Az - Rather Unique

[Bagizer]

AZ and Rakim two of the greatest Harlem has ever seen and will ever breed. Word life

[vector3647]

AZ in the top 5 dead or alive...AZ + 'Preme = 100% CLASSICS

[nrobinson477]

LOVE THIS DUDE'S LYRICS!!!!

[1monoblanco]

its good to see ppl still remember AZ. this is the music you zone out too

[123Kubiq]

I am Slovak so it's hard for me to understand everything. But the flow is unbelievable. and the beat :)))) Great MC :)

[Ostrasize]

@123Kubiq no doubt.

[OfficialDSilence]

sick flow and lyrics! AZ sometimes reminds me of me wen i rap

[mycahdbrown]

on the reactions tab, "rather unique" should be an option

[jwhitdatman27]

One of the best beats ever and AZ goes off. It's crazy how underrated he is. I don't understand why he doesn't get more love....come check out my rhymes on my page and let me know what u think J-WHIT

[Ostrasize]

Dang.. heard this song so many times, it's still DOPE.

[LEXercise]

"East New York, East New York" You already!!!

[sidneyatkins6969]

he was spitin venom on this here

[blkpro84]

How the hell you can dislike this track. This track is a classic and maybe its to much for your ears real talk

[shyshotcaller27]

One of the most slept on MC's

[unclepark1]

one of tha illist songs created the element it take u to i cant see how that 1 cat dis like this

[HARTISILL]

One of the most lyrical songs ever????.........anyone agree.......cuzz i think so

[sowavy08]

peace god

[MobiusX]

beat and lyrics hypnotizing

[ruslanio]

The only one that got a legitimate feature on Illmatic.

[floridakees]

I wanted to write out every sick line of this song

and I had it done before I realized I had written out the entire song, line by line

[embraer4life]

if you think AZ's top 5 alive vote up

[yo77mudslap]

@embraer4life no way! top 5 EVER

[embraer4life]

@yo77mudslap so true, finally someone agrees!

[lawdog4020]

@embraer4life fo sure

[mrasslova1]

this shit givin me hella flashbacks...AZ..

[titodibiase]

PEACE TO THE GOD AZ.

[araz921]

I got styles sick as hell, sicker than sickle cell anemia

Slaughter your circulatory like leukemia

Filled with larceny, who want parts of me?

I'm vicious, mad malicious 'cause it's real on this road to riches

I got this mastered, other rappers'll craft it

Weak and wicked camouflaged as killers how they speak and kick it

Peep this uniqueness nonbelievers I'm leaving speechless

Left to chokers and skunk smoke was coming through the speakers

[RebelBruh]

We need this kind of rap back. Swagger is ruining it. These fake, monkey dancing crack braggin niggas now-a-days need to just die. Bring back AZ, Nas, Tupac, BIG, etc. back to tha radios

[angwon360]

great beat...and hook..

[michfrom]

az

big l

pac

big

sean price

cormega

i m sure i m forgetting some but these come to my stoned mind right now, those mcees got something to tell

[titodibiase]

@michfrom GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. PEACE G.

[Italiancurly33]

to diff to compare get the fuck outta here

!! Nas would murder Pac if he was alive

[Yobachi2007]

@Italiancurly33 The fact that they're different is what makes it a comparison. The notion that any two are too different to compare is logically devoid at the most basic level.

Nas and Pac are great at doing different things lyrically, neither would murder the other; they'd both win at doing what they do best. The two best of all time, along with Rakim and KRS-1.

[ERIC122475]

i think an emcee is nice when u don't know what they gonna say next...NAS BIG PUN EMINEM KRS-1 COMMON...alot of people and make works rhyme and sound slick with it put a true emcee with make u think and wonder and im sure i left out some names.......i know i did but AZ def nice,so was BIG L...not better then any of those i mentioned tho

[Yobachi2007]

@ERIC122475 I think AZ has one of the all time illest flows, but his music doesn't have a lot of soul behind it, id doesn't move me.

I listen to him and he makes my head nod, but I only seldomly go "wow, what'd he say. I got listen to that again." I can listen to Nas, nod my head and be movied.

I think he put all his eggs into the mastering the flow basic, but didn't develop the full array of MCeeing. But dope flow, no doubt.

[ERIC122475]

your absolutely right i can't add much to what u said especially the last part..now as far as pac...i think he had a way with the words he said but not sure lyrically as gifted as say Nas or KRS-1 ...taking nothing away from Pac cuz he was nice at it

[Yobachi2007]

Pac was gifted at paint a pictures with his rhyme, it was beyond flipping ill metaphors. A number of other people do that better; what he did is make you feel what he felt, took you to where he wanted you to go, and made you sit in his seat (even if he was telling a story/doing a perspective that wasn't even his); mastering the use of voice inflection, and word emphasis.

He completely changed the game; before Pac almost no one rhymed from an interpersonal place; after, almost every tries to.

[Yobachi2007]

Others are better lyrical technicians than Pac; yet Pac was the illest lyrical artist. In the end we remember more the art that moved us, than we do the techniques that wowed us.

Both have their place of great value; this is what the Pac diminishers never understand; that's why they down grade him, focusing on only the one half.

Nas probably has the best combination of both: for an example peep Your The Man; or probably the entire God Son album as a whole.

[Ostrasize]

@Yobachi2007 Bro, if you're going by emotional standards, Technique is a much better rapper than Pac..

[HARTISILL]

@Ostrasize he wasnt sayin any thing bout Immortal Technique

[Ostrasize]

@HARTISILL Deedeedee...

[HARTISILL]

@Ostrasize u put it (duhh)

[bjax101]

@Yobachi2007

Very good point and I def feel u in a way but i suggest u go back and listen to "Life's a bitch"...that was easily one of the greatest verses in hip-hop!!!

[Akaalis]

If someone were to ask me "which of all of AZ's songs would embody and contain the very essence of his lyrical excellence?"

I would have to reply "RATHER UNIQUE"

[brotherhood302]

Yes indeed...I almost forgot how much of a diamond this track was. Peace King!!!

[Akaalis]

Hey tell me man, have you been listening to Killah Priest lately? oh really? here hole-on ta dese 1's now.

[brotherhood302]

Killa Priest is killin' it right now...he's gotten alot better song wise and production. He got plenty vids and I'm still checkin' for them, he's been busy in the underground.

[Dena1974]

As many have stated, he is one of the most underated MC's ever! I used to reflect to this beat and song like everday. Word, real cool meditative vibe. Golden Era rap. NUFF SAID.

[Etcher]

Hmm, I don't agree. This is a great Pete Rock beat and AZ's flow is nice but to me AZ is one of those rappers like Lil Dap from Grouphome or Craig Mack - without a killer producer behind them they don't amount to much.

[koldkilla4]

man some might say im crazy but i think nas is better than 2 pac im sorry dont get me wrong 2 pac had some good songs but nas and az was beast together nas was fucking like biggie and 2 pac rolled up into 1 nigga lol

[BAMBISAVAGE]

Lyrically you right..cause I think lyrically only EM..AZ..PUN..BIG L.can get wit Nas in ryming..my opinion

[bedatboss]

id have to agree wit u..........nas is raw....but i think L is the one that takes that but Nas, AZ r rite up there lyrically...straight monsters

[Etcher]

2Pac is overrated. Nothing 2Pac has done has ever even come close to Illmatic.

[roman510]

not true, nas and tupac styles are too different to compare

[loozin5no0tyme]

I agree with Roman. Either way they're 2 different factions.

[zaik1]

he flow's on a whole new level..

[UsherRed]

Love this joint with the classic Pete Rock touch on it. That man has an ear for the bangin' sounds and is not ashamed of showing.

Great upload! Thanks!

[UsherRed]

Despite him being Nas' best buddy at the time (and he still is), he had the talent and the capability to be on the record, as opposed to a last-minute replacement or a way of makin' a penny or two. AZ had the rhymes back in the days and STILL continues with the classics. It just sucks to an umpteenth degree that majority of the people turn the shoulder on him in an exchange for that fake, glammed-out mafioso lifestyle ish.

[VLo1127]

Amen...More people need to see the realness, truth and lyrical genius in his music.

[Bo6us]

Agreed..

[Jahbril30]

i agree great post

[UsherRed]

I think that besides being extremely talented, the reason why AZ garnered the respect that he carries on his shoulders 'till date is because - as I like to put it - "he wasn't just another artist on the 'Illmatic'." For once, you had an artist that matched to the level of (even excelled, if you ask me) skills of his/her predecessor - in this case, The Illmatic Man: Nasir Jones.

[ooPaXeRoo]

This is the shit ! Big shout out from Germany

[GoGetter18]

Yeah thats the dope music here

Az and Nas for eva

[1MakaveliTrained1]

This beat goes hard.

And his lyrics are insane.

[bloodyb058]

great song everything about it was amazing. no1 can flow like az

[PazToTheMan]

@bloodyb058 MF Grimm can. MF means Mad Flow.

[StoicTwo]

Brooklyn baby Brooklyn!

-StoicOne!