..tr> | Views | 14,755 | ..table> ..>injectFluxWidget('Rating', {uri: 'mgid:uma:content:shared:1591172', customCss: 'yes', contentType:'article'});..> ..>injectFluxWidget('ContentAction', {addToMyFeeds: true, uri: 'mgid:uma:content:shared:1591172'});..>
..>getSendToFriendForm();..>
Artist and DJ: AZ and DJ Absolut
Representing: Brooklyn and Queens
Mixtape: N4L
411: It's hotter than the devil's dirty drawers on Brooklyn's Coney Island boardwalk, but AZ is taking his mind off the heat by laughing at a guy backflipping off the pier into the sand and sharing stories from his youth when he used to come to the legendary spot.
"This was our [Six Flags] Great Adventure," AZ said with a smile as he strolled past Nathan's Hot Dogs.
AZ, one of the most respected wordsmiths of the past decade, has found his second, maybe even third wind. Any talk of retirement is laughed at now. He wants to do his thing for many more albums — and hopefully at least one of those LPs will be with Nas.
Hey, you make one of the most stirring duets in hip-hop history ("Life's a Bitch"), you're bound to be forever bonded in the minds of the fans no matter how great your individual accomplishments. After all these years, people are still asking for a Nas and AZ album. The project isn't coming anytime soon, but AZ was partly inspired by his "homie's" Untitled LP to drop the mixtape N4L (or N---as 4 Life). DJ Absolute came onboard to lend A his ear and supply some beats.
"I said this is the closest thing that I can give the fans to me and him doing an album," AZ said of how his mixtape relates to Nas' album concept. "I'm doing a concept album that is neck and neck with what he's doing. So you know we could put 'em together.
"I also came up with [the title] because I felt like being a n---a, you get rich, you get that master's degree, that Ph.D. — you still a n---a in some people's eyes. So we all n---as for life, regardless of the progress we make in life. We took that and ran with it. On top of that, the influences from N.W.A and how they put it together, they just spoke their minds. I just felt like I wanted to vent."
"Original material for real," DJ Absolut said. "Original music, production — it's a good look. Flight Runner production, beats are serious, lyrics are serious, it's a classic right there, for real."
After years on the indie scene, A told us he's looking to go back on a major label and make more records for years to come.
"Listen: I ain't going nowhere," the Visualizer declared. "I'm here. I'm just trying to put as much music out and stay as relevant as possible. I'm looking for a home now. Once I find the right home, I'm back working. But for now, we got a mixtape August 5th, and I'm doing a soundtrack for a movie I'm executive-producing and starring in called 'Silent Wars.' That should be out like November sometime."
Joints To Check For
» "Knowledge Freedom." "That's one of the joints where I just vented," AZ described. "Knowledge is definitely freedom. But I spoke to you about the language of my peoples, and how we get down, how we live. I'm trying to speak to my peoples and get the point across in that joint."
» "The Secret." "I did that one because I brought my man Charlie Rock to the table," the Brooklyn native described. "He's fresh off the press, and he's serious with it. He's a dart-thrower, and my man Raekwon — I ain't really collab with my man Rae in a while, and that was a good look. We was just sparring. It's even more iller, because we more advanced," he added about working with the Chef now as opposed to a decade ago. "We know we're not just floating around wild. We got a target. Just keeping hip-hop alive right now, that's what it is."
» "Runaway Slave." "To me, it's a record," the former Firm member said, "but in reality, it was a slave's life. I just basically put it in poetic form, and it's like a theatrical musical thing. I mean at the end of the day, I spoke from the bottom of my heart in the song, and the music and the lyrics coincide so much you will feel it when you hear it. It's one of those records that's felt and then the sound effects I put in the back and all of that ... I just made a visual with the lyrical."
12:33 PM
Powered by  |
| English |
| Albanian |
| Arabic |
| Bulgarian |
| Catalan |
| Chinese |
| Croatian |
| Czech |
| Danish |
| Dutch |
| Estonian |
| Filipino |
| Finnish |
| French |
| Galician |
| German |
| Greek |
| Hebrew |
| Hindi |
| Hungarian |
| Indonesian |
| Italian |
| Japanese |
| Korean |
| Latvian |
| Lithuanian |
| Maltese |
| Norwegian |
| Polish |
| Portuguese |
| Romanian |
| Russian |
| Serbian |
| Slovak |
| Slovenian |
| Spanish |
| Swedish |
| Thai |
| Turkish |
| Ukrainian |
| Vietnamese |