Profile of AZ

Type(s) of Music: Hip-hop, rap

Full name: Anthony [middle?] Cruz

Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York

Year the Act Began: 1992

Musical Influences:

Biography/History of AZ

Born in Brooklyn as Anthony Cruz, AZ first came to the greater rap community’s attention in a big way after his stellar performance on NAS’s "Life’s A Bitch" in 1994.

Given AZ’s simularity to Nas and the overwhelming response to Nas’s Illmatic album, it was just a matter of time before AZ would score a record deal, a feat he accomplished in 1995.

The resulting debut album "Doe or Die", shook the New York hip-hop scene as Nas’s ’Illmatic’ and Mobb Deep’s ’Infamous’ had done shortly before it.

Like those albums, Doe or Die revealed in the street life -hustling for cash, peddling drugs, violent encounters, mandatory boastings, struggling daily just to maintain - but took a literate and thoughtful approach to the often exploitative gangsta motifs.

Furthermore, like Nas, Az had Pete Rock crafting the beats, which won the young rapper instant credibility among the hip-hop community.

Biography from his MySpace.com page

AZ Videos

Listen to Music

AZ Contact Information: Click the following link to Contact Any Celebrity

Discography

Do Or Die (1985)

EMI

The Firm: The Album (1997)

Aftermath/Interscope/MCA

Pieces Of A Man (1998)

Virgin

S.O.S.A. (Save Our Streets AZ)  (1998)

Label

Selection N/A

Selection N/A

9 Lives (2001)

Motown

Aziatic (2002)

Motown

Decade (1994-2004) (2004)

BEC

A.W.O.L. (2005)

Quiet Money Records

Selection N/A

The Format (2006)

Quiet Money/Fast Life Music

Undeniable (2008)

Koch Records

Album Title (Year)

Label

Album Title (Year)

Label

Selection N/A

Filmography

FilmographyGoesHere

Pictures of AZ (click on any image below to enlarge)

ImageGoesHere

ImageGoesHere

ImageGoesHere

Related Links

Official MySpace.com page: http://www.myspace.com/azofficialmyspace

Tour Dates