AZ Album: “9 Lives [Clean]”

AZ's album "9 Lives" is a real hip hop classic. There is not a bad song on this one, there aren't any interludes (only intro/outro), but anyway 12 dope tracks. Go and get it now. if you like good hip hop than get it. AZ's got some real good beats and really good guest appearences (for example Foxy Brown, Nas, Jadakiss, Amil etc.)

Best songs are:

- Everything's Everything (The hit single with Joe)

- Problems (samples the Debarge classic "All This Love")

- What Cha Day About

- Love Me (samples another Debarge classic)

Actually the whole CD is tight, so go and get it now!!

Unrecognized hit pretty much sums up this album and this artist. Since making his debut on Nas' Illmatic, AZ has been the most underrated rapper in the game. His lyrics and beats are better than the Nelly and Ja Rulewannabes out now. Now he's on Motown, which pretty much means none of his albums will get the proper push no matter how good they are. This album has everything. The lead single "Problems" has a good beat and he shows his talent from beginning to end. All of the tracks make the cut. This album is great. This should be in every true hip hopper's collection. Support this rapper!!!!

AZ is not a well known artist in the mainstream rap but his flow and words are better than half of the artists that get regular airplay on the radio and tv like Ludacris (wack), Nelly, and JaRule just to name a few. His words rank up with some of the best today like DMX, Drag-On, Project Pat and Jay-Z but nothing along the ranks of 2pac. AZ has been through alot since his last album Pieces of A Man. He's been fired from his last label Virgin for lackluster sales but has always spit tight rhymes. He is part of The Firm along with Nas, Foxy Brown, and Nature and is the tightest rapper their. But anything he seems to be on fails in sales but is one of the hardest cds of the year. Illmatic which some rap listeners say is the best rap album of all-time (which the best is All Eyez On Me/2pac) is the worst selling Nas album to date. His debut Doe or Die is a great cd that is his best selling to date and his cd Pieces of A Man got him thrown off his label. He was on the Firm and which is arguably one of the best groups of the 90s recieved great reviews but bad sales. Lately, the only thing he's been on thats sold well is Stillmatic. So you could call this his comeback cd with banging tracks like Everything's Everything and the hit Problems which both recieved mild airplay. This is his best cd to date. The cd starts out with one of the greatest intros I have heard where he spits one of the hardest rhymes on the cd where he apologizes with being with NAS on the watered down thug songs. He spits, "forget sales/long as the streets accept me/it's respect before the money" that's how the rap game should be looked at not like how Cash Money and Lil' Troy look at it. That's wrong. Then the hardhitter What Cha Day About hits talking about what AZ's been doing since he's been out of a label. AZ has been really trying to go platinum he's been all over the country promoting this disc and in the Source talking about his recent label problems but he hasn't gone over to trying to be a weak wannabe rapper and appeal to the Pop-Rap listening group. He's kept in real streets before money he says althrough his interviews. The only song that is soft and doesn't fit on the cd is AZ's Back a Pop-Rap kind of song. Hopefully, when AZ's new album Aziatic drops June 11, 2002 it will be as hard as this.

Beats 9/10 Lyrics 9/10

Best Song: Problems

Worst Song: AZ's Back

AZ is back to Save Our Streets America. Yo this Cd is tight from start to finish. This is AZ's best CD yet. "I don't give a f" is defiantly a street anthem. The production on this cd is tight.Tracks 2-4,6-11 and 13 are the best tracks on this cd. AZ has come back for the streets with hot flows and guest appearances by Foxy Brown, Beanie Sigel, Joe, Animal and others.Go cop this or order it right now. One

Damn this cd is tight. I don't skip any song except for the Joe song and it aint half bad. What Cha Day About and Problems are off the meter. If you are a fan of east coast rap you gotta get this cd. Don't sleep on this one, you gotta check it out.