Mainstream rap first heard the lyrical skills of AZ when he stepped onto the scene way back in 1995 on Nas’ ‘Life’s A Bitch’. Since then, AZ has gone on to release five solo albums, selling over 700,000 records, found time to sign a few of his own artists, and even starred in a handful of movies.

Now set to release his new LP this August on his own Quiet Money Records, the ‘Aziatic’ star is preparing to go ‘A.W.O.L.’.

In downtown New York, AZ is busy doing promotional work for his upcoming album. Sitting laid back in a plush office suite, the veteran rapper welcomes one interviewer after another, happily answering every question journalists throw at him… Or so I would imagine. Being on the other side of the Atlantic, I was scheduled in for a phone interview with AZ, so I can only imagine what the rapper’s surroundings were like. Sorry.

When I’m put through to the man himself, he sounds relaxed and at ease, and when I ask if he’s tired of talking about his new album already, he laughs and replies, “Nah, not at all.” After more than a decade in the music industry, AZ knows that long days and hard work are all part of the game. A game which he intends to take to the next level with the release of ‘A.W.O.L.’.

Talking about this new project, AZ (born Anthony Cruz) said, “You can expect a ‘Doe Or Die’ AZ, from that era. On the album I got a few producers as far as Premier and Heatmakers, and Disco D that did the 50 Cent album… I got Raekwon and Ghostface, Slick Rick, C.L. Smooth… I got a long line of people on the album.” So why the name ‘A.W.O.L.’? “I guess, last year I was supposed to put out an album, ‘Final Call’. It was done actually three months before the release date, and then at the time of the release date, they wanted to push it back three more months, and I was like, ‘Nah, I can’t do that’,” he explained. “When I record music, I know for me, music’s loyal, and I wanted to give my fans something fresh, so I put that on the backburner and started recording a new album. All that was driving me crazy, and at the time I was just saying, ‘I’ma get ready to go A.W.O.L.’. I kept saying that, then I was thinking, ‘You know what? This gon’ be the name of the album!’ For real, that’s how I named it, and I recorded in that frame of mind.” Continued on page 2 »