The ironic thing about reissue albums is that although they are intended for a niche audience – namely fans who have been with the artist since the beginning as well as new fans in the midst of devouring a back catalogue – these albums have often been downright disrespectful to the “Tuesday at midnight” die-hards. Many times these CDs are rush-jobs that are conspicuously incomplete due to clearance problems but still tout themselves as “essential” by pointing to suspicious “re-masterings” and a slew of live versions of tracks we’ve heard a million times. Certain labels have even gone as far as gathering a bunch of C-list artists to re-record a classic in the form of cover songs which were then released under the guise of a “Special Anniversary Edition.” (See Priority’s 10th for Straight Outta Compton)
Tags: az, doe or die, 1995, flac. Corrupt Rar files/Unspecified-extraction errors are fixed by updating WinRAR to the latest version - 5.70 beta 2. Uloz.to is the largest czech cloud storage. Upload, share, search and download for free. Credit allows you to download with unlimited speed. AZ – Doe Or Die 1995 rap LP RARE PROMO Pete Rock Buckwild. AZ – Doe Or Die. B4 Doe Or Die 4:39. Style: Boom Bap. Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Promo. Plain jacket with gold promo stamp and hype sticker. Solid black jacket w/ hype/info sticker and gold promo stamp. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1995 CD release of Doe Or Die on Discogs. Label: EMI - 7243 8-32631-2-7,EMI - E2-32631. Format: CD Album. Country: US. Genre: Hip Hop. AZ - Doe Or Die (1995, CD) Discogs.
Although the 15th Anniversary Edition of AZ’s still underrated Doe or Die should more accurately be called a 15th Anniversary companion, the legendary Brooklyn emcee knows his fans – and the current landscape of commercial music – well enough to realize that anyone who would consider purchasing this already owns the original. Rather than attempt – and most likely fail – to cash in by repackaging his debut album as a double disc with extras, AZ has cut to the chase so we can rediscover, reconsider and prepare for the sequel.
Where 1995’s Doe or Die should serve as a lesson in narrative economy as well as structural efficiency for many of today’s emcees with a gluttonous appetite for pointless skits and features for every track; the Doe or Die 15th Anniversary Edition should serve as a guide for any veteran artist preparing a special edition who thinks a few radio show freestyles will do the trick. This is an album that for the most part succeeds in giving the true fans what they want – quality new material and remixes by producers of a caliber on par with the original roster. Bringing in consistent names like Statik Selektah, Lil Fame and MoSS, with fan-bases of their own, and asking for a fresh backdrop rather than a reinvention the wheel should even make AZ some new fans.
Doe or Die‘s genius lies in AZ’s abilities as a rhymer. He had a nimble style that never forgot about substance. He sounded hungry but always landed gracefully. Listening to AZ on a track, you could almost see his amused sneer as he surveyed his ham-handed competition; emcees whose rhymes dead-ended with their tough guy bravado before ever even scratching the surface. They were the ones who brought knives to gunfights. AZ brought a plague. Sure he could put the heads of “teeny boppers” through the “propellers of helicopters” but that didn’t cut deep enough. He’d “slaughter your circulatory like leukemia” and then for good measure “EQ your brain waves”
Although the original album’s beats didn’t astound, they got the job done and have aged remarkably well when placed alongside albums like Kool G Rap‘s 4,5,6 released a week earlier and Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” which was for some reason laying waste to any hip-hop single that showed some chart movement that season.
Having half of this anniversary edition made up of 15 year-old verses coupled with new beats – by producers who pride themselves on innovating and evolving – could have been a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, these beatmakers are also students of Hip Hop and keep things stripped down without sounding stale. Their approach is one all about the counterpoint. Statik Selektah took Pete Rock‘s melancholy “Gimme Yours” and brightened the tone while Lil Fame went in the opposite direction making “Rather Unique” grimier, more threatening.
But Doe or Die‘s verses themselves help make the updated versions sound fresh. The things that the original album saw as important made the countless number of two-dimensional coke Rap albums released in its wake sound more dated. AZ may have rhymed about that same street corner but he had a different definition of the pinnacle of success. It was wasn’t about becoming the next Giancanna or Gambino, it was about becoming the next John D. Rockefeller, the true gangster. And where Doe or Die may also talk of gun-play it also puts a commodity on intellect as we’re told the “mind of a Princeton grad” is deadly too.
With Doe or Doe 15th‘s new material like the MoSS produced Mancini-by-way-of- Miami sounding “I’m Ill”, you get even more of a sense of what set AZ apart. He was self-aware in a way that acknowledged the cinema of hip hop even while he was living in the present tense and speaking in the first person. Not only did he want to remembered for his exploits and triumphs but also for how he told them. That awareness came across crystal clear when he touted himself as another Donald Goines, a master creator of characters. Too many other rappers were just content being characters. Even in making his debut AZ knew that being dynamic doesn’t matter if you can’t add dimension to your landscape and some shadows to your sketches.
Where 1995’s Doe or Die should serve as a lesson in narrative economy as well as structural efficiency for many of today’s emcees with a gluttonous appetite for pointless skits and features for every track; the Doe or Die 15th Anniversary Edition should serve as a guide for any veteran artist preparing a special edition who thinks a few radio show freestyles will do the trick. This is an album that for the most part succeeds in giving the true fans what they want – quality new material and remixes by producers of a caliber on par with the original roster. Bringing in consistent names like Statik Selektah, Lil Fame and MoSS, with fan-bases of their own, and asking for a fresh backdrop rather than a reinvention the wheel should even make AZ some new fans.
Doe or Die‘s genius lies in AZ’s abilities as a rhymer. He had a nimble style that never forgot about substance. He sounded hungry but always landed gracefully. Listening to AZ on a track, you could almost see his amused sneer as he surveyed his ham-handed competition; emcees whose rhymes dead-ended with their tough guy bravado before ever even scratching the surface. They were the ones who brought knives to gunfights. AZ brought a plague. Sure he could put the heads of “teeny boppers” through the “propellers of helicopters” but that didn’t cut deep enough. He’d “slaughter your circulatory like leukemia” and then for good measure “EQ your brain waves”
Although the original album’s beats didn’t astound, they got the job done and have aged remarkably well when placed alongside albums like Kool G Rap‘s 4,5,6 released a week earlier and Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” which was for some reason laying waste to any hip-hop single that showed some chart movement that season.
Having half of this anniversary edition made up of 15 year-old verses coupled with new beats – by producers who pride themselves on innovating and evolving – could have been a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, these beatmakers are also students of Hip Hop and keep things stripped down without sounding stale. Their approach is one all about the counterpoint. Statik Selektah took Pete Rock‘s melancholy “Gimme Yours” and brightened the tone while Lil Fame went in the opposite direction making “Rather Unique” grimier, more threatening.
But Doe or Die‘s verses themselves help make the updated versions sound fresh. The things that the original album saw as important made the countless number of two-dimensional coke Rap albums released in its wake sound more dated. AZ may have rhymed about that same street corner but he had a different definition of the pinnacle of success. It was wasn’t about becoming the next Giancanna or Gambino, it was about becoming the next John D. Rockefeller, the true gangster. And where Doe or Die may also talk of gun-play it also puts a commodity on intellect as we’re told the “mind of a Princeton grad” is deadly too.
With Doe or Doe 15th‘s new material like the MoSS produced Mancini-by-way-of- Miami sounding “I’m Ill”, you get even more of a sense of what set AZ apart. He was self-aware in a way that acknowledged the cinema of hip hop even while he was living in the present tense and speaking in the first person. Not only did he want to remembered for his exploits and triumphs but also for how he told them. That awareness came across crystal clear when he touted himself as another Donald Goines, a master creator of characters. Too many other rappers were just content being characters. Even in making his debut AZ knew that being dynamic doesn’t matter if you can’t add dimension to your landscape and some shadows to your sketches.
First of all, I’d like to make a correction to something I said in a previous review. I stated that in my opinion, AZ’s “9 Livez” was his best album to date. I’d like to retract that statement, if I may. At the time I was enamored with the album, so I made a bold statement. Now, months removed, I have to say that I was wrong; while that album is still dope, it does not have the same replay value as AZ’s first project.
That said, let’s examine what exactly “Doe or Die” was all about. For starters, the album was one of the most anticipated (at least by underground heads) of 1995, based on AZ’s flawless appearance as the only guest on the legendary Illmatic. Expectations were high, and the fans were growing impatient. They needed to see if AZ could replicate the excellence he displayed on “Life’s a Bitch” for the duration of an entire album. The answer is well, yes and no. Attack on titan ppsspp download.
The lead single “Sugar Hill” was perhaps a little more commercial sounding than heads were expecting, but was incredibly well received nonetheless. L.E.S.’s silky smooth beat, Miss Jones chorus, and AZ’s tight flows created one of the greatest summer time joints of all time, and it still puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. The single went gold, and it appeared that AZ was on his way to stardom.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. The album dropped too long after the buzz for the single had died, sales were somewhat disappointing, and the album failed to spawn another hit. Still, let it be said, this album DOES deserve to be mentioned right alongside “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx”, “It Was Written”, and “Reasonable Doubt” for popularizing the Mafioso style fathered by Kool G. Rap. In fact, it dropped before two of those three albums did.
The album’s only flaw is that it’s at times inconsistent. The first real song “Uncut Raw” is done in by a lackluster, nondescript beat. The following joint, however, does not have the same problem. “Gimme Yours”, produced by Pete Rock, has a great laid back feel. Nas appears, singing the chorus, with an off key yet undeniably catchy appeal. AZ flips the multi-syllables he’s known for, spitting about stacking dollars and selling drugs. While the subject matter might be common place these days, back in 1995 living it up Scarface style was not the norm in 1995. Plus, AZ does it with so much style, it has not lost its edge even in 2002.
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The excellent “Ho Happy Jackie” follows, with the beat provided by D.I.T.C. legend Buckwild. The beat is pure excellence, and AZ flows ridiculously over it, warning all men to watch out for the Ho Happy Jackies out there:
“Whoever thought of that sweet thing, born model material
That hated hot cereal would grow to be a high silly hoe
Really though, it’s a shame for this damn thang
Cuz everything’s brand name, when will she get enough of these damn games
Struttin with an unbuttoned blouse, like it ain’t nothin
Draggin her wagon, knowin fellas be flaggin and frontin
Hopin, by keepin gear, wear and hair dope some really big willie nigga would dig her and get open…
the hell with flyest, she slidin with the highest bidder”
That hated hot cereal would grow to be a high silly hoe
Really though, it’s a shame for this damn thang
Cuz everything’s brand name, when will she get enough of these damn games
Struttin with an unbuttoned blouse, like it ain’t nothin
Draggin her wagon, knowin fellas be flaggin and frontin
Hopin, by keepin gear, wear and hair dope some really big willie nigga would dig her and get open…
the hell with flyest, she slidin with the highest bidder”
To me, the best joint on the album is a toss up between Pete Rock-produced “Rather Unique” and D/R Period’s “Mo Money Mo Murder” which features Nas. The former features a vintage beat from one of hip hop’s greatest, and AZ drops some wizard like lyrics on the joint:
Stryker mev vehicle technical manual. “Too hard to follow, you took a bite but couldn’t swallow
Your mind’s boggled, but I’m as deep as Donald Goines novels
My whole persona’s kinda laid back like a recliner
And since a minor, I been fuckin with marijuana”
Your mind’s boggled, but I’m as deep as Donald Goines novels
My whole persona’s kinda laid back like a recliner
And since a minor, I been fuckin with marijuana”
The latter features production from D/R Period that is very close to perfection. Nas and AZ deliver the kind of track that makes them one of the most famed teams in hip hop history. Here’s one of Nas’s gems:
Flyordie Io
“So now you rollin with us, like co-defendants
No phony business, so know the difference
From supreme soloists, whose styles as ancient as Moses scriptures
It’s Latin Kings, black khufis, and white justice
Amongst us, crime invades the mind of youngsters
Where it’s pitch black, they can’t see you
Godfather 3, four left for dead in a cathedral”
No phony business, so know the difference
From supreme soloists, whose styles as ancient as Moses scriptures
It’s Latin Kings, black khufis, and white justice
Amongst us, crime invades the mind of youngsters
Where it’s pitch black, they can’t see you
Godfather 3, four left for dead in a cathedral”
Move Or Die Steam
The smoothed out, funky title track and the conscious “Your World Don’t Stop” are also noteworthy. The inconsistency comes in the form of “I Feel For You”, “We Can’t Win” which is lyrically very on point but the beat is forgettable, and the unnecessary remix of “Sugar Hill” which is nowhere near as good as the original.
Az Doe Or Die Zip
Despite the shortcomings, the good tracks on this album are not just good, they are great! There are four that I would refer to as certified classics. The main problem with the album is that it COULD have been an all time classic ITSELF if executive production had been better and the beat selection had been a little more on point in several cases. But all in all, this album is a slept on gem that should be in every true head’s collection. Trust me, even if you didn’t like a single song on the rest of the album, “Gimme Yours”, “Ho Happy Jackie”, “Rather Unique”, “Sugar Hill”, “Mo Money Mo Murder” are songs that I PROMISE you will feel, and make the album worth the price of admission on their own. Instead of buying an album from the latest thug clone MC rhyming over recycled sounding beats, go pick this shit up instead; you’ll get all the gangsterism you need with a touch of class and style.