Anthony Cruz x AZ
A quick ode to a vocabulary physicist, one of the best to ever hold a microphone
Note: This is my first feature in the “And Then Some” section of the publication. This piece is inspired by Drink Champs’s friendly reminder – to the world – of how ill AZ was, is, and remains. Going against my better judgment dedicating anything to anyone from Brooklyn, but it’s all love. I have no idea how this is about to go. But it’s hip hop, so let’s have some fun.
Now, I know what you’re thinking.
Cruz?
AZ is not just a Brooklyn dude?
He’s part of the ¿Qué lo que? crew, too?
All that fast rapping makes a whole lot more sense now!
Jokes aside, here’s an insanely short bio on AZ.
Born March 9, 1972, in Bed-Stuy
But grew up primarily in East NY (still Brooklyn, for the uninitiated) with his mother and sister
On Drink Champs, he mentions that he went to the same school as Jay-Z, but Jay was there well before him
All the OG Brooklyn spitters gracing the same school hall(s) at some point – Busta, Biggie, Jay – is insane
AZ got “put on” in the 90s when he became cool with Nas
He did not shorten his name (Anthony Cruz) to AZ
(paraphrasing) One of the “young gods” from the Nation (Five Percenters) in Brownsville, who was AZ’s age, gave him the name: you’re the original man…Asiatic…you’re AZ
If you have no idea what’s being referenced in that last bullet, that’s okay. I can’t explain right now because it would take another set of articles to break it all down. So, as the youngins like to say IYKYK
So, why AZ vs. the hundreds of other guests that have appeared on Drink Champs?
Chance (happenstance, not the rapper). But also, I deeply respect AZ’s penmanship. One of my favorite AZ tracks (from one of my favorite AZ albums, Pieces Of A Man) –
I grew up in the Bronx (NYC) and have an understandable east-coast, “lyrical-myrical,” "boom bap" rap preference. That Big L float on the beat, talk that talk style of hip hop. Words, metaphors, schemes, and how you flip them are unquestionable characteristics on which your talent is assessed. Which, I can concede, is a narrow (and traditional) way of looking at things. Alas, I like it here.
Look, I’ll listen to it all. But if a rapper is saying something, I’m more likely to gravitate to those songs. A consequence of my upbringing and surroundings. (Example) My brother used to ask 10-year-old me to lay on his back as he did push-ups (more weight, but not much, I was scrawny), while…Everywhere We Gooooo, People Wanna Knowwww, Whoooo We Are, Sooooo We Tell Them, This Is D-Block, Mighty Mighty D-Block…was blasting in the background. Can you really be shocked that The Lox is one of my favorite groups? Where were we? Back to AZ.
There isn’t much argument from me about whether we’re including AZ in the category for one of the best lyricists. Either N.O.R.E. or DJ EFN said (at some point throughout the episode) that AZ is one of those rappers where (paraphrasing) you can't find a wack bar nowhere in his catalog! And 9 times out of 10, if AZ comes up on my shuffled playlist, I don’t skip his music. That’s a rare category, a Mount Rushmore of sorts. Can't help it: I like words and what people do with them. The more versatile you are, the more you have my approval. I suppose my fascination with word usage is part of the reason I like reading so much. The other part of it, which AZ has fully under control, is captivating storytelling. I’d venture to say that most people, especially outside of NYC, know AZ because of his feature on Nas’s Life’s A B**** and one of AZ’s most famous songs, Sugar Hill. Everyone knows that AZ danced on Nas’s track –
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LOL.
This is what the kids think they dress like.
Flow. Unique voice. Bars. Grown man talk. The list goes on.
You want to know something crazy (to everyone not in the music industry)? AZ mentioned on the Drink Champs episode that he doesn’t even really like Sugar Hill. Said it was a “dance record.” The same way that I believe Cam’ron said he doesn’t like the song Death (which I’m a fan of), likely for the same reasons: label/industry pressure to pump out certain kinds of songs vs. what he really wanted to produce. But “they” told AZ to still spit some real on it, and AZ did what he does: danced on the track.
I mean, c’mon…this is the first set of lines from the first verse on Sugar Hill…
AZ, YOU DON’T WANT TO DRINK SCOTCH, YOU’VE JUST BEEN COERCED INTO BELIEVING THAT SCOTCH = PREMIUM = SIGNAL THAT YOU’RE SOPHISTICATED.
Some of AZ’s exact words on the matter (“they had to twist my arm for that”) –
So, what kind of tracks did AZ prefer to put out?
Exhibit A – Phone Tap
Exhibit B – Mo Money Mo Murder
Nas is on this one. And it is guaranteed to be an amazing song whenever AZ and Nas are on a track. Every. Single. Time.
AZ called this track a classic. That Italian mob influence in the song's intro is a testament to the times (mid-90s) and the decade prior, more importantly (80s). When you look across many rappers from this era, you’ll see a lot of Colombian cartel and mob references. A ton of “academic” work has dissected these connections. But, if you grew up in a neighborhood with Italians or Italians nearby (in the case of Little Italy in the Bronx for me), academic explanations aren’t needed to understand the paradigm. That said, the book below is one of the many I want to read to dive deeper into the topic one day.
In Flavor and Soul, John Gennari spotlights this affinity, calling it “the edge”—now smooth, sometimes serrated—between Italian American and African American culture. He argues that the edge is a space of mutual emulation and suspicion, a joyous cultural meeting sometimes darkened by violent collision. Through studies of music and sound, film and media, sports and foodways, Gennari shows how an Afro-Italian sensibility has nourished and vitalized American culture writ large, even as Italian Americans and African Americans have fought each other for urban space, recognition of overlapping histories of suffering and exclusion, and political and personal rispetto [respect].
All in all, it was really interesting to see what tracks AZ got excited about vs. what he thought necessary to produce so that he could continue making the songs he wanted to curate.
What wasn’t surprising was how authentically consistent the man was during the episode.
He understood what a lot of younger rappers today miss: get your paper and race hard to leave the illicit life behind.
It was about paper for me from day one. When I got that check, I was like...we ain't gotta be in the streets? Man, what the f***! Let's go! – AZ
This sentiment is why many of AZ’s bars have a grind-to-success arc: we did all this activity, and now we’re making paper, so let’s live the good life now that we’ve “made it out.”
You could also tell from how he responds to questions that he has a humility/grounded-ness streak about him that is sparse among “celebs,” especially today. The man was unboastful and appreciative the entire episode (READ: HE DOES NOT NEED TO BE). When asked about this-or-that rumor/happenings in the industry, his thoughts, where he was at the time, etc., his answers were often a variation of –
Let's get busy, that's my mindset...Can't think too much about a lot a s*** going on, I'm just tryna hit the target.
Not tryna do no sucka s*** cause you could lose points tryna get points.
You could lose points trying to get points. Man, that is a bar (i.e., don’t be short-sighted). Something we all will inevitably contend with. Your character must be put to the test one day. If you err, the most important thing is to be true (with yourself/others) about those missteps and do everything you can to not make them again. Trying to gain points, but you ultimately lose them. Heady.
Toward the end of the episode, N.O.R.E. and EFN usually ask their guest person A or B-style questions (this or that rapper). They asked AZ, Nas or Jay-Z, to which he responded –
I f*** with both.
Now, I understand his relationship with Nas and how locked in they’ve always been. But to hear a Brooklyn person receive that question and not say Brooklyn (not even Jay, just Brooklyn) is impressive, notwithstanding Jay and AZ being familiar with each other as teenagers. Give AZ a medal goddammit.
Jokes aside, that response shows a ton of character.
A final example of exemplary character:
The hosts and AZ talked about the Hip Hop 50 year celebration, and AZ made it his duty to big up Foxy Brown (his label mate
, my childhood crush, one of the posters on my wall), a legend
I want Fox to get her shine...
Foxy deserves a full post. I may throw one up at some point. Was listening to her albums a few weeks back…
The NYC kid in me felt at home listening to this Drink Champs episode.
Because, as N.O.R.E. and EFN intended, AZ received his flowers while he’s still with us. But more than that, it was warming to hear real NYC chatter the entire episode. AZ said “nah mean” after almost every sentence, the same way my generation says “feel me” all the time. AZ reminds me of my boy, Grand Concourse, whom I mentioned in my first article because they talk the same, have similar speech mannerisms, and laugh.
I sent my boy this screen recording of AZ laughing and saying, “thank you, thank you for having me” –
And my boy responded –
I encourage you to listen to this episode; I really appreciated it. If you’re anything like me (you’re not), you’ll pause the episode OFTEN to (re)listen to the songs mentioned throughout.
Toward the end, N.O.R.E. and EFN played a compilation of tributes (from a bunch of different people) that they pulled together, where everyone was showering AZ with praises via short clips. Incredible and more than deserved.
To a rappers-rapper.
Shout out to AZ.
His verse on Firm Biz? Let’s go. I still call PDFs “Digital Read-outs” lol.
Very real question - what did true NY “lyrical” heads think of Dilla era Slum Village?
I’m a Detroit guy so I understand what Slum was doing, curious what the prevailing thought in NY was at the time.
this article 😮💨