categories: RIAA Litigation, The Courts, The Ridiculous, intellectual property
thomas_testimonyA federal jury on Thursday found Jammie Thomas-Rasset liable in the nation’s only Recording Industry Association of America file-sharing case to go to trial, dinging her $1.92 million for infringing 24 songs.
Thomas-Rasset (then just Jammie Thomas) went to trial two years ago, and was ordered to pay $222,000 by a different jury for the same songs. The judge in the first case declared a mistrial. Thomas-Rasset opted for a new trial instead of settling like the 30,000-plus others the RIAA has sued or threatened to sue for copyright infringement.
Thomas-Rasset, fined $80,000 a track, told our sister publication, Ars Technica, she wouldn’t pay.
Clearly, the Minneapolis jury didn’t buy her latest version of events. This time, she testified that her children might have used her computer to file share on Kazaa. The previous trial, she testified a file-sharing hack or crack hijacked her WiFi connection, even though she didn’t have a WiFi router.
Under the Copyright Act, juries can award damages of up to $150,000 per pilfered track. About $3,500 was the average payment in the thousands of RIAA cases that settled out of court.
In December, the record labels announced they were winding down their 5-year-old litigation campaign and instead began lobbying ISPs to disconnect music file sharers. But the RIAA, the labels’ litigation arm, said it was continuing with the hundreds of cases already in the legal pipeline.
Here’s Thomas-Rasset’s $1.92 million playlist:
DULUTH, Minnesota — Here, in no particular order, are the 24 tracks that cost Jammie Thomas $222,000 — making it perhaps the most valuable hour-and-a-half of music ever.
* Guns N Roses “Welcome to the Jungle”; “November Rain”
* Vanessa Williams “Save the Best for Last”
* Janet Jackson “Let’s What Awhile”
* Gloria Estefan “Here We Are”; “Coming Out of the Heart”; “Rhythm is Gonna Get You”
* Goo Goo Dolls “Iris”
* Journey “Faithfully”; “Don’t Stop Believing”
* Sara McLachlan “Possession”; “Building a Mystery”
* Aerosmith “Cryin’”
* Linkin Park “One Step Closer”
* Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
* Reba McEntire “One Honest Heart”
* Bryan Adams “Somebody”
* No Doubt “Bathwater”; “Hella Good”; “Different People”
* Sheryl Crow “Run Baby Run”
* Richard Marx “Now and Forever”
* Destiny’s Child “Bills, Bills, Bills”
Greums is right, this ISN’T an official album.
AZ needs better production…
How is this not an official album?
LOL at Bills, Bills, Bills Foreshadowing?
Not AZ’s best Album, but i’m still rolling with his music….Jacktown, MS out!
I agree, the review’s accurate. Hope AZ takes a beat from me next time. Legendary is AZ but this Legendary CD is not up to that wittyness im used to from him.
This label has a rep for dropping unauthorized incomplete albums. Even so. Its not nearly as bad as yall are making it out to be.
This label has a rep for dropping unauthorized incomplete albums.
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:-D
This label is a subsidiary of Koch, so if by incomplete you mean wack or underwhelming your probably right.
I bet it’s more a case of them recording too many songs and Koch not wanting to pay for more studio time. But it’s an album nonetheless.
What do you think the production budget was for this joint? The beats are beyond abysmal.
AZ’s a dope lyricist with a superb flow.
We’ve been knowing that since 1994.
Now… to really reclaim “legendary” title:
He should
A.) Explore some different subject matter.
B.) Get Primo / Pete Rock to do his beats.
I been rollin with AZ since day 1, and I will always be a fan..Its like this, This is a low-budget album he just threw out there just to keep his name in the streets until he makes his next move.. Its ok, we all know its not his best work.. Its not the flow the flow will always be there, its just them wack ass cheap ass beats. but hey you get what you pay for! but on the real this album makes undeniable sound like a classic..