AZ — Doe Or Die: A 25th Anniversary Retrospective

The general public first heard AZ in 1994 on Nas’ classic debut LP Illmatic, but AZ (real name Anthony Cruz) had already been honing his craft as a lyricist for 5 years by then, under the watchful eyes of Pete Rock and his manager/associate Damian “Deo” Blyden. AZ grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, learning about life, the streets, and Hip Hop in early to mid ’80s. He was inspired by watching local legends Stetsasonic tear it down in park jams. AZ’s opening verse on “Life’s A Bitch” (Illmatic) instantly grabbed the attention of listeners. But general fans weren’t the only ones to come away impressed, EMI’s Daniel Glass, who headed all of the label’s divisions, was so astonished after seeing AZ perform the verse at Nas’ record release party that he wanted to sign him on the spot. 

At the time, EMI was home to label imprints Chrysalis, Pendulum, and SBK, which boasted an impressive roster of Rap acts, including: Gang Starr, Digable Planets, Lords Of The Underground, Arrested Development, Boogiemonsters, and Bahamadia. Daniel Glass wanted to follow in the footsteps of Nas’ deal at Columbia, instead of signing him to one of EMI’s imprints that handled Black music, he wanted to sign AZ directly to the main label. In the Summer of 1994, AZ began working on his debut album after recruiting a team of producers that stood the best chance of delivering a potential classic.

The core group of producers tasked with providing the sonic backdrops for the man they called AZ Tha Visualiza — due to his uncanny ability to paint vivid pictures with his lyrics — were Pete Rock, Buckwild, L.E.S., D/R Period, Lunatic Minds, and Amar Pep, an AZ affiliate who worked on several of his early demos. The brunt of the album was recorded in Electric Lady Studios, with the rest of the sessions taking place in the famed Chung King Studios, Greene Street Studios, Platinum Island Studious, and Battery Studios between July, 1994 and April, 1995.

During the search for the perfect lead single, L.E.S. was convinced “Sugar Hill” would become a smash out of the gate, while AZ leaned more towards the harder Pete Rock banger “Rather Unique,” as he felt it was more along the lines of what his core audience wanted to hear from him. AZ took his cue from Notorious B.I.G. and his 1994 lead single “Juicy,” which had the DJ Premier produced street single “Unbelievable” on the B side. L.E.S. brought in singer after singer for sessions to complete the song, once singer Monifah failed to provide vocals that worked, L.E.S. enlisted the aid of Missjones, who he DJ’ed for during her live performances.

Missjones arrived at the studios in the car L.E.S. sent for her, walked into the booth, and laid down the incredible vocals that took the song to another level, cementing it as the lead single for Doe Or Die. AZ harbored some trepidation at releasing such a commercial leaning single, as it might seem as though he was attempting to sell out, but he ultimately trusted his management, Damian “Deo” Blyden, lead A&R Lindsey Williams, L.E.S., and the label, who pretty much were hands off and let him do what he wanted during the course of crafting Doe Or Die.  

The single “Sugar Hill”/”Rather Unique” was released in late June, 1995 and debuted on the Billboard Rap charts on July 8th, 1995. AZ was awarded the Hip Hop Quotable Dopest Rhyme Of The Month for “Rather Unique” in the July 1995 issue of The Source. It entered the Hot Rap Singles chart at #23 while starting at #80 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. The following week, “Sugar Hill” had leapt up to #12 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and #55 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.

The biggest indicator that AZ had a potential hit on his hands was over those two weeks “Sugar Hill” went from #54 on the Hot R&B Singles Sales chart up to #34, even without entering the regular rotation on Black radio yet. With these chart jumps, not only would it be impossible to not end up getting the attention of Black radio programmers, but it was also likely that buyers would begin making radio requests en masse once the video finally debuted. 

The week of July 22nd, 1995 saw “Sugar Hill” first appear on the Hot R&B Airplay chart, while jumping up to #9 on the Hot Rap Singles chart as its Greatest Gainer. It was no coincidence it happened shortly after AZ’s “Sugar Hill” video debuted on BET’s Rap City. Even then, it was a slow and steady climb to the top. On August 5th, 1995, “Sugar Hill” racked up its second Greatest Gainer distinction on the Hot Rap Singles Chart, reaching #5. It was also #18 on the Hot R&B Singles while the video cracked the Top 30 on BET and The Box, the following week it was the 4th best selling maxi-single on the R&B charts while cracking the Top 40 on the Hot R&B Airplay charts for the first time. “Sugar Hill,” the song AZ thought might make audiences turn on him, had the makings of a breakout hit.

On September 7th, 1995, “Sugar Hill” became an RIAA certified Gold single in its tenth week on the charts. Of those ten weeks, seven saw it get significant support at Black radio. “Sugar Hill” was so big that when it peaked at #3 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” was at #1 and the Luniz “I Got 5 On It” was at #2. All that was left to do was to continue to ride the popularity of “Sugar Hill,” as it was just beginning to gain traction on MTV after they discontinued “Yo! MTV Raps” back on August 17th, 1995 — meaning it was getting rotation on the main network amongst the other Rock videos. On September 30th, 1995, “Sugar Hill” debuted on the Top 75 Hot 100 Airplay chart and was #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. It had officially crossed over.

On October 10th, 1995, Do Or Die was released by EMI America to a rabid fan base, debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums and #15 on the Billboard 200 on October 28th, 1995. As a testament to the staying power and popularity of “Sugar Hill,” it was still at #15 on the Hot Rap Singles chart in its 17th week while still getting consistent burn on the radio, as evidenced by it being at #23 on the Hot R&B Singles chart and #34 on the Billboard Hot 100. Now that the intended audience finally had the album in their hands, AZ was curious to hear their reactions to the full body of work. The album cover and album insert was designed by art director Henry Marquez in concert with Cartel’s Daniel Hastings, Miguel Rivera, and Richie Bravo. The album cover communicated the album’s themes: the never-ending pursuit of the so-called American Dream through any means necessary.

AZ’s smooth delivery, effortless flow, and conversational style was reminiscent of Rakim’s, and when paired with Nas’ style it made for a formidable lyrical combination. This duo’s chemistry is made most apparent on “Mo Money, Mo Murder (Homocide)” and Nas doing the hook for “Gimme Yours.” AZ’s keen powers of observation lent themselves to everything from high energy cinematic verses (“I Feel For You”) to hardcore street tales (“Uncut Raw”) and even the prerequisite song about a woman (“Ho Happy Jackie”). Doe Or Die was expertly sequenced on both sides of the tape in order to maximize AZ’s versatility and make the album work better as a concise project. 

Between the infectious bounce of “Your World Don’t Stop,” and the syrupy Southern funk of the titular song, “Doe Or Die,” produced by N.O. Joe Bido, the album was well received by audiences and music critics alike. Doe Or Die received 4 mics from The Source, Cheo Hodari Coker gave it 3 out of 4 stars in the Los Angeles Times, and in the December 1995 issue of Spin, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds wrote that “…AZ pours forth a tale of loot capers and ghetto aspirations in a rapid-patterned delivery reminiscent — but for the high tonality — of the godfather of hip-hop hustle ethic, Kool G Rap.” Hinds further wrote “Doe Or Die achieves its purpose: AZ has breathed new air into the lungs of New York hard-rocks.”  Reminding music critics of Kool G Rap and Rakim is high praise to say the least. In the December 23rd, 1995 issue of Billboard, “Sugar Hill” was ranked the tenth hottest Rap single of 1995, one spot below Junior M.A.F.I.A’s “Player’s Anthem,” and one spot above Craig Mack’s “Get Down.”

At the end of Doe Or Die‘s run on the Billboard charts, it spent nineteen straight weeks on the Top R&B Albums chart between October 28th, 1995 and March 2nd, 1996. As for “Sugar Hill,” it lasted an astonishing thirty three consecutive weeks on the Hot Rap Singles chart, from July 8th, 1995 to February 17th, 1996. Neither of the following Doe Or Die singles were able to capture the listening audience the way “Sugar Hill” did. Although AZ was signed to EMI America, they simply didn’t have the machine or finances in place that other record labels had to give the album the push it needed to go Gold just after its release.

“Gimme Yours” peaked at #30 on the Hot Rap Singles chart on February 10th, 1996 and “Doe Or Die” stalled at #24 on April 20th, 1996. Nonetheless, AZ had made his indelible mark on the Rap game, showcasing his remarkable flow, phenomenal lyricism, and his gift for taking the art of rapping about street life, hustling, and aspiring for material wealth that greats like Rakim and Kool G Rap had mastered but his contemporaries like Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Big L, Raekwon, and Jay-Z were in the process of expounding on at the time. With Doe Or Die, AZ took the first step in what has become an illustrious and long career.