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Aziatic Review

AZ, though talented, remains inconsistent.

by Douglas Passion | 2002.10.19

Although his nine-year career has yielded four albums and numerous guest appearances, AZ has never been able to escape the shadow of his debut verse. With a seminal cameo on Nas's "Life's a Bitch," AZ garnered the monthly quotable award in The Source, a record deal with EMI, and expectations of future brilliance. Living up to the lofty standards set by his much-ballyhooed introduction has proven difficult for AZ.

It's difficult to tell exactly what went wrong. Despite possessing prerequisites such as a fluid poly-syllabolic flow, a penchant for capitalistic rhymes and an infatuation with discussing drug dealing, AZ has spent the last decade toiling in near-obscurity while his artistic contemporaries have enjoyed accolades, fame and commercial success. AZ, Nas and Jay-Z all used the same recipe; of the three, AZ's bread never rose.

If "a person's status depends on salary," AZ has never been ranked top dog. Lodged in a recurrent role as the junior varsity version of Nas and Jay, AZ's musical offerings have taken similar twists and turns to his top-40 brethren (albeit on a less publicized level). His path converged with Nas at the height of the Mafioso movement as the duo combined to form half of the ill-received Firm. And although best when contemplating the pleasures and perils of a hustler's life, AZ has occasionally found himself ineffectively attempting to mimic Jay's Tunnel-banger of the month. Fortunately, in step with the recent releases from the two aforementioned artists, AZ's latest effort attempts to return to the thoughtfulness and soulfulness of his earlier material.

Although AZ's Aziatic falls short of the unrealistic expectations set by "Life's a Bitch," it is by no means a waste of vinyl. Clocking in at a sparse forty-six minutes, the album quickly proves that AZ's talent for grafting words into multiple-syllable rhymes remains intact. Unfortunately, the stripped-down Aziatic is still not immune from the inconsistencies that have plagued much of AZ's career.

There is no doubt that AZ is a gifted lyricist. But then again, his use of intricate rhyme schemes and tongue-twisting wordplay has never been questioned. Aziatic is sort of like one of those And1 basketball videos - the demonstration of skills is entertaining, but it's impossible to forget that you're not watching the big boys. Although the average AZ verse is extremely well written and immaculately presented, the production and song structure lack the same attention to detail.

Describing himself as a "street nigga that turned to rap/ and just applied everything that he learned from crack," AZ's lyrics are often the fastidiously constructed odes to luxury, drugs, and God Body spirituality that we have come to expect. But despite the frequent references to material items, there is also a distinct feeling throughout Aziatic that AZ has come to terms with his place in the hip-hop social strata. No longer the youthful dreamer from "Sugar Hill" who dreamt of Costa Rican villas and laying in the shade in the Everglades, AZ has added an extra dimension of maturity to his lyrics -- "had to run astray, pack it up and run away/ fountain of youth, found it, feel like the younger A/ make sure my son okay, shit, that's the mission/ college tuition, hope he get accepted to Princeton/ if not, got his bail for prison."

The growth of AZ as an artist is most evident in "Fan Mail", in which he raps as if reading a letter from one of his incarcerated fans. Describing the influence of his own music, he raps "you touched souls through a lost population of men/ and no doubt, if ever out, they'll never lock me again/ faced with ten, all state time with life on the back/ it's fucked up when your own folks ain't writin' you back."

Although the song format and the sounds of rustling papers in the background will draw the unavoidable comparisons to Eminem's "Stan", "Fan Mail" is exceptionally well written and stands as the most impressive song on the album. As AZ proves his ability to successfully compose a highly conceptual song, it makes the listener wonder why he doesn't do it more often.

From a production standpoint, Aziatic is reminiscent of Jigga's critically acclaimed The Blueprint. While most of the album is heavily laced with soulful R&B production, it is also lightly sprinkled with a few club-friendly bounce beats. The majority of the tracks feature some sort of singing ingrained within the beat or on the hook, and, for the most part, the R&B emphasis adds a measure of continuity that AZ's albums have often lacked. The Visualiza's musings are best served over mellow instrumentation such as "Wanna Be There", "Paradise" and "The Essence."

Oddly enough, AZ doesn't appear on a single chorus. The decision to furnish every track with either an R&B singer, a reverbed vocal sample, or, in one case, Mr. Escobar, seems a little strange. After all, AZ's hook on "Life's a Bitch" is certainly one of hip-hop's most memorable. As most of the crooned choruses are forgettable, the album suffers from a distinctive lack of, well, "catchiness" (despite the frequent attempts at commercial sensibility).

Several of the songs geared towards the dance floor often have an awfully familiar sound. "Doing Me" is essentially a doppelganger of Jiggas's "I Just Want to Love Ya" and "Take Care of Me" is pretty much a "Fatty Girl" imitation. AZ's lyrics and cadence remain rock-solid on the club attempts, but his artistry is betrayed by somewhat trite and derivative production.

Although Aziatic might fail to deliver on the promise of "Life's a Bitch", the album leaves no doubt that AZ's sharp tongue has not been dulled by a decade of use. In fact, one could probably argue that AZ's writing is actually superior to the penmanship currently displayed by both Nas and Jay-Z. With more inventive production and stronger song concepts, AZ might finally achieve the consistency needed to reach the status of his more renowned compatriots.

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