AZ

With classy production and a smooth-as-silk flow, AZ wakes up New York hip hop on Undeniable. Not since Nas's Illmatic has an East Coast rapper had this much swagger, class and grit all at once. In some ways, it's fitting that the Brooklyn MC served as the only guest on Nas's masterpiece. However, now, AZ mixes Superfly-style beats and a methodical delivery for rap that's undeniably infectious. "Life on the Line" builds with a funky bass line and AZ's signature, cinematic rhymes. The chorus has some catchy crooning that could serve as the perfect backdrop for Shaft cruising the city in search of bad buys. In fact, the album oozes a '70s aesthetic that’s both sexy and palpably tense.

A collaboration with Koch label mate Ray J, "Go Getta," slows everything down to a late-night, club crawl as the sultry groove builds, and the veteran MCs trade rhymes. "The Hardest," the record's final track with Styles-P, rocks to a synth and horns reminiscent of Earth Wind and Fire, as AZ spits lyrical mastery. The album opens with sirens and gun shots on "Game Don't Stop," and the sounds pull the listener right into an old school New York: filled with gangsters, guns, girls and groove. "Superstar" might make Lupe Fiasco wince, because it's more street than it is club. When AZ spits, "The game don't stop 'til the playa get knocked or the shit flip flop and you're sitting on top," you know it's time to take it back. AZ is one of New York’s finest, and that’s undeniable.

—Rick Florino
03.31.08