AZ
Why did you call the label Quiet Money?
AZ: I was brought up to believe real bad boys move in silence and that silence is golden; that’s why the label is called Quiet Money. The real people who succeeded in this world and were making moves back in the days just did it. Quiet Money is what I’m living by.
How did you get the deal with Koch to set up the distribution?
AZ: When I got off Motown there were a few cats who wanted to sign me but I couldn’t go that route again. I really needed to test the independent waters and I guess everybody was just falling back off that. Koch was more or less like “we’ll fuck with you.” They wanted to lock me in but I was like “nah, I can’t do that.” I’ll do one album and see how it goes down.
Since your last album you have been on the low. What are some things that have been keeping you busy between the last album and the current joint you’re putting out?
AZ: I shot a movie in Detroit called “Envy” with Ray J, Lisa Raye, and Maia Campbell. It’s some gangsta shit. Ray J is my little cousin in the movie. I was dealing drugs and I’m trying to get out the game but he is following in my footsteps for so long he wanted to take over so I let him take over. But I had some cats with me like “we been your peoples since you started why you gonna give the whole shit to him.” It’s kinda like “Belly” because at the end of the day when the movie is over nobody, really wins. I was shooting a movie, then I started working on the album. I got my little son and I’ve just been chillin.
I read in a recent interview of yours that at one point you were kinda estranged from everyone else and going through your own world. What was really going on at that point in your life that separated you from a lot of heads?
AZ: Everybody was just growing up going through what they was going through. Around that time I was still trying to find a home. I had four albums out and each album was on a different fucking label. So searching for the label and building those relationships and of course everybody got a lady so you going through that world dealing with your wisdom. Everybody want to get married and shit trying to box a nigga in and it’s like “yo, hold up!” I’m trying to get my paper right so it’s a lot of shit. I’m still poppin’ in and out of the hood so I gotta hear the stories of family getting locked up or niggas getting shot at. The basic shit. So it was just growing and learning how to digest all of that and keep your head. That’s what I was going through.
Are you gonna be on the next Nas album, “Streets Disciple”?
AZ: Me and him did a joint last month. It’s crazy, but knowing Nas, he do thirty to thirty-five records and then he picks them. I just do it and I don’t really be stressing it. If he put it on the album that’s good, if not I know we’ll do something soon. But we did something for his album already.
What method do you and Nas use when y’all come up with your songs? Does somebody call up with an idea?
AZ: Nah, nah we just lock in that shit is natural for us. We just go, we don’t even talk about it. We’re just like “oh we fucking with that beat? Aight let’s write” and that shit gets done same day, same hour. With me and him it’s just that magic. That’s the only nigga I know where with me and him it’s just automatic.
So when does your album drop?
AZ: August 24th “Final Call” on Quiet Money Records. This is a big move for me. I appreciate y’all holding me down for real because I be wondering why niggas not recognizing like “yo I’m one of the top ten too.” That’s how I feel.
I think Prince Paul put it best when he said the music out today is like fast food. They eat it and it doesn’t even stay in their system. So it’s like if you’re not constantly in fans faces they forget about you real fast. I don’t know how you can win over this audience because the scene has changed so much. If I were you I’d be pretty frustrated with the game.
AZ: I got so much love for the game. My paper’s right, I’m chilling so I’m gonna do it regardless. I never got frustrated throughout my whole career with nothing. I take everything with a grain of sort because I know that anything that could happen would happen. I just swallow it like that’s how it is. I ain’t no crybaby. If I gotta do a whole bunch of time, it’s like “let me suck it out and knock out this twenty-five.” That’s how I am. So I never stressed it but I know if I keep on they are gonna recognize in a minute. They have no choice.
Looking at the game right now with this album dropping: where do you see your position?
The game is growing so much. Everybody has their story to tell. The Midwest has their story to tell, the west coast and down south got a story to tell. We in New York had it going for a long time so I’m never mad when another coast is eating because it’s what we all represent anyway. There are a few brothers like Jadakiss and Fat Joe that’s really bringing back over here and I think that with my album, I’m going to just add onto that.
Was there anything that you tried on this album that may surprise anyone?
AZ: Yeah, the joint I did with Tony Sunshine called “Talkin’ Gangsta.” It’s got a little Spanish beat and I’m just venting on it. It’s different for me. The flow ain’t switched up but the music is switched up and I’m just kicking it letting ‘em know the Latin side of me.
June 5th, 2006
Hi Az my name is shieema lowman i love your music every since i was a young , i’m only 18 year’s old i thnk you are so sexy , i love everything you do i hope i will meet you an person , write back love ya
June 6th, 2006
Hi Az i love your music, every since i was young i had a crush on you , i think you are a fly brother love you write back…
June 20th, 2006
Love everything you do. Stay that fly nigga for ever. You and Nasir should really do that album together at all cost. Yo if you get this message send yo boy a autograph picture. AWOL is the hardest cd ever and Aziatic. You talk about real shit and I respect that. If I could get a chance to meet you I would love it. I still play play phone tapp with you and the Firm staff. Fuck the sales you dont get people fear what they dont understand and hate what they cant conquer. Please send me a autograph pictures to LA,Ca 90047 10212 s. Haas st. Lequan Herron is my name much love God.
July 14th, 2006
sup god,now i dont know if u even gunna see this but its worth a shot,i grew up in the caribbean ghetto scene so i was pulled into the life you know,i started listenin rap during the time when ruff ryders 1 came out cuz there it was more of the reggae thing,so as i continued listenin throughout the yrs i cuddent find that special vibe,the essence of the whole art so i stated going back in time and copped te illmatic and heard life’s a bitch, i was already a deep nas fam cuz he’s real but i didnt know who that other voice was but i knew the words for the whole verse,then i bought the stillmatic and heard the voice again and this time the name was at the back of the case,,az,,so i went to the music store and i had seen your album there 9 lives for quite some time but never looked and where i lived its 55 dollars for a cd so i saved my lunch money and got it and played it,,,as soon as i heard you say in the intro,,”f*ck sales as long as the streets accept me,its respect before the money if i’m wrong correct me!”i knew,,i played that over again before movin onto watcha day about,,and when i heard that song i had to sit down,problems, and the song that made me almost shed a tear,,love me,it was so perfect,trust me your music changed me,calmed me down ,i aint wildin,now i even catch myself sayin shit like,,am maintainin,to people,or callin my mom mama bear,you are the perfect mc in my eyes,when i think dam he cant get any better i bought a.w.o.l. and damm,,,i’m in england now and its hard but i’m tryin to track down all your previous cd’s all the stores tellin me they cant get it but i’m still listenin,especially after i heard wanna be there from a friend,,,dam i think thats one of the deepest songs i’ve ever heard i just which others could see what i see,your so ahead of your time thats the problem,,well i am rapping now and look to you as one of the people who totally look up to and respect,am not on the weak shit the bling bling thing,i am street knowledge webster couldnt cypher,i wear a clear concious thats obvious to whom ever get the chance to read my writng..i wuddent have chose this path if it wasnt for you though,,havent advertised my work yet to get signed,but if i do get in you can be sure you’d know its me …..if you do get this i dont need you to sign anything for me or send anything,,cuz if you are who i think you are from your music you are the type that said to yourself if you dont make it bigg but inspired someone who duz youd be happy and meant it,well you did inspire me more than you will know,dunno if i will make it rapping but i wont fail in life,,give another album to the kids coming up,the last generation already traded their chance at knowledge for shiney chains and half naked chicks…..”was i sent for the sinners thst never repent?or am just another nigga bent tryin to pay for his rent?”….thank you..amir is blessed
July 19th, 2006
Whas Good Dog,
This the first time i’ve ever sent anything to n e one i listen to.
I got put onto u by a co-worker at a shoprite market i worked at. I used to git dissed and shit 4 sayin the best rapper was AZ. By feelin ya music i’ve come to learn that what u do aint rap. I been doing me for 10 years strong and i don’t call ma self a rapper, i’m a lyricist, but in a general, what u do simbolizes what Hip Hop stands for. Rap is a commercial term that describes what a certain group of people(Blacks) do similarly like some of these industry cats today do but names ain’t necessary. I coped Aziatic first and went backwards, but ya albums are in evry slot in ma 5 Disc change CD playa. U inspired and to this day inspire me as an artist and as a man. I don’t have a recrod deal and i’m not lookin for one. Just so u know, i’ve never stole or used any bar, rhyme, or line from anything of yours i’ve heard. Back in highschool niggas would laugh at me cuz i was the only one bangin Aziatic on the way and through the halls. Niggas consider u as a “slept on” artist, when eva people hear me say ya name its like oh AZ(like who the fuck is that). Fam, from the heart, man to man, I’m proud to have been inspired, so moved by a “slept on” artist. Right hand to God; when i spit wit a dude that worked at tower records at the cash register one day, when i was done the first thing he did was “u know who u remind me of, AZ” and i was overwhelmed. U da reason i’ve found ma self as an artist and ya impact on me was so deep that it was gittin to the point where i developed ya tone of voice and word pronuciation. But u don’t gotta to worry about hearin a nigga from south philly tryin to steal ya style or sound like u. I’m just being clear on the extent of ya influence on me. I will say for a fact that u play a big part in the way i formulate and deliver ma rhymes. It seems like those type of artist that sell few records or git passed over in the stores got the most to give and say.
I used to think its was crazy how a cat from “The Brook” could inspire a humble dude from South Philly but it happend. I can type all day and still not find the words to Thank You fam. In closing,
i wish u evry success.
i respect u (Hands Down, Fitted Hats and Skullies Off)
U got support in South Philly as long as i’m breathin.
Keep blessin us wit Lyricism and what the industry needed when u started and still needs now.
As an artist i’m forever in debt to u and for that ima stay humble stay me and continue to bless the mic the way u showed me how to when i first heard “To all those i still speak to, guess we still peoples….” up to when i heard ” You no ma personna, let me kindly remind ya…”
To AZ a.k.a Anthony Cruz a.k.a S.O.S.A.
“U made this dude keep signin his soul,
on fine lines of loose leaf shinin.
Supplyin the naked eye,
no fakin chasin the vibe, inside”
“Fadin him for instance
expect to miss Ock
AZ’s the difference
between rap and HipHop.”
Tonik
Thanks 4 everything ma nigga, 1
Shout Out To Brooklyn and Quiet Money.
I want to personally send A Special Shout with All Due Respect to “Mama Bear” for givin birth to ma “idle” and one of the greatest MC’s still alive and kickin.
Thank You
August 9th, 2006
Wow. The last two posters said it all. You are fantastic man, I can’t even find the words to tell you how good you are. I heard you on your website http://az.ivnet.tv/ saying you’re top 10. You’re further ahead of anyone I ever heard. Pac, Nas, Big were all blessed, but they can’t even come close to your poetry.
August 17th, 2006
Yo AZ ya cant let the final call be ya last cd man. seriously, hip hop is in a bad state right now, its all gimmicky and fucked up. ur a rare breed homie, got real shit to say real stories real lyrical talent all i ever hear is “g-g-g-g-gunit” or sum southern rappers doin they club raps and dance rap and all that. we need some realness put back into the game. every1 thinks busta will bring east coast back, fuck that i say its you homie. i think you jus need better marketing cuz your flow is perfect, ur lyrical abilities are fuckin godly, people just need to hear it to catch on. seriously though i listen to the track “never change” every single day. no lie. neways man, stay up. peace.
September 20th, 2006
AZ is the best rapper, most slept on rapper, he dont get love in the south no coverage. Whatever! i thought he was dead for a minute! DANG B!
September 27th, 2006
A YOU ARE ONE OF THE GREATEST IN THE GAME. YOU REP HARD LIKE SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
January 16th, 2007
AZ,
You’re the only rapper worth writing. I know u hear this all the time but I am your biggest fan in Florida! My peoples get sooo tired of your music they get mad at me for constantly playing it. I don’t care the best rapper is someone’s opinion. Just because they say Pac and B.I.G are the best doesn’t mean they are. I have played your music and turned SEVERAL people onto your stuff. I know outside of N.Y., you are rarely talked about. In Florida, I promote your music at every red light and see people like damn that music is hot! What is he playing? I take it back to Doe or Die, they don’t know about that. Thank you for your music, NEVER STOP, and I’ll never stop buying your music. Let me know if u have any shows in Florida?
Advancement in progress
March 26th, 2007
People need to realize and start to appreciate the message, the knowledge, and the raw flow that “AZ” has always had! ONE OF THE BEST WHO EVER DONE IT! 1995 TIL THE DAY HE DECIDES TO QUIT! MUCH LUV FOR “AZ”
June 18th, 2008
wen it comes to rhyme skeemz, word play, reality and creativity. AZ is number one hands down!