Essence is gone, but hip hop is growing, AZ Explains

Essence is gone, but hip hop is growing, AZ Explains
 
Nile Ivey of BET.com
 
Hip hop may be struggling, but according to AZ, it still growing. “Everything elevates and grows, so at the end of the day it’s growing” says AZ. As one of hip hop’s lyrical legends, Brooklyn native, AZ is positioning himself where he see’s fit. Birthing his career in the early 90’s and residing at several major labels along the way which included, EMI, Motown, and Virgin Records, AZ has kept his presence consistent within the last decade.
While Undeniable, his latest body of work which was released last April via Koch Records, is still sending shockwaves through the hip hop community, AZ stopped by BET.Com to spill the beans on his new controversial mixtape, N.4.L( Ni**az 4 Life), his movie project, Sounds of Wars, which begins production this month, and of course hip hop.
Since AZ insists on blazing his own trail, his latest project, N.4.L., a collaborative effort with Hot 97’s DJ Absolut, may seem like it’s nipping at the heels of Nas’ latest project, Untitled. But, as always, AZ’s critical planning has once again, given the fans exactly what they asked for. “I got a lot of questions about Nas and when we’re getting together for an album so I created something where they could put his Untitled LP together with my joint and use that as an album that may never come out since we’re speaking on the same content.” AZ told BET.Com.
And since Nas already set the stage for the extremely controversial issue, AZ maneuvered his own perspective, but of course under the same spotlight, “What I didn’t wanna do was listen to what he was doing and emulate his path” AZ clarified. “With all the hype going with Obama, Sean Bell, Mike Vick and others, I knew the awareness was already there, so I knew where he was going, but at the end of the day I kept it at my angle.”
Though N.4.L. is at the forefront of AZ’s mental notepad right now, that sure isn’t stopping the independently signed lyricist from scheming on other exciting ventures. “Sounds of Wars”, a movie project that is currently being casted, is set for a November release along with an epic soundtrack to accompany the film. AZ said of the project, “Sound of Wars” is the wars we go through mentally and the decisions we embrace everyday.”
As of late, hip hop’s youngest generation has been receiving some what of a verbal lashing from its elders. First, it was Gza from the Wu-Tang Clan denouncing Soulja Boy’s success and then Ice T’s harsh rhetoric was heard around world during a video entry directed at the youngster. Though the climate and content has altered in various forms, AZ’s views on the current state of hip hop exercise similar sentiments, but in a more civilized and diplomatic manner. “As far as hip hop becoming a business, yea I’m excited about it. But as far as the essence of it, it’s basically non existent and I’m not excited about that because that’s where it originated. It is what it is; you can’t cry about it, you just get in where you fit in.”